tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41619279162072238412024-03-05T07:48:49.840+00:00Along a Road to NowhereIncoherent ramblings....Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-57468402821330743282012-07-17T00:25:00.004+01:002012-07-17T15:30:05.453+01:00Why the Scottish Greens and SNP stand joint candidates in the 2014 European elections<br />
It is not unknown for the Greens in Wales to have run candidates with Plaid Cymru at national elections, from 1992 to 2000 Ceredigion was represented by Cynog Dafis as a joint Plaid Cymru/Green Party candidate. Given that there is the <i>possibility</i> of the Greens and PC standing joint candidates in the upcoming EU elections is it time the Scottish National Party and Scottish Greens consider doing the same? As far as I can see both sides would stand to gain in what is a very unusual moment in Scottish politics.<br />
<br />
Below are the actual results and then what <i>could </i>have happened<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin: 1em 1em 1em 0px;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #e9e9e9;"><th colspan="6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2009_(United_Kingdom)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)">European Election 2009</a>: Scotland<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(European_Parliament_constituency)#cite_note-2" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(European_Parliament_constituency)#cite_note-3" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[4]</a></sup></th></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #e9e9e9;"><th colspan="2" style="width: 130px;">List</th><th style="width: 17em;">Candidates</th><th style="width: 5em;">Votes</th><th style="width: 3.5em;">%</th><th style="width: 3.5em;">±%</th></tr>
<tr class="vcard"><th style="background-color: yellow; width: 5px;"></th><td class="org" style="width: 130px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_National_Party" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Scottish National Party">SNP</a></td><td class="fn"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hudghton" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Ian Hudghton">Ian Hudghton</a></b>, <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyn_Smith" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Alyn Smith">Alyn Smith</a></b><br />
<small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileen_McLeod" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Aileen McLeod">Aileen McLeod</a>, Drew Hendry, Duncan Ross, Gordon Archer</small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">321,007<br />
<small>(160,503.5)</small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">29.1</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">+9.4</td></tr>
<tr class="vcard"><th style="background-color: #dc241f; width: 5px;"></th><td class="org" style="width: 130px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Labour Party (UK)">Labour</a></td><td class="fn"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Martin_(Scottish_politician)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="David Martin (Scottish politician)">David Martin</a></b>, <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Stihler" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Catherine Stihler">Catherine Stihler</a></b><br />
<small>Mary Lockhart, Paul McAleavely, Kirsty Connell, Nasim Khan<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(European_Parliament_constituency)#cite_note-4" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a></sup></small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">229,853<br />
<small>(114,926.5)</small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">20.8</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">-5.6</td></tr>
<tr class="vcard"><th style="background-color: #0087dc; width: 5px;"><br /></th><td class="org" style="width: 130px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_(UK)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Conservative Party (UK)">Conservative</a></td><td class="fn"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struan_Stevenson" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Struan Stevenson">Struan Stevenson</a></b><br />
<small>Belinda Don, Helen Gardiner, Donald G. MacDonald, Gerald Michaluk, PJ Lewis<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(European_Parliament_constituency)#cite_note-5" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a></sup></small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">185,794</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">16.8</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">-0.9</td></tr>
<tr class="vcard"><th style="background-color: #fdbb30; width: 5px;"><br /></th><td class="org" style="width: 130px;"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Democrats_(UK)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Liberal Democrats (UK)">Liberal Democrat</a></td><td class="fn"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lyon_(Scottish_politician)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="George Lyon (Scottish politician)">George Lyon</a></b><br />
