The dissertation is a multi-method study on current and common challenges to liberal democracy facing governments and societies on both sides of the Atlantic, with a particular emphasis on disaffection with democracy in Europe. It examines the factors that have led to disaffected publics in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Greece, by looking at political and economic developments that unfolded over the last decade including the Eurozone and Greek crisis, the Trump Presidency and the Brexit vote to leave the EU. By looking closely at these events, a number of factors are put in the forefront of analysis, such as globalization, European integration, domestic party politics and populism, and the rise of authoritarian politics. The dissertation draws evidence from a large pool of public opinion data on a number of issues relating to the quality of government and democracy, in-depth interviews with high-ranking officials and political actors in Brussels and Athens, discourse analysis of political statements and party manifestos, and employs literature underpinning the concepts applied in the research as analytical frameworks. Looking at the discontent relating to democracy in three particular contexts, the following insights can be drawn: public disaffection in the United States is primarily attributed to factors such as the indirect effects of globalization. However, further research shows that globalization has been more of a populist narrative taken out of its real context and consequences to garner further political support for populist leaders both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Public disaffection in United Kingdom is seemingly stemming from the perceived disadvantages of EU membership, and its connection to global economic forces. Hence anti-establishment politics, and nationalist populism turn out to be major factors contributing to disaffection and help explain voters’ attitudes both regarding the Brexit vote and the Trump Presidency. Finally, the Greek case sharply illustrates how all of these factors have been at play during the management of the Greek economic crisis adding to further delegitimization of the European project. This was on the one hand manifested by the EU’s turn to neoliberal economic policy and neoliberal globalization, austerity politics, and the dismantling of the welfare state following the IMF’s economic prescriptions. On the other hand, what makes Greece distinct is its particularly troubled past of adversarial politics pertaining to the country’s political system, state and reform capacity, and not least the special character of the relationship between citizens and the political class, which has been traditionally marked by low levels of trust towards political parties and national governments. In this context, both the effects of the economic crisis and crisis management across the national and supranational context, further contributed to the citizens’ disaffection with democracy in Greece. / 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z

Yes / Changes globally mean that there are now record numbers of mothers in paid employment and a reported prevalence of involved fathering. This poses challenges to mothers and fathers as they negotiate care-work practices within their relationships. Focusing on interviews with three heterosexual couples (taken from a wider UK qualitative project on working parents), the paper considers care-work negotiations of three couples, against a backdrop of debates about intensive mothering and involved fathering. It aims to consider different configurations of work and care within three different couple relationships. We found that power within the relationships was negotiated along differential axis of gender and working status (full or part time paid work) . We present qualitatively rich insights into these negotiations. Framed by a critical discursive psychological approach, we call on other researchers to think critically about dominant discourses and practices of working, caring and parenting, pointedly how couples situated around the world operationalise these discourses in talking about themselves as worker and carers.

Yes

Yes / The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and importance of management skills in the pharmacy profession and pharmacists’ ability to respond to current and future challenges in healthcare provision. As service professionals, pharmacists are engaged based on their expertise and skills, and are noted for their contribution to the knowledge-based economy and control over the application of their knowledge (Abbott, 1991). The same premise would apply to other professionals e.g. healthcare (nurses, doctors and psychologists); legal (lawyers, solicitors and barristers); consultancy; accountancy; banking and architecture (von Nordenflycht, 2010). An exploratory analysis of UK and Spanish pharmacists’ roles and their adoption of management skills was thus undertaken. Both healthcare systems are very similar and likewise the clinical training and role of pharmacists, professional standards and regulations are similar but there are subtle differences. Data were collected using semi-structured online surveys; two thirds of the data were collected from a UK audience and the final third from Spanish pharmacists. The data collection was planned and iterative in the first two stages (stage one influencing stage two) (UK) and the final stage (Spain) offered an opportunistic comparator study. The results demonstrated that there was overwhelming support for management skills to be part of undergraduate studies. The outputs of this study identify the most important management skills pharmacists need to perform effectively. Consideration was also given to the impact of inability to perform in their role, and hence the possibility of occupational derailment (leaving their role or being demoted). These findings offer important learning to support workforce development in all professional services.

