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Outputs (29)

Interpreting UK legislatures: an introduction (2024)
Journal Article
Beech, M., & Bevir, M. (online). Interpreting UK legislatures: an introduction. Journal of Legislative Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2345038

The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies is to explain and understand the era of profound change that has affected, and continues to impact, UK legislatures. This is an era of special change, wrought by the phenomena of... Read More about Interpreting UK legislatures: an introduction.

Why the beliefs of parliamentarians matter: an interpretive approach to legislative studies (2024)
Journal Article
Beech, M., & Bevir, M. (online). Why the beliefs of parliamentarians matter: an interpretive approach to legislative studies. Journal of Legislative Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2345035

In this article, we argue, following the interpretive approach, that parliamentarians’ beliefs, and the intellectual traditions on which they draw matter. Parliamentary behaviour and legislative practice is the contingent product of the historically... Read More about Why the beliefs of parliamentarians matter: an interpretive approach to legislative studies.

Conservative Party Ideology in the Age of Brexit (2023)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2023). Conservative Party Ideology in the Age of Brexit. In M. Beech, & S. Lee (Eds.), Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit (11-24). Palgrave Macmillan (part of Springer Nature). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21464-6_2

This essay asserts that the Age of Brexit was one of sharp ideological conflict in the Conservative Party and yet, despite such tumult, the Conservative Party demonstrated its ideological breadth by surviving schism and thriving, by winning a third s... Read More about Conservative Party Ideology in the Age of Brexit.

Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit (2023)
Book
Beech, M., & Lee, S. (Eds.). (2023). Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21464-6

This book provides the first evaluation of the three Conservative administrations which have been affected, shaped and largely determined by the age of Brexit.It breaks new ground by collectively analysing the Cameron, May and Johnson administrations... Read More about Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit.

Interpreting Brexit: Reimagining Political Traditions (2022)
Book
Bevir, M., & Beech, M. (Eds.). (2022). Interpreting Brexit: Reimagining Political Traditions. Palgrave Macmillan (part of Springer Nature). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17281-6

This volume examines the impact of Brexit on political traditions such as nationalism, liberalism and conservatism, cosmopolitanism and decentralization. Bringing together scholars of British Politics, the chapters focus on the following topics: Bre... Read More about Interpreting Brexit: Reimagining Political Traditions.

Brexit and the Labour Party: Europe, cosmopolitanism and the narrowing of traditions (2021)
Journal Article
Beech, M. (2021). Brexit and the Labour Party: Europe, cosmopolitanism and the narrowing of traditions. British Politics, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-021-00168-6

The phenomenon of Brexit is reordering British politics. Its effects have led to political and cultural shock, disruption and rifts. This article explores how the phenomenon of Brexit has decentered the Labour Party’s ideational traditions. The artic... Read More about Brexit and the Labour Party: Europe, cosmopolitanism and the narrowing of traditions.

Divided by values: Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party and England's 'North-South Divide' (2020)
Journal Article
Beech, M., & Hickson, K. (2020). Divided by values: Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party and England's 'North-South Divide'. Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique, 24(2),

This article explores the sociocultural divide in England exposed by Brexit. The metaphors of ‘North’ and ‘South’ are used to explain this, where the former is seen as more culturally conservative and the latter as more cosmopolitan. We examine the... Read More about Divided by values: Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party and England's 'North-South Divide'.

The place of human rights in the foreign policy of Cameron's Conservatives: Sceptics or enthusiasts? (2019)
Journal Article
Beech, M., & Munce, P. (2019). The place of human rights in the foreign policy of Cameron's Conservatives: Sceptics or enthusiasts?. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 21(1), 116-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148118819066

The purpose of this article is to explain the place of human rights in the foreign policy thinking of David Cameron’s Conservatives (2005–2016). The article asks three interrelated questions: First, what role has human rights come to acquire in inter... Read More about The place of human rights in the foreign policy of Cameron's Conservatives: Sceptics or enthusiasts?.

The Progressives (2018)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2018). The Progressives. In M. Beech, K. Hickson, & R. Plant (Eds.), The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding Labour's Political Thought Since 1945 (67-79). (2nd edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315170848-6

The chapter on New Labour in the first edition of this volume was finished in 2003. Tony Blair resigned in 2007 and Gordon Brown left office in 2010. This chapter seeks not to cover previous ground but to take the long view. By that I mean to explain... Read More about The Progressives.

Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State (2017)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2017). Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State. In R. E. Backhouse, B. W. Bateman, T. Nishizawa, & D. Plehwe (Eds.), Liberalism and the Welfare State: Economists & arguments for the Welfare State (118-130). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780190676681.003.0007

This chapter argues that the New Labour governments (1997–2010) were not a political project wholly based on neoliberal assumptions, as the “majority view” in the scholarship asserts. In the area of welfare policy New Labour adopted a modified social... Read More about Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State.

The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government (2015)
Book
Beech, M., & Lee, S. (2015). M. Beech, & S. Lee (Eds.). The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137461377

This book offers a unique full term analysis of the Cameron-Clegg Government. From austerity to gay marriage, the Scottish referendum to combating IS, it brings together expert academic voices to provide rigorous yet readable insights on the key area... Read More about The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government.

Humanitarian intervention and foreign policy in the Conservative-led coalition (2013)
Journal Article
Beech, M., & Oliver, T. (2014). Humanitarian intervention and foreign policy in the Conservative-led coalition. Parliamentary affairs, 67(1), 102-118. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gst024

This paper examines the role of humanitarian intervention as a tool of foreign policy in the Conservative-led Coalition. The first section of the paper provides historical context and assesses the traditional approaches to humanitarian intervention a... Read More about Humanitarian intervention and foreign policy in the Conservative-led coalition.

The British welfare state and its discontents (2012)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2012). The British welfare state and its discontents. In J. Connelly, & J. Hayward (Eds.), The Withering of the Welfare State: Regression (86-100). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230349230_6

At the heart of British politics is the welfare state. As a political idea it is contested, and as a framework of public services and entitlements it is complex. Friedrich Hayek commented upon the imprecision of the term ‘welfare state’: ‘Unlike soci... Read More about The British welfare state and its discontents.

The Left and Englishness (2012)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2012). The Left and Englishness. In These Englands : a conversation on national identity (137-154). Manchester University Press

A social democratic narrative of British democracy (2011)
Journal Article
Beech, M. (2012). A social democratic narrative of British democracy. Policy studies : the journal of the Policy Studies Institute, 33(2), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2011.601205

This article argues that social democracy as a political ideology has much to contribute to a narrative of British democracy. Democracy is the central tenet of social democracy and this distinguishes it from Marxist socialism. However, despite the La... Read More about A social democratic narrative of British democracy.

A tale of two liberalisms (2011)
Book Chapter
Beech, M. (2011). A tale of two liberalisms. In S. Lee, & M. Beech (Eds.), The Cameron-Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity (267-279). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230305014

The Conservative-Liberal Government represents a new period in British politics. The Coalition brought to an end 13 years of New Labour rule and reintroduced the idea of inter-party cooperation in government. The United Kingdom has not experienced su... Read More about A tale of two liberalisms.