<small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euan_Robson" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Euan Robson">Euan Robson</a>, Robert Aldridge, Patsy Kenton, Douglas Herbison, Clive Sneddon<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(European_Parliament_constituency)#cite_note-6" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a></sup></small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">127,038</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">11.5</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">-1.6</td></tr>
<tr class="vcard"><th style="background-color: #009900; width: 5px;"><br /></th><td class="org" style="width: 130px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Green_Party" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Scottish Green Party">Scottish Green</a></td><td class="fn"><small>Elaine Morrison, Chas Booth, Kirsten Robb, Alastair Whitelaw, Ruth Dawkins, Peter McColl</small></td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">80,442</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">7.3</td><td style="margin-right: 0.5em; text-align: right;">+0.5</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 15px;">Actual 2009 allocation</span></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span> SNP - Ian Hudghton</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: red;"> </span> Labour - David Martin</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #0087dc; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"> </span> Conservative - Struan Stevenson</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span> SNP - Alyn Smith</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: #fdbb30; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"> </span></span> Lib Dem - George Lyon</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: red;"> </span> Labour - Catherine Stihler.</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">If the Greens and SNP ran together</span></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> SNP - Ian Hudghton</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: red;"> </span> Labour - David Martin</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> SNP - Alyn Smith</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #0087dc; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"> </span> Conservative - Struan Stevenson</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: #009900; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> SNP/Green - ???</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: #fdbb30; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"> </span></span> Lib Dem - George Lyon</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<h4 style="background-color: #e5eaee; color: #00438a; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.75em; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Together the Greens and SNP would have won 3 MEPs</span></h4>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
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One exceptional reason for an electoral pact would be the fact that the European elections will take place around three months before the independence referendum. Rather than fighting each other wouldn't it be best for the main parties that support independence to focus on the probably once in a lifetime opportunity that is the <span style="background-color: white;">referendum? </span><br />
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<div>
For the minority of Scottish Greens who do not support independence they would stand to gain as the winning of an MEP, even shared with the SNP, would be a big step for the party.<br />
<br />
<br />
There are big differences on policy between the Greens and SNP, whether the new split likely to develop around membership of NATO or the news today that Scotland has missed it's climate targets. Nevertheless. the SNP has shown itself able to work with the Greens more broadly in Europe as a member of the Greens European Parliament group. Of all the levels of governance Europe is probably where there is <u style="font-weight: bold;">least contention</u> between the two. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Furthermore, for the SNP it allows them to present the image of a united front and minimise partisan competition amongst the Yes side and gives them the opportunity to <b><u>decisively win</u></b> the European elections. This should not be underestimated in the crucial run up to the referendum as the media will be intensely focused on these elections as a barometer for the imminent referendum.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">What about the SSP and Solidarity, well frankly they haven't had the support at recent EU elections to merit such a pact.</span><span style="background-color: white;">Unlike the Greens there is no real </span><span style="background-color: white;">possibility</span><span style="background-color: white;"> of either of these parties seriously fighting and hoping to win a seat.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">An electoral pact would be fraught with problems, but it has been proven to work elsewhere and surely if both parties are serious about focusing on the referendum it is something that needs to be considered.
