Michael Cole

• B.Sc, M.Sc, M.Phil, PhD
• Senior Lecturer at University of Liverpool

The concept of a public energy field is central to public administration discourse theory. Its main idea is the facilitation of dialog between government and the public, on the basis of equality, to construct a public policy consensus. In contemporary society, social media provides new and distinctive channels for such interactions. Social media ca...

This article considers impacts from innovation, defined in terms of research and development expenditure, on carbon emissions. We relate our study to scholarship about the Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, situating this analysis within literature about the compatibility of broadly capitalist systems and combating clim...

Working paper. Abstract: Governmental quality has emerged as a core element of contemporary discussions about governance and public administration, especially concerning delivery of policy objectives. In this article, quantified benchmarks of government quality are related to delivery of public agendas in relation to perhaps the ultimate super wic...

The determinants that affect carbon dioxide emission reduction have been widely studied. With the innovative development of science and technology, more and more scholars are paying attention to the impact of innovation on CO2 emission reduction in countries. Scholars often have conflicting results based on research in specific fields or specific r...

The mechanism of the relationship between democratization and the inequality has been one of the main focuses of political and economic research, albeit with no consensus. The presence of missing values and the voluminous social, economic, environmental measures across countries and the discretion needed to select proxies/measures, lead to difficul...

We study productivity and welfare provision in three megacities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China. We developed an economic model, which regards individuals as both consumers of private and public goods and suppliers of labor in the production process, operating within the Hukou system which constrains entitlement to public goods and servic...

This article addresses the work-derived subjective well-being (SWB) of internal migrants in urban China, thus assessing the experience of a group of deprived and marginalised individuals, suffering through labour market discrimination and inferior access to public services, yet central to the economic development of a major world economy. The analy...

This article addresses whether the promotion of China’s provincial leadership can be explained through economic growth or alternative factors (experience, education or having previously held a central government post). We use promotion definitions, based on official administrative rankings and a more accurate reflection of political-governmental po...

The study considers the ‘Shared’ Workplace agenda in Northern Ireland, which is a significant aspect of the reconciliation process. Our emphasis is on the capacity of a wide group of work-based social identifications to affect, limit, and frustrate this policy. Specifically, we address the impact of spatial and functional factors as well as occupat...

This article addreses scrutiny undertaken through departmental committees at the Scottish Parliament. The analysis is addressed through four distinctive phases – choice, evidence-gathering, evaluation and outputs – developed through using a wide-ranging comparative literature. The findings on Scotland are discussed in terms of the bi-constitutional...

In this article, we consider the functions of students' unions (SUs) through a UK case study. First, a functional classification of educational representation; wider representation; delivery of commercial services and faciliating a student community is outlined. Second, we specify a theoretical framework in terms of neo-liberalism and therapeutic i...

This article considers non-legislative committee scrutiny at the Northern Ireland Assembly. The core question is: How is such committee scrutiny diminished through the consociational/power-sharing context? The question is assessed in terms of three phases – selection, obtaining evidence, and evaluative – and through eight specific claims. Considera...

This article addresses committee scrutiny undertaken through the three main UK devolved institutions (the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly). This is undertaken using a framework derived from scholarship about House of Commons select committees and a substantive comparative literature. Devolved c...

In the last chapter, which concerned the 2006–2007 bull market, we analyzed and discussed a number of features related to bull markets in China. Specifically, their formation mechanism, performance characteristics, relevant empirical observations related to index design, as well as their terminal signals. This chapter is structured as follows. In t...

This article addresses committee scrutiny undertaken at the National Assembly for Wales during the third assembly (2007-2011). The analysis is addressed through a scrutiny framework that considers the substantive issues in terms of three overarching elements - selection, access to information and assistance, and evaluation. The framework is develop...

This article analyses the fourth elections to the National Assembly for Wales (Assembly). It tracks some important longitudinal themes and early trends in the development of a more distinctive Welsh politics post-devolution. We delineate the principal campaign themes and dynamics; and chronicle shifts in opinion polling and electoral support for th...

