Football clubs are becoming increasingly conscious of the reputational damage they risk by paying such high wages in an age of austerity

In an era of financial turmoil, the percieved excesses which characterise English football seem likely to attract ever greater criticism. Yet Wyn Grant argues that despite what many claim, the Premiership bubble has not burst. In fact clubs are becoming increasingly conscious of the reputational damage they risk

An analytical framework for a political economy of football

A political economy of football has become more essential as the game has been colonized by elements of the business class. There is a tension between its profit maximizing understanding of football and a more community oriented, democratic vision that seeks to pursue government policy goals. The insights of economics and politics are both necessary to understand the political economy of football, but they should not be hybridized. Economics allows us to understand the distinctive characteristics of the football market while politics permits an analysis both of the politics of cooption and engagement and the politics of resistance. Four variables are identified that represent a political science contribution to the analysis of football and its relationship with government

Pressure politics: a politics of collective consumption?

The nature of a politics of collective consumption is reviewed in terms of how we can distinguish those actions that pursue a broader public interest. The argument that outsider groups may be influential in terms of setting the political agenda is explored in relation to the politics of obesity and controversies about child access for divorced fathers. Animal rights militancy has proved a difficult issue for government to handle and has wider implications for pressure group activity. Government continues to favour a close relationship with big business but is less interested in reforming trade associations. Increasing cooperation between the National Farmers Union and Farmers for Action suggests that insider groups may be more willing to cooperate with outsider groups as they become more effective. The question of whether pressure group activity is moving in the direction of an ‘uncivil society’ is considered

Real progress is now being made towards reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the EU’s oldest and most important policy instruments, making up around 40 per cent of the EU budget. Wyn Grant writes that the most recent round of proposed reforms to the CAP focus on giving member states more scope to follow their own policies: making the policy less ‘common’. But, he writes, there are still barriers to reforms which are based around disputes over what the CAP actually is – a social policy, or a way of making EU agriculture more competitive

The elections for police and crime commissioners show that it’s difficult to stop the political class protecting its own

Bringing our Police and Crime Commissioner coverage to a close is a somewhat different sort of article, as Wyn Grant reviews the historical 55 days and discusses the political lessons which can be drawn from it. He argues that the PCC elections illustrate how the political class protects its own and that, while we must resist populist disdain for politicians, it also necessary to recruit our leaders from outside the political class

Crossing the interdisciplinary divide : political science and biological science

This article argues that interdisciplinary collaboration can offer significant intellectual gains to political science in terms of methodological insights, questioning received assumptions and providing new perspectives on subject fields. Collaboration with natural scientists has been less common than collaboration with social scientists, but can be intellectually more rewarding. Interdisciplinary work with biological scientists can be especially valuable given the history of links between the two subjects and the similarity of some of the methodological challenges faced. The authors have been involved in two projects with biological scientists and this has led them critically to explore issues relating to the philosophy of science, in particular the similarities and differences between social and natural science, focusing on three issues: the problem of agency, the experimental research design and the individualistic fallacy. It is argued that interdisciplinary research can be fostered through shared understandings of what constitutes 'justified beliefs'. Political science can help natural scientists to understand a more sophisticated understanding of the policy process. Such research brings a number of practical challenges and the authors explain how they have sought to overcome them

The challenges facing UK farmers from Brexit

The prospect of exit from the European Union faces UK farmers with a number of additional challenges to add to those they are already coping with in terms of income and price volatility and increases the uncertainties that they face. It is difficult to predict the consequences of Brexit for agriculture with any precision, given the absence of contingency plans by the UK Government and the uncertainties that would follow a vote to leave. However, it is difficult to see that they would, on balance, be advantageous. CAP Pillar 1 farm subsidies would be placed in jeopardy and there would not be a substantial reduction in the level of regulation. The availability of plant protection products could become more restricted and firms would be reluctant to develop distinctive products purely for the UK market. Brexit would serve as a distraction from the many practical challenges facing the UK farming sector. It will not eliminate many of the structural and competitive challenges facing UK and other European farmers such as relationships with supermarkets and processors, the scale of operations and the Russian import ban

Reflecting on John Smith’s political legacy

On May 12th, 1994 John Smith, then the leader of the Labour Party, died suddenly and tragically at the young age of 55. Wyn Grant reflects on his political legacy and what might have been had things turned out differently

Book review: Political science in motion edited by RamonaComan and Jean-Frédéric Morin

What are the new challenges facing political science research at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Political Science in Motion, edited by Ramona Coman and Jean-Frédéric Morin, explores this question through a collection of essays that traces the major trends in contemporary political science research since the end of the Cold War. Focusing on eight different academic journals, this book stimulates new questions about the changing role that peer-reviewed journals play in academic life, writes Wyn Grant

The horsemeat scandal raises urgent questions about retail governance

The recent horsemeat scandal has brought public attention to a range of issues which had previously received little scrutiny. Wyn Grant puts the scandal in historical context, explaining how its roots lie in a broader transformation of retail governance in the UK. The current controversy has raised important questions as to whether these broader changes need to be reversed through a reclamation of regulatory authority by the state