Exploring British Politics, 3/E

Chapter 1

Political Studies Association - Two 'gateways' providing links to a series of useful websites on politics in the UK are highly recommended: the Political Studies Association (www.psa.ac.uk) and Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources site

Chapter 2

Political Studies Association - Academic papers presented to the annual conferences of associations of political scientists discuss theories and methods in the study of British politics.
- Elections and Public Opinion and Parties specialist group Academic papers presented to the annual conferences of associations of political scientists discuss theories and methods in the study of British politics.
National Archives
Archives Hub - The Archives Hub is a gateway to archival collections in UK universities.
UK Data Archive - The UK Data Archive includes data sets from research projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Chapter 3

National Archives at Kew - The National Archives at Kew maintain documents from central government departments. A small selection of their material is available online.
Documents on British history - A useful ‘gateway’ providing links to primary documents on British history.
Thatcher Foundation - The Thatcher Foundation has an extensive collection of material available online.

Chapter 4

Citizenship education - Websites provide an essential source for the most up-to-date statistics. The most comprehensive source is the government’s site, National Statistics Online, which provides results from the 2001 census and numerous links to more detailed and updated studies of social trends. For further information on citizenship education
National Statistics Online

Chapter 5

The Guardian - Most national daily and Sunday newspapers have websites that contain full electronic versions of their print editions. The best coverage of the media and politics is found in the media section of The Guardian .
Audit Bureau of Circulations - Circulation figures are published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations
BBC - Details on the organisation of the BBC are at www.bbc.co.uk/info
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Ofcom - Ofcom is the independent regulator for the communications industry.
The Press Complaints Commission site - The Press Complaints Commission site includes details of a code of practice for the press.
The Hutton Inquiry site - The Hutton Inquiry site set new standards for government transparency by releasing hundreds of documents.
The Leveson Inquiry site - The Leveson Inquiry site gives details of findings in the wake of the media ‘phone hacking’ scandal.

Chapter 6

Ministry of Justice - The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for rights, the legal system, reform of the House of Lords and electoral administration.
Monarchy - The monarchy has also gone online and contains information about the current role of the monarchy and offers the chance to email the Queen.
Constitution Unit of University College, London - There are authoritative discussions of recent developments on the site of the Constitution Unit, based in University College, London.
Democratic Audit - Particularly useful are the ‘Monitor’ newsletters and the summary assessments of constitutional reform under the Blair and Brown governments. The Democratic Audit is an independent research unit that has produced audits of democracy in Britain, including constitutional reform.
Unlock Democracy (formerly Charter 88) - Unlock Democracy (formerly Charter 88) has been the most influential pro-constitutional reform pressure group. Its website includes updates on recent developments and campaign material.
Electoral Reform Society
Civil liberties group Liberty

Chapter 7

10 Downing Street website - The 10 Downing Street website provides transcripts of the Prime Minister’s speeches and of daily press briefings but includes little on the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Cabinet Office website - The Cabinet Office website has detailed information on the Ministerial Code, Cabinet committees and the civil service.
e-government strategy - This website was set up as part of the e-government strategy and includes an A–Z of central government with links.
Civil service - On the civil service, the Cabinet Office site and the companion site to Martin Stanley’s book How to be a Civil Servant covers the organisation and its reform.
Civil Servant

Chapter 8

Best resource for students of parliament - This provides links to sites for the House of Commons and the House of Lords, giving concise introductions to parliamentary procedure and recent reforms. It also provides access to the official record of debates (Hansard) and even contact addresses for MPs and peers.
Specialist politics news website - A specialist politics news website features many useful links to articles with more critical content.
The Ministry of Justice - The Ministry of Justice is responsible for reform of the Lords and includes full details of recent reform proposals.
Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart’s website - Provides a comprehensive analysis of backbench rebellions, complete with spirited commentary
Public Whip - Provides details of the voting records of MPs since 1997
They Work For You - This site has a search facility for everything each MP and peer has said in parliament since 2001. Finally, many MPs now host blogs which discuss parliamentary developments.

Chapter 9

Ministry of Justice - The websites for the Ministry of Justice provide internal and external links for students in search of up-to-date information on judicial and police matters.
Home Office - The websites for the Home Office provide internal and external links for students in search of up-to-date information on judicial and police matters.
The website of the pressure group Liberty - Latest developments in the field of human rights can be consulted on the website of the pressure group Liberty.
The Human Rights Act
Macpherson Report

Chapter 10

Cabinet Office website - The Cabinet Office website is a valuable source of information on civil service reform, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
Civil Service website - The Civil Service website includes information on its reform and a directory of public bodies.
House of Commons Public Administration - Reports from the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee are available.
Democratic Audit
Child Support Agency
Prison Service
Arts Council
OFGEM
Financial Services Authority
NICE
Audit Commission
Websites of international organisations

Chapter 11

The Department for Communities and Local Government - The Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for local government in England
The Direct Government gateway - The Direct Government gateway provides links to local authority websites.
Government of London - Arrangements for the government of London are detailed and most local authorities have their own websites, but they vary in quality. Good examples include:
London borough of Brent
Leicester City Council
Surrey County Council
The Audit Commission
Valuation Office - Information on council tax bands is published by the Valuation Office
The Local Government Association - The Local Government Association represents the interests of English and Welsh local authorities. Its website has information on developments in local government, its structure and elections.
New Local Government Network - The website of the New Local Government Network think tank has material on directly-elected mayors.
Local Government Elections Centre at the University of Plymouth - The Local Government Elections Centre at the University of Plymouth undertakes research on local elections.

