Crewe Ivor

blunder/'bl?nd?(r)/, n., A gross mistake; an error due to stupidity or carelessness. There are a handful of cock-ups that we remember all too well, from the poll tax to the Millennium Dome. However, the list is longer than most of us realize – and it’s growing. With unrivalled political savvy and a keen sense of irony, distinguished political scientists Anthony King and Ivor Crewe open our eyes to the worst government horror stories and explain why the British political system is quite so prone to appalling mistakes. You will discover why: • The government wasted up to £20 billion pounds in a failed scheme to update London’s Underground system. • Tens of thousands of single mothers were left in poverty without financial support from absent fathers. • Tony Blair committed the NHS to the biggest civilian IT project the world has ever seen, despite knowing next to nothing about computing. • The Assets Recovery Agency cost far more to run than it ever clawed back from the proceeds of organised crime. • The Coalition government is at least as blunder-prone as any of its predecessors. Groupthink, constantly rotating ministers and a weak parliament all contribute to wasted billions and illogical policy. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Informed by years of research and interviews with senior cabinet ministers and civil servants, this razor-sharp diagnosis of flawed government is required reading for every UK citizen. With its spirited prescriptions for more fool-proof policymaking, it will prove to be one of the most important political books of the decade.

The diverse violence of modern Britain is hardly new. The Britain of 1850 to 1950 was similarly afflicted. The book is divided into four parts. 'Getting Hurt' which looks at everyday violence in the home (including a chapter on infanticide). 'Uses and Rejections' two chapters on the use of violence within groups of men and women outside the home (for example, violence within youth gangs, and male violence centred around pubs). 'Going Public' three chapters on how violence was regulated by law and the professional agencies which were set up to deal with it. 'Perceptions and Representations' this final section looks at how violence was written about, using both fiction and non-fiction sources. Throughout the book the recurring themes of gender, class, continuity and change, public/private, and experience, discourses and representations are highlighted.

Over the past thirty years a wealth of statistical information about British voters and British elections has been collected by the British Election Studies research teams. The British Electorate, 1963–1992 makes these data available in a standard, easy-to-read format accessible to the non-technical user. Tables display the same data for each election, allowing the reader to compare any two elections between 1964 and 1992, or to trace trends across the whole period. The information presented covers a wide range of topics in voting and public opinion, including the vote, turnout, party membership, partisanship, and attitudes on issues such as abortion, capital punishment and nationalisation. Data on sub-groups of the electorate (men and women, young and old, trade unionists, the unemployed, Conservative and Labour voters etc) are also presented. This book will be an important reference for political and sociological researchers, both within academia and outside.