Being (ideologically) desinterested helps in so far as it keeps your mind and options open, but it also means that you will be less motivated to dedicate substantial sources (i.e. your attention, time and energy) to it. 4/4
What is also underestimated is the value of desinterestedness. The more policy makers are interested and the more the issue touches relevant (relevant for you and your party) values, the less you might be swayed doing something that feels 'not right' to you. /3
If your staff and you yourself don't know and don't understand the evidence and - on top of it - it's neither in your portfolio and diverging to your party's line, you won't do it. /2
Interesting take, from my research this is partly true, i.e. MPS or MSPs have far less power than people can imagine. They are lucky if they get one of their pet policies done. That said, there is also an element of genuinely 'not knowing'. /1
To be fair, there is a non-zero chance is that future UK General elections become even more disproportional so that the difference between disproportionately between SCO and UK elections remains comparatively the same. What I find curious is that people think SCO electoral system is proportional.
Try to imagine if you are just on the way to join it. Even if you have publication & teaching record that would have gotten you a decent lecturer post a few years ago, there is nothing. Just keeping updated, i.e. networking, publishing, conferences, costs time & money on top of your daily job.
I am not sure the second claim has been made, it's probably more 'as long as the customer doesn't feel to be wronged, everything is alright' that makes a difference in my opinion.
There are trainings for PAs but they often have no time to attend. And on top of it, very few parliamentarians are managerial freshmen. This also leads to problems, question is whether MPs/MSPs are willing and have time enough to undergo relevant trainings beyond the bare minimum. 3/3
Consequently, the ones working for parliamentarians often don't have much experience & don't stay for long in their role. They are only required to do the job good enough, what is more important is the widespread informal understanding of PAs to help canvassing & finding electoral opportunities. /2
Really interesting debate 👇. That said, I am not entirely sure whether higher staff budgets or support would do the trick. From my research on Parliamentary Assistants (PAs; the guys helping MPs and MSPs), they are often selected and used in the context of wanting to get re-elected. /1
It's going to be a really interesting event!
It may be that this is more related to the UK context that this isn't discussed like that. I certainly got the impression that UK is a class-based society, way more than e.g. Germany (though Germany has other host of problems).
Quite a lot of references point towards "see what other countries do" without taking considering their educational systems are embedded in a specific cultural & socio-economic context. On your point: I agree, if it doesn't suit you, why not going vocational? Also, you can study later as well.
Crisis communication is not just about performance but also policy substance. It does not seem to occur to them, that this kind of confrontation was not just a coincidence but a consequence of a situation they created. Talking less hostile won't change that. 2/2
This is an interesting account of how crisis communication by the Trump administration fails even by the standards of their own supporters. The issue, though, is that even if the rhetoric would tune down, bad pressure and community resistance would still be there and probably increase. /1
I remember from former security forces in the last days of GDR that it was underappreciated how little desire there was among (para-)military personnel to seek confrontation even if there was an order to do engage. It may or may not happen, but receiving and following order are two separate things.
That doesn't even take into account that protests somewhere else may turn violent far more quickly. I also wonder whether other Dem governors would feel compelled to activate national guards (to protect local residents). That said, I do wonder whether it's a forgone conclusion that GOP goes along.
The "two pizza teams" originate from Amazon and are not really used anymore, if I am not mistaken. I know, that isn't the point of your critique but I think it's even problematic on its own (misguided) terms.
Well, I guess that solves the question of how likely a coalition or even agreements to stand down in specific constituencies between Tories and Reform would be. I also wonder whether the high profile defections are really all that helpful for Reform.
From my research, I am not surprised. There's usually very little reflection on the actual reach of communication 'broadcasted' on social media. It's already an exception if people look at views or likes - more sophisticated analysis is really rare. Besides, often it's their assistants, not them.
If you account for prices, Glasgow is probably one of the best choices for live and work.
You can see it even in some media portrayals of Glasgow. There are areas (outside West End) which are clearly quite prosperous or even rich (there are even pockets of it in areas which are rather deprived).
I suspect the USA is not the only one with this issue (looking at the UK). I think, at heart it's the inability to manage relative decline that made things much worse - US and UK politics seem to have very similar drivers.
For all the chatter, I also wonder what an electoral defeat in the mid term will do to the Trump administration (and declining support in general). The idea that a coherent (and successful) foreign policy is possible under those circumstances seems fanciful.
Really happy to see it finally in (pre-)print. My first solo-authored article: www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandg...
The article is open access, focusing on work dynamics in parliamentarians' offices that cover political communication tasks.
If you even consider that the descriptions provided of the order and the circumstances, servicemen should be expected to be able to understand it was criminal. But there does not seem to be any concerns about that. 3/3
The thing is, none of the writers to point towards criminal behaviour of this order seems to care over the criminality of following it by servicemen. If the situation was indeed as described and it constitutes a war crime - servicemen should be expected to not follow orders. /2
Some debates are odd to me. E.g., it seems that Hegseth's order (what it exactly details and circumstances given is unclear) lead that to survivors of an attack were killed in one of those raids in the Caribbean sea. Thing is, if that was a war crime, then following order is a crime too. /1
I wonder who would replace Starmer and if it makes a difference. It's fairly clear that Labour is unlikely to win any popularity contest: the newest raid on Universities after going wild on migration is just one step of many to alienate their urban core vote. (SNP, Greens and Lib Dem say thank you!)
