scholarly journals Disability and political representation: Analysing the obstacles to elected office in the UK

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212094745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Evans ◽  
Stefanie Reher
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
European Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Political Recruitment ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Elected Office

Around one-sixth of the European population have a disability, yet there are few self-declared disabled politicians. Despite scholarly and political interest in the under-representation of various social groups, little attention has been paid to disabled people. This article identifies and analyses the barriers to elected office faced by disabled people by drawing upon interviews with 51 candidates and elected politicians in the United Kingdom. It reveals barriers which occur throughout the political recruitment process, from initial participation to selection and the election campaign. They broadly fall into: (a) a lack of accessibility, including the built environment and documents; (b) a lack of resources to make events and activities accessible; and (c) ableism, including openly expressed prejudices but also a lack of awareness and willingness to make processes inclusive. While people with different impairments encounter some distinct barriers, all of them have similar experiences of obstacles and exclusion which go beyond those faced by people from other under-represented groups seeking elected office.

Do Elites Discriminate against Female Political Aspirants? Evidence from a Field Experiment

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Kostanca Dhima
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
Political Recruitment ◽  
Group Attachment ◽  
Female Legislators

Abstract Do elites exhibit gender bias when responding to political aspirants? Drawing on theories of gender bias, group attachment, and partisan identity, I conduct the first audit experiment outside the United States to examine the presence of gender bias in the earliest phases of the political recruitment process. Based on responses from 1,774 Canadian legislators, I find evidence of an overall gender bias in favor of female political aspirants. Specifically, legislators are more responsive to female political aspirants and more likely to provide them with helpful advice when they ask how to get involved in politics. This pro-women bias, which exists at all levels of government, is stronger among female legislators and those associated with left-leaning parties. These results suggest that political elites in Canada are open to increasing female political representation and thus should serve as welcome encouragement for women to pursue their political ambitions.

Poverty and Sources of Income Support Among Older People With Disabilities and Out of Work: Comparison of Canada and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
WEN-HAO CHEN ◽  
LEE BENTLEY ◽  
MARGARET WHITEHEAD ◽  
ASHLEY MCALLISTER ◽  
BENJAMIN BARR
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Public Transfers ◽  
Low Educated ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Government Transfers

Abstract The debate about extending working lives in response to population ageing often overlooks the lack of employment opportunity for older adults with disabilities. Without work, their living standards depend heavily on government transfers. This study contributes to the literature on health inequalities by analysing the sources of income and poverty outcomes for people aged 50 to 64 in two liberal democratic countries yet with contrasting disability benefit contexts – Canada and the United Kingdom. This choice of countries offers the opportunity to assess whether the design of benefit systems has led the most disadvantaged groups to fare differently between countries. Overall, disabled older persons without work faced a markedly higher risk of poverty in Canada than in the UK. Public transfers played a much greater role in the UK, accounting for two-thirds of household income among low-educated groups, compared with one-third in Canada. The average benefit amount received was similar in both countries, but the coverage of disabled people was much lower in Canada than in the UK, leading to a high poverty risk among disabled people out of work. Our findings highlight the importance of income support systems in preventing the widening of the poverty-disability gap at older ages.

Disablism, Planning, and the Built Environment

1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
R F Imrie ◽  
P E Wells
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
The Uk

In the last decade access for disabled people to public buildings has become an important part of the political agenda. Yet, one of the main forms of discrimination which still persists against disabled people is an inaccessible built environment. In particular, statutory authorities have been slow to acknowledge the mobility and access needs of disabled people, and the legislative base to back up local authority policies remains largely ineffectual and weak. In this paper, the interrelationships between disability and the built environment are considered by focusing on the role of the UK land-use planning system in securing access provision for disabled people.

Denmark and the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-141
Author(s):  
Agnes Cornell ◽  
Jørgen Møller ◽  
Svend-Erik Skaaning
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Interwar Era ◽  
Civil Societies

Denmark and the United Kingdom are analyzed in-depth as examples of clear positive cases, i.e. surviving democracies with substantial democratic legacies and vibrant associational landscapes. The two case studies show how Denmark and the UK had developed consolidated democracies on the eve of the interwar era. These democracies were bolstered by broad acceptance of democratic procedures among elites and masses as well as strong parties interlaced with lively civil societies. The result of this combination was political regimes, which were immune to the political radicalization of the day. Antidemocratic movements and parties found preciously little support, the established parties remained loyal to democracy, and they came together to strike political agreements in order to counter economic crisis and anti-democratic mobilization in the 1930s. The evidence offered by these case studies thus provide additional support for our theoretical mechanisms.

