I recently wrote an article for the Redbrick, the University of Birmingham student newspaper with my take on the state of the UK Opposition party today and the need for a strong Labour party in a well-functioning democracy.... At the end of January the Supreme Court of the UK ruled that Britain could not trigger … Continue reading Featured: Redbrick Online- The importance of strong Opposition parties in a Liberal Democracy
Month: February 2017
Development Politics Blog #4: When corruption services society
During this week’s session, taken by Dr Carolyn Peiffer, we examined three broad typologies of corruption within academic literature: specifically principle-agent view, collective action view and a functional view. This session highlighted the normative complexities behind different definitions of corruption. Though an important and interesting discussion, I don’t wish to focus on that aspect in … Continue reading Development Politics Blog #4: When corruption services society
Development Politics Blog #3: But who cares about what you think? Service delivery and state legitimacy
This week’s session involved addressing causes of legitimacy and assessing the received wisdom that a) service delivery instrumentally enhances state legitimacy and b) inversely, weak institutions and a lack of service delivery can cause a state to lose legitimacy. Mc Loughlin's historical case study of the provision of Higher education in Sri Lanka between 1956-1974 demonstrated … Continue reading Development Politics Blog #3: But who cares about what you think? Service delivery and state legitimacy
Development Politics Blog #2: So you think you’re (Il)liberal?
This week’s session examined the apparently counter-intuitive concept of illiberal democracy using the case study of illiberal democracy in post-conflict Angola. The first half of the session focused on a discussion of the concepts of liberalism, illiberalism, democracy, autocracy and various combinations of the different terms. This session provided the perfect opportunity to explore my … Continue reading Development Politics Blog #2: So you think you’re (Il)liberal?
Development Politics Blog #1: ‘Victimiser or Victim?’ Engagement with non-state actors in post-conflict DRC
This week’s session, facilitated by Dr Suda Perera, explored political engagement with Non State Actors (NSAs), looking particularly at state building in a post-conflict context with the case study example of armed former militants in the post-conflict DRC. A key message from the lecture and some of Dr Perera’s research was the argument that truly … Continue reading Development Politics Blog #1: ‘Victimiser or Victim?’ Engagement with non-state actors in post-conflict DRC
The Narrator's Pen 