'The most important election in a generation' - just like the last election (and the next?)

Despite the 2019 general election being portrayed as the most important in a generation, Christopher Kirkland writes that it is too simplistic to suggest that some elections are more important than others

Keir Starmer’s ‘four tests’

The Labour Party is keen to show it is ready to form a government, but historic questions still hang over the Labour leadership. Christopher Kirkland identifies four issues that are crucial to the future of Keir Starmer and the party he leads

By focusing on voter turnout, the government fails to understand the democratic process

Trade union strikes can legally go ahead if more than half the votes are in favour of action, regardless of how many members vote. The Trade Union Bill seeks to change this process by requiring that at least 50 per cent of all eligible members take part for such ballots to be legitimate. Christopher Kirkland and Matthew Wood argue this proposal is an example of how the focus on turnout ignores the fact that democracy is not just the result of a vote, but the process of voting

By abandoning ideology for short term pragmatism both left and right are trivialising important constitutional questions

Although Tax Credit changes were accepted in the House of Commons, the failure of the Lords to approve this motion has created some interesting paradoxes. Sagar S Deva and Christopher Kirkland write that rather than suggesting politically-motivated and short-termist changes to affect the passage of legislation, a longer term appreciation of proposed changes is required to reach a modern workable constitutional settlement

Strategies towards statistically robust interpretations of in situ U–Pb zircon geochronology

Zircon U–Pb geochronology has become a keystone tool across Earth science, arguably providing the gold standard in resolving deep geological time. The development of rapid in situ analysis of zircon (via laser ablation and secondary ionization mass spectrometry) has allowed for large amounts of data to be generated in a relatively short amount of time and such large volume datasets offer the ability to address a range of geological questions that would otherwise remain intractable (e.g. detrital zircons as a sediment fingerprinting method). The ease of acquisition, while bringing benefit to the Earth science community, has also led to diverse interpretations of geochronological data. In this work we seek to refocus U–Pb zircon geochronology toward best practice by providing a robust statistically coherent workflow. We discuss a range of data filtering approaches and their inherent limitations (e.g. discordance and the reduced chi-squared; MSWD). We evaluate appropriate mechanisms to calculate the most geologically appropriate age from both 238U/206Pb and 207Pb/206Pb ratios and demonstrate the cross over position when chronometric power swaps between these ratios. As our in situ analytical techniques become progressively more precise, appropriate statistical handing of U–Pb datasets will become increasingly pertinent

Britain in crisis: how societal divisions exist in the formation and resolution of crises

Christopher Kirkland explores two crises in British political economy: that of trade unions in 1976–9, and that of the banking sector in 2007. He argues that existing inequalities manifested themselves not only in the formation of those crises, but also within policy responses to them

Classifying Elections in Britain

This book seeks to understand and classify differences that exist between a variety of elections in Britain. It moves beyond first- and second-order classifications developed following the European Parliamentary Elections in 1979 to include elections of devolved administrations such as the Scottish Parliament, local mayors or the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections. Drawing upon a range of elections, the book develops a new classification based on the interactions that exist between voters, the media and political parties. In doing so, it argues that alongside voters, political parties and the media can, and do, prioritize certain elections. The author explores the role of each group within elections individually through case studies. The final chapter then offers an overall means of understanding the levels of salience attached to each election

Large igneous provinces track fluctuations in subaerial exposure of continents across the Archean–Proterozoic transition

Geological observations and numerical models imply that Archean continents were mostly submarine. In contrast, approximately one third of modern earth's surface area consists of subaerial continental crust. To temporally constrain changes in the subaerial exposure of continents, we evaluate the eruptive environment (submarine vs subaerial) of 3.4–2.0 Ga continental large igneous provinces (LIPs). Our results indicate that up until 2.4 Ga LIPs predominantly erupted onto submerged continents. This period of low freeboard was punctuated by local subaerial eruptions at 2.8–2.7 Ga and 2.5 Ga. From 2.4 Ga–2.2 Ga, extensive subaerial continental volcanism is recorded in six different cratons, supporting widespread subaerial continents at this time. An increase in exposed continental crust significantly impacts atmospheric and oceanic geochemical cycles and the supply of nutrients for marine bioproductivity. Thus, the 2.4–2.2 Ga high-freeboard conditions may have triggered the earliest global glaciation event and the first significant rise of atmospheric oxygen

Cross-Sectional Collaboration in Florida\u27s Emergency Management System

Florida faces a unique set of emergency management hazards prompted by the state’s geography, high volume of tourism, and position as a hub of international trade. The state has developed a highly adaptive emergency management system to deliver humanitarian assistance to Floridians affected by natural and other disasters. Despite the importance of collaboration in delivering humanitarian goods and services to Floridians in times of crisis, little is known as to how collaboration occurs, what impediments exist, and how organizations adapt to the dynamics of natural and other disasters. In this qualitative case study, the integrative framework for collaborative governance was applied to understand how voluntary organizations collaborated during hurricane response and relief efforts. Data were collected from the survey responses of nine voluntary organization emergency managers and after-action reports of county, state, and federal agencies. Data from survey responses and archival sources were analyzed and thematically coded. The findings showed that voluntary organizational collaboration resulted from teamwork, communication, and working towards the same purpose within a structured organizational framework. The key recommendations are that emergency management organizations should consistently provide all-hazards training and exercises to enhance voluntary organizations’ response to disasters and to study how collaboration occurs in other states with different emergency management constructs. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing emergency managers with the means to improve humanitarian responses to disasters through a deeper understanding of the collaborative processes involved

Cross-Sectional Collaboration in Florida\u27s Emergency Management System

Florida faces a unique set of emergency management hazards prompted by the state’s geography, high volume of tourism, and position as a hub of international trade. The state has developed a highly adaptive emergency management system to deliver humanitarian assistance to Floridians affected by natural and other disasters. Despite the importance of collaboration in delivering humanitarian goods and services to Floridians in times of crisis, little is known as to how collaboration occurs, what impediments exist, and how organizations adapt to the dynamics of natural and other disasters. In this qualitative case study, the integrative framework for collaborative governance was applied to understand how voluntary organizations collaborated during hurricane response and relief efforts. Data were collected from the survey responses of nine voluntary organization emergency managers and after-action reports of county, state, and federal agencies. Data from survey responses and archival sources were analyzed and thematically coded. The findings showed that voluntary organizational collaboration resulted from teamwork, communication, and working towards the same purpose within a structured organizational framework. The key recommendations are that emergency management organizations should consistently provide all-hazards training and exercises to enhance voluntary organizations’ response to disasters and to study how collaboration occurs in other states with different emergency management constructs. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing emergency managers with the means to improve humanitarian responses to disasters through a deeper understanding of the collaborative processes involved