</span><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-76499080307885734802012-04-15T14:05:00.000+01:002012-04-15T14:05:00.709+01:00Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5215/5394141052_5ecb762e96.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5215/5394141052_5ecb762e96.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King's College, Aberdeen (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58826720@N07/5394141052/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As I come to the end of my four years studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen I thought I should write a little summary in the hope that it is of use to some people in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>Please do comment with any questions,</b> I paint a bit of a negative picture, but have for the most part really enjoyed my time here.<br />
<br />
I'm rather horrified to think that students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland starting this September will pay £9,000 a year (capped at £27,000 for a degree, <i>how generous</i>).<br />
<br />
<h3>
Courses and class sizes</h3>
<div>
The general is that as you progress through your education the classes become more specialised and smaller with all teaching and tutorials led by the course lecturer. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>First year</b>: 300+ students in introductory classes</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Second year:</b> 200+ students</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Third & fourth year (Honours)</b>: This is where it's all supposed to get better. Classes are supposed to include less than 40 students and in many cases less. However, in my experience my classes have been at a minimum 40 and my final term courses have had between 50+ students in them. Take what you will from this, but I don't find a 'discussion' group of 28 to be particularly god.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>“This is getting ridiculous”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A lecturer who shall remain nameless</span></div>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Course structure</h3>
<div>
Students are expected to take eight courses in their first year at the university, spread across two terms from late-September to June. You will be required to take a 'Sixth-century' course in a multidisciplinary topic such as sustainability. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A recent change has meant that rather than taking both introductions to Politics and International Relations new students will take only <i>one </i>Politics and International Relations course per semester in First year. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That's only <i>1/4 </i>of your time studying the topic, with the remainder having to be chosen from other subjects such as History or Sociology. Now this is certainly not necessarily a bad thing, but for those who are sure that they want to study Politics and/or IR it is certainly a negative factor that you will do so little in your first year. For reference in my first year 2/3 of my courses where in Politics and IR!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This move is not unsurprising given that senior staff at the University were sent to leading American schools such as Harvard and more teaching orientated institutions like William & Mary. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For a full list of Politics and IR courses click <a href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/courses/display.php?Subject=PI">here</a></div>
<h3>
<br />Academic staff</h3>
Many of the lecturers really are great and engaging, a few that spring to my mind are Dr Teti, Dr Vij and Dr Glencross, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. The staff they have are generally good and if their interests match yours it's a real plus<br />
<br />
However, the department has lost ~6 or more lecturers over the four years that I have been here and is on its third head of department.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately the outlook for the future does not look particularly rosy. A major recruiting drive for over 100 new academic staff was recently launched and while other Arts and Social Sciences like History and Sociology are gaining additional staff, Politics and International Relations are not.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6148551304_c0bb330891_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6148551304_c0bb330891_n.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">University Library (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordon_robertson/6148551304/">Source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Facilities</h3>
Great new library and modern lecture theatres & tutorial rooms in a lovely location. Obviously there are less pleasant rooms, but on the whole it's good.<br />
<br />
An area in which Aberdeen University cannot really be criticised.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
The City</h3>
Aberdeen is very much what you make of it with many loving it and many hating it! It's certainly not as busy or as exciting as Edinburgh or Glasgow, but it's pretty close to the highlands and Aberdeenshire has some lovely countryside. For what it's worth the university is always near the top of student satisfaction surveys :) so most people must be happy!<br />
<u> </u><br />
<br />
International Relations is a great topic to study and if Aberdeen is your only choice I would jump at it! I do not regret the time I've spent here, I'm just a little sad to see the department shrinking with areas's I really enjoyed studying such as Asia not really covered any more.<br />
<br />
Again any questions do just comment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-71674112875964625392012-04-03T12:23:00.002+01:002012-04-05T17:32:05.711+01:00Why I'm applying for a PhD in the US and not in Britain<br />
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EDIT:
I will write detailed posts on funding in the UK and some other topics later on
<span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
For quite a while I've been keen to apply for PhDs in International Relations
or Political Science. By chance I stumbled upon the application information for
a US program and was amazed at the contrast with the UK.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Despite
being pretty much set on the idea of applying to programs in the US I'm going
to run through a few of the things that led me to this conclusion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Britain</span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></b><b>vs </b><b><span style="color: #990000;">America</span></b><b><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></b><b> (at a glance)</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 39.25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 210.65pt;" valign="top" width="281">
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- Poor funding.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In most cases you must first pay for a masters degree (varies). </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Scholarships (ESRC & University provided) are available, but
funding is less common. If you’re interested look up www.jobs.ac.uk</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 39.25pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 206.2pt;" valign="top" width="275">
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<b><span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- Great funding at <i>most</i> schools</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Certain state schools are contrary to the norm e.g University of
California, San Diego</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 39.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 39.25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 210.65pt;" valign="top" width="281">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- 3 years to completion</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The short time frame means you must have an implementable research
proposal with little room for change over time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A Masters degree is required and the majority of scholarships will not
cover this. Fees are commonly £5,000 and go up to £10,000 at Oxford and
£13,000 at LSE.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 39.25pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 206.2pt;" valign="top" width="275">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- 5-7 years to completion </span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Plenty of time to identify academic interests, but significant cost in
lost earnings.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 39.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 39.25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 210.65pt;" valign="top" width="281">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">-<b> 'Inferior' training from a US perspective</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">No coursework requirement (we focus more as undergrads)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Limited methods training - largely trained in what you need
for your project alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A barrier to employment in the US.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 39.25pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 206.2pt;" valign="top" width="275">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- 2 years of coursework + methods training</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Possibly some repetition on the
coursework, especially as I will have completed a 4 year
degree almost entirely in International relations.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
The
graph is sparser than I intended, but it's very difficult to compare the broad
range of differences even within the countries. I'm sure it will get bigger
with time though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
To
me there is simply no comparison. In the UK funding is sparse and requires a
firm idea of your research interests with fewer opportunities for person and
academic development.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I'm
lucky that my academic interests are focused more in line with US academia too.
