Publications

This paper focuses on the principal parties’ manifestos in UK statewide elections 1970–2010. It makes an original contribution by using a mixed methodology to examine the electoral discourse, issue-salience and policy framing associated with civil conflict resolution (CCR) proposals for Northern Ireland. Mandate and accountability theory suggest that party programmes may play an important role…

This article explores the notion of ‘community parenting’ in one neighbourhood in South Wales. Community parenting is defined here as parenting that is carried out collectively or between families within a community. Placed within a context of continuing political and practitioner interest in how to understand and enhance parenting in marginalised communities in the United…

Since 1999 it was the view that parliamentary devolution had enabled Welsh Governments to pursue a wide range of imaginative policies across the whole gamut of educational provision. More recently, however, the focus of political discourse has shifted to the perceived failures of Welsh schools. This ‘crisis of Welsh education’ has provided the basis for…

Attendees were welcomed and introduced themselves. It was explained that this event wasthe first of a series co-funded by the ESRC, to be held in collaboration with the WalesInstitute for Social and Economic Research, Data & Method (WISERD). The aim of theseevents will be to facilitate a regular and genuine dialogue between policy makers andpractitioners.

The coalition government has set out plans to dismantle the regional tier and return powers to localities and Whitehall departments. These changes will have significant implications for the way in which transport policy is formulated and delivered in England. When in power, New Labour introduced a range of measures to strengthen governance arrangements for promoting…

This article deals with issues relating to trade union density and the fact that while over the past 30 years, union densities have followed a declining path in all regions, this retreat was not uniform across space. Analysis of the Labour Force Survey reveals that Wales exhibits among the highest levels of union density in…

Rurality—the condition of not being urban—has been affected by global forces throughout history, and in the 21st century, the concept of the rural is transported globally even as rural areas themselves are increasingly a part of the global economy.

There is a long and fundamental connection between rural place and the land. Whereas land is simply the foundation for the construction of towns and cities, whose urban culture and economy thrive on human ingenuity and industry that may have little direct attachment to the physical ground over which it occurs, historical discourses of rurality…

Learning English in Taiwan has become a primary economic concern as industries have recognized the need to compete within global markets in which trade is predominantly carried out in English. The growth in demand for, and supply of, English language education in school settings is escalating. The National Curriculum of Primary and Secondary Schools (Grades…

The Wales Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) is an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional academic research group based in Wales, UK. One of the key objectives of WISERD is to develop a spatial framework that enhances a researcher’s ability to discover socio-economic research data relating to Wales with the aim of encouraging collaborative research and…