No description available.

Yes / Binge drinking has sparked considerable interest and concern. However despite this interest little is known about the lay understanding of binge drinking and whether there are differences in understanding by gender, age and level of deprivation. Aims: This study investigated the beliefs and attitudes of a sample in the Inverclyde area to binge drinking. Methods: Using both cluster and quota sampling, 586 subjects completed a structured interview, using open questions about their beliefs on binge drinking and was it a problem generally and locally. Findings: Definitions of binge drinking tended to concentrate on intoxication and some described a dependent drinking pattern. Causes and solutions offered were varied but pointed up levels of deprivation in respect of jobs and entertainment. More subjects regarded binge drinking as a problem in society than locally, which is consistent with research suggesting that misperceptions of others¿ drinking increases with social distance. Differences in beliefs were found by age and level of deprivation but not gender. It was marked that no subject offered the `official¿ definition of bingeing or even an approximation of it. Conclusions: Further research is required if future mass media campaigns and interventions are to be relevant to the population.

Yes

Yes / Over the past few decades the number of women having their first babies over the age of 35 in the United Kingdom (UK) has increased. Women’s timing of motherhood is invariably bound up with a discourse of ‘choice’ and in this paper we consider the role choice plays in the timing of motherhood among women who have been defined as ‘older’ mothers. This article is based on data from 11 semi-structured interviews that explored the transition to motherhood among ‘older’ middle-class mothers. The interviews were analysed using critical discursive psychology. The women drew upon two dominant repertoires when making sense of their timing of motherhood. Within the first repertoire, ‘older motherhood as circumstance’, older motherhood was presented as the outcome of life circumstances beyond their control, with a lack of the ‘right’ circumstances facilitating ‘delayed’ motherhood. Within the second repertoire, ‘older motherhood as readiness’, women constructed themselves as (now) prepared for motherhood. ‘Readiness’ was bound up with notions of self-fulfillment, yet also assessments of their ability to be ‘good’ mothers. We conclude that, far from a straightforward choice, the timing of motherhood is shaped by cultural definitions of the ‘right’ circumstances for parenthood, but also cultural definitions of ‘good’ motherhood, which may define when women are ‘ready’.

Yes / Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have consistently reported an association between education and myopia. However, conventional observational studies are at risk of bias due to confounding by factors such as socioeconomic position and parental educational attainment. The current study aimed to estimate the causal effect of education on refractive error using regression discontinuity analysis. Methods: Regression discontinuity analysis was applied to assess the influence on refractive error of the raising of the school leaving age (ROSLA) from 15 to 16 years introduced in England and Wales in 1972. For comparison, a conventional ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis was performed. The analysis sample comprised 21,548 UK Biobank participants born in a nine-year interval centered on September 1957, the date of birth of those first affected by ROSLA. Results: In OLS analysis, the ROSLA 1972 reform was associated with a −0.29 D (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.36 to −0.21, P < 0.001) more negative refractive error. In other words, the refractive error of the study sample became more negative by −0.29 D during the transition from a minimum school leaving age of 15 to 16 years of age. Regression discontinuity analysis estimated the causal effect of the ROSLA 1972 reform on refractive error as −0.77 D (95% CI: −1.53 to −0.02, P = 0.04). Conclusions: Additional compulsory schooling due to the ROSLA 1972 reform was associated with a more negative refractive error, providing additional support for a causal relationship between education and myopia. / Global Education program of the Russian Federation government (DP) and an NIHR Senior Research Fellowship award SRF-2015-08-005 (CW), The Department for Health through an award made by the NIHR to the Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom (grant no. BRC2_009). Additional support was provided by The Special Trustees of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom (grant no. ST 12 09)

No / The enactment of a third statutory union recognition procedure in Britain in 2000 led to a sharp rise and then fall in the number of new, largely voluntary, union recognition agreements being signed. This article examines and explains this trajectory, finding that the interaction of a weak procedure with its wider environment has led to a situation where the outcome of a reflexive law is heavily determined by the external balance of power in employment relations.