I doubt a critical security studies theorist or post-structuralist
would be encouraged to study there. Should certainly be considered in light of
recent comments by <a href="http://www.duckofminerva.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/professionalization-and-poverty-of-ir.html"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">some academics</span></a> on the heterodox
psuedo-scientific nature of the discipline and graduate training.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Finally,
a great video on why many of us are heading to postgraduate/graduate education,
though I hope these aren't my real reasons.. ;)<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" src="http://www.collegehumor.com/e/6361570" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-39841589322696854472012-04-02T00:49:00.000+01:002012-04-02T00:50:51.579+01:007,000 votes from oblivion:4,500 votes from 'success'? The Scottish Greens, 2011 Scottish Parliament elections and AMS.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://image.spreadshirt.net/image-server/image/composition/22546036/view/1/producttypecolor/296/type/png/width/280/height/280/shrigley-women-s-delectable-flock-print_design.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://image.spreadshirt.net/image-server/image/composition/22546036/view/1/producttypecolor/296/type/png/width/280/height/280/shrigley-women-s-delectable-flock-print_design.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Electable?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
The 2011 Scottish Election produced and will be remember for the extraordinary majority gained by the SNP. The damp squib that was the Scottish Green Party's result was only remarkable for the fact they managed to stay exactly still on 2 MSPs in spite of expectations that the party would double or triple it's representation.</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
While some have discussed the possible failings of the campaign (<a data-mce-href="http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2011/07/scottish-greens-2011-election-review/" href="http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2011/07/scottish-greens-2011-election-review/">http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2011/07/scottish-greens-2011-election-review/</a>) this is personally beyond my judgemennt. What I'm really interested in is the peculiarities of our electoral system that that while far more proportional than FPTP and what that means for small parties. Below is a simple graph showing how many votes each party achieves divided by their seats in Holyrood.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://alongroadtonowhere.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/listvotesmsop.png" href="http://alongroadtonowhere.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/listvotesmsop.png"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14" data-mce-src="http://alongroadtonowhere.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/listvotesmsop.png" height="275" src="http://alongroadtonowhere.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/listvotesmsop.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="listvotesmsop" width="624" /></a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
In 2007 the Greens scraped back into parliament with 2 MSPs (just). This time round things were a bit more secure. Patrick Harvie was elected with a margin of 2,100 votes and Alison Johnston with approximately 5,000 votes to spare.<strong> So that's ~7,100 votes from electoral oblivion.</strong></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
So let's look the other way. Eleanor Scott lost out on a seat by 378 votes, while Mark Ruskell & Martin Ford were 2,000 votes off. In the end the Greens were less than 4,500 votes off what many would have considered a 'respectable' showing. Was the result disappointing? Of course. A disaster? No. Proof that there is no future for the Greens in Scotland? No. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-22616172212842008732012-04-01T23:52:00.001+01:002012-04-01T23:53:35.334+01:00Did the SNP break AMS?Many Nats quite reasonably point out how some commentators are now considering the idea of electoral reform at Holyrood following the unprecedented SNP majority, is this really much different to the majority commanded by Labour and the Lib Dems in from 1999-2007?<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableColorfulShading" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #C0504D 3.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent2; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: -1;"> <td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #C0504D 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 117.35pt;" valign="top" width="156"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 517; tab-stops: center 53.25pt;">
<br /></div>
</td> <td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #C0504D 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 122.95pt;" valign="top" width="164"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 1;">
<b><span style="color: black;">1999 (Lib/Lab)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td> <td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #C0504D 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 1;">
<b><span style="color: black;">2003 (Lib/Lab)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td> <td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #C0504D 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 1;">