Chapter 12

Students of devolution - The Constitution Unit publishes detailed Quarterly Monitoring Reports on devolution and the students of devolution are well served by the Internet.
ESRC’s Devolution - The ESRC’s Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme website includes publications from a number of academic research projects on devolution.
Scottish Parliament
Scottish Executive
Welsh Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
Department for Communities and Local Government - The Department for Communities and Local Government has information on the English regions and the Northern Ireland Office details on the peace process.
Northern Ireland Office
Information on Scottish politics
Welsh politics at the Institute of Welsh Affairs
CAIN website
The opposing campaigns in the debate over Scottish independence

Chapter 13

European Union’s official website - The European Union’s official website contains a wealth of information on EU policies, institutions and current developments. Its homepage provides an introduction to the work of the EU plus links to the sites of the EU institutions, information on the EU’s policy activities and current legislation. The websites of the main EU institutions have further information on their structure and work:
Eurobarometer surveys of opinionThe EU’s Bulletin of the European Union is a useful source of information on the recent activities of the EU institutions.
EU Observer
European Voice
Foreign and Commonwealth Office siteOn UK policy, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office site contains a section devoted to Britain and Europe which includes an overview of policy, government documents and ministerial speeches. Different positions in the British debate on Europe can be explored through the websites of pro-European groups such as the European Movement and Eurosceptic groups such as the Bruges Group.
European Movement

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

The main British political parties have websites containing details of their organisation:

Conservative Party
Labour Party
Liberal Democrats
Views of activists - The views of activists, on matters of party organization among other things, can be found.
- See also
- See also
Electoral Commission - See the Further reading in Chapter 14 for details of the websites of other UK political parties. For rules governing party finance and information on donors see the Electoral Commission

Chapter 16

Probably the most useful sources on the Internet for this chapter are the sites of the parties themselves, where students will find statements of general aims as well as links to speeches and press releases. See, in particular

British National Party
Conservatives
Green Party
Labour
Liberal Democrats
Sinn Fein
Scottish National Party
Plaid Cymru
UK Independence Party
Political Compass - By completing an online questionnaire, the Political Compass will place respondents on a left–right axis and an authoritarian–libertarian axis. The site also locates political parties and politicians and includes some interesting commentary on the problems of the left–right dichotomy.

Chapter 17

Electoral Commission’s website - The Electoral Commission’s website provides a wealth of information including official results from recent elections and reports on turnout and alternative methods of voting.
Constitution Unit - Background material and assessments of recent developments can be found on the sites for the Constitution Unit
Electoral Reform Society - These sites include copies of their excellent newsletters.
Unlock Democracy - These sites include copies of their excellent newsletters.
Richard Kimber’s Political Science Resources - Richard Kimber’s Political Science Resources page has links to a multitude of sites on elections and electoral systems
Political Studies Association site
UK election results
Opinion poll organisations ICM
Ipsos-Mori
Populus
You Gov
Blogs
Fawcett Society - The Fawcett Society campaigns for increased representation of women
16 Campaign - The Votes at 16 Campaign for a reduction in the minimum voting age.

Chapter 18

Electoral Commission - The Electoral Commission publishes detailed breakdowns of the results,
BBC - Election results
Richard Kimber’s online archive - Richard Kimber’s online archive provides links to hundreds of election-related sites.
Harvard academic Pippa Norris - The website of Harvard academic Pippa Norris includes both commentary and data.
British Election Study 2010 website - Extensive data and analysis of the 2010 general election can be found on the British Election Study 2010 website (www.bes2009–10.org/)
Opinion poll organisations - The best site is that of MORI, as it includes detailed information from the last 20 years and expert commentary.
You Gov’s site - You Gov’s site includes commentary from political analyst Peter Kellner.
Populus
ICM
Electoral Calculus site - The Electoral Calculus site predicts the results of UK general elections.
Operation Black Vote
Fawcett Society - The Fawcett Society which promote participation by ethnic minorities and women respectively.

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Democratic Audit site - The Democratic Audit site (www.democraticaudit.com) includes briefings on the health of British democracy and the Constitution Unit (www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit) has regular updates on constitutional form.
BBC News website - The BBC News website is an excellent source of information on developments in British politics.
Epolitix - Epolitix is also recommended
New ‘blogs’ on British politics - New ‘blogs’ on British politics are emerging on a weekly basis, although the quality varies greatly. Among the most informative and entertaining are

Weblinks