'Uncategorized' Category
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Aug172011
Peter Mair
Peter Mair died earlier this month.
I knew of Peter by reputation from the moment I started studying European politics; I knew him personally at the European University Institute.
Peter had three cardinal virtues of a scholar: first, a fine appreciation for the written word, in whichever language; second, a certain wanderlust, which led him [...] -
Jul152011
Brooks resignation
I’ve spoken about Tom Mockridge (new CE, Nes International) before (here and here). I think he’ll be good for News International
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Jul112011
Malleability, softness
So, I posted here about News International’s (perceived) power — but that’s really very unimportant compared to what’s happening to the Italian stock market and the BTP-Bund spread.
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Jun232011
Coalition has one in three chance of going the distance
That’s the claim of the paper I’ll be presenting at next week’s UEA/IfG/MEG conference, The Coalition at One. Paper is here, abstract is pasted below:
Using off-the-shelf models from the political science literature on coali-
tions, I model the likelihood of the current coalition government forming,
the speed of the negotiations leading up to its formation, and its [...] -
Jun092011
The man who screwed an entire country
… is the Economist’s take on Berlusconi.
I don’t agree with the Economist on everything. But they have been consistently on target in their coverage of Berlusconi. -
Jun072011
Want to hear why we have public broadcasters?
Then come hear me at the very first media@uea symposium on the 24th June 2011. Details are here. Quick descriptor:
media@uea is an initiative which brings together the schools of Economics,
Film & Television Studies, International Development, Law, Political, Social &
International Studies and others from across the University of East Anglia.
We are pleased to invite you to [...] -
Jun032011
Things which shocked me today
Interviewer: Would you trust her [reality television star the late Jade Goody] more
than someone like Gordon Brown?
A: Yeah I probably would, probably because she’s been in the media attention and obviously she’s been in Big Brother, so you see what she’s
really like as opposed to a politician who says things just to please everyone and [...] -
May312011
Pretty awful table recognition
I’m currently working on a project together with Stephen Greasley on the life and death of UK quangos.
One of our USPs is the extent of our data — we’re looking at quangos from the first Public Bodies yearbook in 1982, onwards.
We’re getting the data into shape. We’ve scraped later online versions, and we’ve scanned [...] -
May182011
Buy my book!
… or ask your local librarian to purchase it for your institution’s library!
You can see the publisher’s page, the book on Amazon .com or .uk. Usual academic hardback prices apply. Review copies are also available. -
May172011
David Brooks
… was on the Today programme this morning, repeating the discredited claim that people named Dennis are more likely to be dentists. Brooks played up the suggestive power of names and occupation/hobbies.
The only person who emerged with credit was Damon Hill, who appeared on the next segment, asking: “What does that say about people who [...]