<b><span style="color: black;">2011 (SNP)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="background: black; border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themeshade: 153; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themeshade: 153; mso-border-bottom-themeshade: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 117.35pt;" valign="top" width="156"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 68;">
<span style="color: white;">Constituency<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-top: none; border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 122.95pt;" valign="top" width="164"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">38.8 + 14.1 = 52.9%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid white 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">34.6 + 15.3 = 49.9%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">45.5%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="background: black; border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themeshade: 153; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themeshade: 153; mso-border-bottom-themeshade: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 117.35pt;" valign="top" width="156"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 4;">
<span style="color: white;">List<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: #E6E6E6; border-top: none; border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 25; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 122.95pt;" valign="top" width="164"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">33.3 + 12.4 = 45.7%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: #E6E6E6; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid white 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 25; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">29.3 + 11.8 = 41.1%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: #E6E6E6; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 25; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">44%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="background: black; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themeshade: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 117.35pt;" valign="top" width="156"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 68;">
<span style="color: white;">Combined<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: solid white 1.0pt; border-right: solid white 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 122.95pt;" valign="top" width="164"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">49.3%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid white 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: background1; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">45.5%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="background: gray; border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-background-themetint: 127; mso-border-bottom-alt: black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: white; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-alt: black; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-style-alt: solid; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: white; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; mso-border-width-alt: .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.9pt;" valign="top" width="148"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;">
<span style="color: black;">44.75%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Looking at the majority Governments we've had previously we can see that they have <b>all</b> commanded less than 50% of the popular vote, although the SNP has a fractionally lower share than the 2003 Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. </div>
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For an essay I had to work out how proportional a result different electoral systems produce. I quickly added in a rough score for the 2011 Scottish Election and as we can see it would have appeared to have risen to a devolution high. (I used the simplest method, there are other variants to this.)</div>
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</span></div>
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<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-left: 11.0cm; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: -94.8pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td colspan="2" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 182.6pt;" valign="top" width="243"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 311.9pt; mso-element-top: -94.8pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Deviation from Proportionality (DV)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 133.0pt;" valign="top" width="177"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 311.9pt; mso-element-top: -94.8pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">9.7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 133.0pt;" valign="top" width="177"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 311.9pt; mso-element-top: -94.8pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">2007 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">6.35<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 133.0pt;" valign="top" width="177"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 311.9pt; mso-element-top: -94.8pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">2003 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">9.35<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1999 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">5.5</span></div>
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In summary the SNP did not 'break' AMS they simply managed to get a higher percentage of the vote than any party before them. This thanks to the bias towards large parties, at the expense of the small, pushed them over half the available seats.<br />