Disability and the Implications of the Wellbeing Agenda: Some Reflections from the United Kingdom

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAIRE EDWARDS ◽  
ROB IMRIE
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Present Form ◽  
Character Traits ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Politics Of Happiness

AbstractA wellbeing agenda has emerged in government that seeks to promote a ‘politics of happiness’, in which citizens are, as the New Economics Foundation put it, ‘happy, healthy, capable and engaged’ (2004: 2). This article explores the wellbeing agenda in the UK, and its implications for disabled people. We argue that it is unlikely, in its present form, to contribute to the development of social theoretical, or more politically progressive, analysis and understanding of disablement in society. This is because of the emphasis on biologism, personality and character traits, and a policy prognosis that revolves around self-help and therapy, or individuated actions and (self) responsibilities.

scholarly journals “Till debt do us part”: financial implications of the divorce of the Irish Free State from the United Kingdom, 1922–1926

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 818-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Fitzgerald ◽  
Seán Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Financial Stability ◽  
Gross National Product ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Debt ◽  
Domestic Markets ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Political Cost ◽  
The Uk

Abstract In this paper, we discuss the apportionment of national debt when Ireland exited the UK in 1922. We estimate that the claim on Ireland amounted to 80 percent of Irish Gross National Product (G.N.P.) and describe how it was ultimately waived at the expense of an unchanged land border with Northern Ireland. While this represents the largest debt relief episode in the twentieth century, the political cost of the agreement exceeded the financial gain in the long run. We find that domestic markets reacted more to political uncertainty than the pending liability, despite the financial stability which resulted from the debt write-down.

Populist politics and democracy in the UK: implications for community development

2020 ◽  
pp. 165-186
Author(s):  
Keith Popple
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Finance Capitalism

This chapter outlines how British populist politics, and in particular right-wing populist politics, has had significant implications for communities, for the theory and practice of community development, and for those presently involved in the activity in the United Kingdom, where it has suffered substantial financial cutbacks. The outcome of the austerity measures that has led to the contemporary presence of populism in the UK has been a mounting dissatisfaction and a general lack of trust in politics amongst millions in the country. This, together with a hangover from the 'parliamentary expenses scandal' that involved members from both Houses of Parliament, has created a marked degree of scepticism about the workings of the British electoral system. Further, there has been a growing lack of confidence in the system of neoliberal globalised finance capitalism that has left countless communities poorer and economically less secure. People's anger and frustration with these actions have been harnessed by the political right, which during the 2016 Referendum debate focused on the impact of immigration on communities. The chapter then notes the unique elements of community development and reflects on the role it can play in these challenging times. It argues that community development now requires greater funding and recognition while reconceptualising itself in a more radical manner.

Devolution and the political representation of business interests in the UK

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Wood ◽  
David Valler ◽  
Nick Phelps ◽  
Mike Raco ◽  
Pete Shirlow
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals Czy parlament może zmienić mężczyznę w kobietę? Granice i miejsce zasady supremacji parlamentu w brytyjskim porządku konstytucyjnym wobec europejskich procesów integracyjnych (wybrane problemy)

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Marcin Łukaszewski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Judicial Proceedings ◽  
The Uk

The political system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is of interest to researchers for several reasons. One of the most important motivations certainly involves the unique construction of its Constitution, the content of which is not formulated in a single legal act of a supreme status. This unwritten Constitution encompasses at least four parts. The most important part is undoubtedly constituted by one of three principles of the political system, namely the principle of the sovereignty (omnipotence) of parliament. This principle, which is regarded as a constitutional principle by some and as a principle above the Constitution by others, constitutes the core of British constitutional law. The topic of this paper is an attempt to indicate the boundaries of this principle in the British constitutional order and to place it in relation to remaining principles. The boundaries of this principle have been considered by British constitutionalists on numerous occasions. Considerations on the relation of this principle to the remaining elements of the Constitution have been the subject of interest for courts of law, including the House of Lords, which used to function as the court of last instance in judicial proceedings prior to the 2005 reform. It is worth emphasizing that even the lords/judges frequently disagreed on the boundaries of the principle and even on whether the principle can be examined by any court. There were also views that the principle is only a virtual construct, and even if it had ever applied to the political system at all, it can no longer be referred to, given contemporary European integration processes. The complicated combination of elements of the British constitution with the presence of the United Kingdom in the structures of the European Council and European Union (preceded by the European Community) have produced a number of interpretations of the principle of the omnipotence of the parliament in the new political reality the UK has found itself in. It was the adoption of the European Communities Act 1972, followed several decades later by the adoption of the European Union Act 2011 that led to the discussion on the construction of the British Constitution and either the approval or rejection of the concept that the Constitution of the United Kingdom with its meta-principle should be interpreted anew.

scholarly journals Unintended repercussions of Brexit? The departure of skilled Germans from Britain after the referendum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Stawarz ◽  
Nils Witte
Keyword(s):  
Panel Study ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Return Migrants ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Legal Consequences ◽  
The Eu

Although the referendum on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union—better known by its portmanteau Brexit—had no immediate legal consequences for migrants, the changed public atmosphere and looming consequences for their status are creating uncertainty among migrants in the UK. This article analyses the impact of Brexit on Germans who lived in the UK and returned to Germany in 2017/18. Our analysis relies on the first wave of the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS), a novel probability-based sample of German return migrants from the EU member countries. The results show that more than half of German return migrants from the UK are strongly affected by Brexit. Furthermore, those who returned on account of Brexit are more likely to blame the political situation, the lack of social security, and their dissatisfaction with life in their host country than those who did not return on account of Brexit – or than those returning from other EU15 member countries. In sum, our results indicate that Brexit may have the unintended consequence of driving out skilled and socio-culturally more integrated migrants who had been living in the UK for several years.

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