Abstract
As the ancient Chinese proverb says, ‘may you live in interesting times’. Politics has been many things over the last few months, but it certainly hasn't been dull. Nobody could have predicted the tumultuous changes that have taken place since Political Insight launched back in April — nobody, that is, except for our very own Paul Whiteley. Writing of the then-upcoming UK general election in issue one, Whiteley predicted a hung parliament with the Conservatives holding the most seats. Few, if any, of Fleet Street's finest got so close to the election's eventual result.
Cameron and Clegg's much-vaunted ‘new politics’ has taken numerous knocks since emerging, glistening in the May sunshine outside Number 10 Downing Street. The departure of David Laws just weeks into his new job at the Treasury hinted at old problems — expenses — while the emergency budget introduced swingeing cuts in public spending. Nevertheless, the new coalition's ideas for open-source government and the decentralisation of power could radically alter the UK's political culture.
Here at Political Insight we pride ourselves on bringing authority and rigour to bear on the big political issues of the day — at home and abroad — without sacrificing style or accessibility. So having successfully forecast a new Conservative-led House of Commons, in this issue we will be casting an informed eye over various aspects of political life under the new coalition.
In this issue's lead feature, John Curtice argues that the most significant result of the general election was the demise of the Conservative-Labour duopoly in UK politics. Elsewhere, Helen Wilkinson calls on the coalition to abandon New Labour's politics of spin, while Andy Williamson reflects on why 2010 was not the social media election many commentators had predicted.
Voting reform was a central plank of both the Lib Dems' manifesto and the party's post-election bargaining strategy. Simon Hix, Ron Johnston and Iain McLean detail the proposed reforms for both houses and look at what impact these changes might have on British politics. Ahead of November's climate change conference in Mexico, Andrew Jordan and Tim Rayner ask whether the environmental consensus in Westminster can hold up. Meanwhile, Françoise Boucek looks to Europe to analyse the pros and cons of coalition government, and Henning Meyer dissects the problems facing the continent's social democratic parties.
Looking beyond the UK and Europe, David McKay analyses President Obama's domestic policy during his first 18 months in office, Robin Yassin-assab investigates Syria's unlikely new alliances, and Robert Aspinall profiles Japan's turbulent party politics.
Interesting times indeed. Like the current political scene, this issue of Political Insight is as entertaining as it is absorbing. Of course, if would like to join the debates or contribute to the magazine just drop me an email (address on the opposite page).