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EDIT: This post was written last year and meant to be longer..</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-77486826507223869752009-10-13T19:00:00.024+01:002012-04-01T23:54:11.757+01:00A few months in the Scottish Parliament.<a href="http://www.alba.org.uk/images/office33.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.alba.org.uk/images/office33.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 175px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 263px;" /></a>This summer after many email and much begging I got and internship at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh working for my local MSP. (props to my local MSP and the Greens for replying) Admittedly rather jaded with National and Scottish politics I did my best to appear truly interested during my interview. It appeared to work!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So began my 2-3 months in a tunnel-like MSP's office in the Scottish Parliament. Many people don't really know what areas in which the devolved parliament at Holyrood has authority over, most things is the answer, with a few important exceptions such as full-tax raising power and foreign policy. In many ways the Scottish system is entirely independent from Westminster (although it is still technically where it derives it's power from). Most of my friends for example are vaguely aware that there <i>is</i> a Scottish Parliament but they are not very sure of what it really does.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Day 1 - I turn up eager to be involved in 'real' politics - whatever that may be - I arrive to find a deserted line of dark and closed offices with very few people around. I had started the week after Queens visit which it turns out many MSP's themselves did not attend as they were eager to begin their summer holidays. Some like Christine Grahame MSP came in merely to sit in her office professing her distaste for the monarchy in front of as much of the media as she could find.<br />
<br />
So there I was.. an exciting opportunity to experience <i>real </i>politics. 10 weeks later I was still waiting. Admittedly my time in the Parliament was not the most enthralling of my life - still I learned quite a bit.<br />
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Firstly, Many MSPs do work damn hard and have some genuinely good ideas. I've gone from having no real opinion on the Scottish Parliament to thinking it can do good things for Scotland. (Al-Megrahi furore aside!) For constituency MSPs with a tiny majority with changing boundaries it would appear to be a rather thankless job.<br />
<br />
Parliamentary assistants <i>can </i>be an odd and cliquey bunch, hawkishly eyeing the intruder into their floor in the same manner they would observe the two MSPs from a different party who had the misfortune to be on their floor. It was an odd experience being an intern, the only intern in both the constituency office and parliament. The variations in how people would treat you was a surprise too, both in good and bad ways.<br />
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You have to love the odd calls you get from constituents to brighten a dull research project; </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"When will Mr Salmond end this prohibition on cannabis?"; </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"When are we going to attack Iran?" and </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"How could you release the Lockerbie Bomber?!"' </div>
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All questions my friends that I will have to politely direct you on to other people to deal with. :)<br />
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-54098210038407387002009-09-19T18:00:00.001+01:002012-04-01T23:54:15.113+01:00American College System from a Scottish Perspective....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lfMeYhsZUHKzwBiGklMNtWqhrn4E0raFvdUzq92yAQNhZW-WOxCnt43XkElSFeTdvPaSwtBJkbrSvpH3d7U7qAjNuetDJ_EJku7VJkI302M5KsPnQKzQkYohEQu8RMnfbTTdqdg2MPxm/s1600-h/IMGP2593.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399314441963102802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lfMeYhsZUHKzwBiGklMNtWqhrn4E0raFvdUzq92yAQNhZW-WOxCnt43XkElSFeTdvPaSwtBJkbrSvpH3d7U7qAjNuetDJ_EJku7VJkI302M5KsPnQKzQkYohEQu8RMnfbTTdqdg2MPxm/s320/IMGP2593.JPG" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a>Here I am in South Western Pennsylvania, in a town of 15,000 people, 1,500 of which attend Washington & Jefferson College, a Private liberal arts school that requires the individual's parents to pay around $45,000 per year.<br />
<div><br />
<div>For this semester I am 'one of them'.... or correctly <i>was </i>one of them. Aberdeen University has more students than Washington, PA has residents so I was expecting a different experience. The second night involved an evening at the Presidents house. Much was said about taking what we could from the different 'Liberal Arts' system. How we should use this experience to broaden our intellectual horizons and take courses in Maths, Religious Studies, Business and Spanish. Admirable though the idea is having taken 8 then 5 subjects at High School and three in my first year of University I was quite ready to finally narrow my study down to what I'm truly interested in. Suffice to say I took three courses in International Relations and that was that. I will not hide the fact that after two weeks I did not like the college culture (I know British Students have a bad reputation but we're positively serene in comparison) nor the system they operated on, but, there are a few definite positives for anyone thinking about studying in America at a Small Liberal Arts College.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Class sizes - 8-20 people max, infinitely superior to any of my classes at home or that any of my friends at various Scottish Universities are in. Professors are much more engaging and as the primary function of a Liberal Arts College is to teach far more attention is placed on it!</li>
<li>General Support- Once more I suppose you get what you pay for? Numerous scholarships available for Internships and Studying Abroad. Just in a totally different league.</li>
</ul><div><br />
</div><div>I shall stop there as there's no fun in a long, negative rant about one persons bad experience.</div><div><br />
</div><div>P.S: For the record I would love to go back to New York and Washington again.</div><br />
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</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161927916207223841.post-16712857424127635232009-05-17T00:25:00.001+01:002012-04-01T23:54:15.107+01:00Politicisation gone mad?<div color="accent1" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themepadding: 0cm 0cm 4.0pt 0cm; mso-element: para-border-div;"><div class="MsoTitle"></div><div color="accent1" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themepadding: 0cm 0cm 4.0pt 0cm; mso-element: para-border-div;"><div class="MsoTitle"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">There comes a time when you’re watching some political event such as prime minister question time and you stop and think… What is the point? Do they really care? Is it all just one-up-man ship and point scoring? Some will argue that this is traditional and the confrontational style of the House of Commons is how it has always been and is in fact British politics and politics in general. I would like to question whether in fact now people go into politics out of a genuine passion based on beliefs, politics is increasingly becoming a career choice. Along with this there has been a rising obsession with political “correctness”, what can be said, what can be shown, what is suitable, is something biased? </div><div class="MsoNormal">In particular the idea of the media and especially the BBC being “balanced” – another ambiguous word - in their reporting is ever more coming to the front. The problem with such words is that everyone has a different conception of what is a balanced story based upon our own feelings and ideas. Last month the BBC special correspondent to the Middle East Jeremy Bowen was criticised on two counts by the BBC trust for his reporting on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Bowen is one of the most well respected journalists that covers the middle east and has been reporting from warzones for over twenty years and has never once came under significant criticism for his reporting up to now.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have we gotten to the point where a story cannot be told without moderating it to appear even handed and balanced? Regardless of your beliefs with regards to Israel and its actions in the Gaza strip on who was to blame and whether Israel acted with due force it is unquestionable that many civilians were killed on both sides, however, the overwhelming majority of these were within the Gaza strip with estimates varying from between 1,000 to 3,000 dead and thousands more homeless. The BBC refused to show an appeal from a coalition of charities to raise money for humanitarian support for injured and homeless Palestinians due to the recent conflict. BBC Director General Mark Thompson said that showing the ad would;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 180.0pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Call into question the public's confidence in the BBC's impartiality in its coverage of the story as a whole.</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">The humanitarian situation in Gaza has been well documented by the UN with 1 million Palestinians thought to be reliant on foreign aid, the advert itself makes no mention of the conflict or how people has died and is in many ways was more neutral than the standard coverage. If you look at the DEC appeal, yes its emotive, yes it shows people suffering, that is the point of an appeal for donations, they want to stir up peoples emotions by showing the plight of the people involved. It is not some kind of anti-Israeli propaganda demonising their actions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 389.25pt;">The BBC’s decision to not show the appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee is simply an example of an issue where the point has been forgotten amid the political furore. The question of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank is one of the most highly sensitive issues in politics where passions are easily roused. Supporters of both sides often claim that the same article or journalist is biased towards the other which just highlights the difficulty on reporting in these areas.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 389.25pt;">I may have gone of track a little but the main point is that things should not be politicised for the sake of it. Some times it is better to simply ignore the fact that an appeal for Palestinians hurt in a conflict could potentially be seen as showing Israel as the aggressors. Perhaps the focus should be on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">people</b> that are in need of our assistance and not on making a stand for the “Independence” of the BBC or any other media outlet purely for the sake of it. </div></div><br />
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<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/smBSqO90k4c&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/smBSqO90k4c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1