Local ward boundary reviews are designed to equalise electorates within each local authority, thereby satisfying the requirement of ‘one vote, one value’. In 2010 this responsibility was passed to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England which has sought to engage with key stakeholders about the process generally. The main actors affect...

This article analyses the campaign, results and outcome of the 2007 elections to the National Assembly for Wales. It discusses the constitutional and legislative framework of devolution in Wales, the election campaign and opinion polls. There is extensive analysis of the election results, the performance of each of the main and some of the smaller...

It is conceivable that political historians of early twenty-first-century British politics might focus on 2006 as the year in which a ‘traditional’ pattern of Labour-Conservative competition started to re-emerge. The year might herald the return of the phenomenon of the mid-term slump in support for the government that has been absent from British...

English This article evaluates the impact of community appraisals undertaken in 46 predominantly rural communities in south-west England. The analysis is based on responses to a questionnaire and focus groups with representatives of 10 communities. The survey considered the extent to which community concerns were addressed and the impact of the app...

The 2005 general election, held on 5 May, brought a third successive victory for Labour, although its majority was more than halved. The election was won despite misgivings about the wisdom, if not the legality, of Tony Blair’s decision to assist in the invasion of Iraq. Labour suffered a net loss of 47 seats compared with the previous election in...

This article considers the debate about quangos, which occurred in Britain during the 1970s. Contributions from academics, politicians and popular commentators are evaluated and contrasted. The study identifies five main concerns about these organisations. They are accused of being wasteful, unaccountable and too numerous. The system of ministerial...

This article evaluates the accountability of the strategic layer of Plymouth Health Action Zone (HAZ) and identifies conclusions with a wider application to partnership governance. The structures of Plymouth HAZ are assessed in the context of horizontal, vertical and downward models of accountability. The study finds fundamental weaknesses in the a...

This paper provides an evaluation of consultations undertaken by Devon County Council and is based on interviews with over 40 managers. Information is supplied about the details given to consultees, the methodological expertise of council employees, the extent to which consultations were co-ordinated across the authority and the results/impact of t...

The article considers the impact of the Health Action Zone (HAZ) in Plymouth through a theory-based evaluation that combines theories of change and realistic evaluation. The study assesses the impact of 37 projects sponsored by this HAZ. The extent to which these projects used a realistic evaluation/theories of change framework and achieved their o...

The issue of departmentalism has been a recurring theme in discussions about UK local government. In this article the implications of the Labour Government's modernization agenda for departmentalism in local authorities are considered and assessed. In particular, the potential impact of the political management reforms, Best Value, the rise of the...

This article considers the origins of the local government reform agenda of the 1997 to 2001 Labour government. The analysis identifies a wide range of factors including recurring themes in the debate about local government, market mechanisms, Labour Party politics, the traditions of the British state, the constitutional reform agenda and the inter...

This article considers the role(s) of county councillors in the context of the contemporary reform agenda. This study incorporates an analysis of the relevant academic literature, however the conclusions are based on interviews with county councillors in Devon. The responses are used to draw a distinction between community focused and more traditio...

This article evaluates the shift to an executive and scrutiny model in local government by assessing the changes at Devon County Council. Interviews were used to evaluate support for the changes and identify the key issues and problems. Most members had little enthusiasm for the reforms, support for the changes was dependent on the loyalty of Liber...

This article considers the impact of using a proportional system on elections to the Welsh Assembly. The study uses evidence form 13 General and European election results to predict the probable result of a Welsh Assembly election using the Welsh variation of the Additional Member System. The probable outcomes are compared with the result of the fi...

This article considers the theory and practice of accountability arrangements for quangos in the UK. Theoretical notions of accountability are discussed and the practice of parliamentary accountability evaluated in the context of the traditional notion of ministerial responsibility. The study outlines the results obtained through an empirical analy...

While much concern has been expressed about the accountability of quasi‐government there has been little empirical research on the subject. Similarly, the literature lacks a thorough assessment of the contribution of parliamentary questions to holding governmental institutions accountable. In this paper part of this gap in the literature is closed...

Conventional analyses of local government structure focus on the revolutionary changes that result from deliberate reorganisations. We propose a new perspective on structural change that emphasises the importance of evolutionary processes as well as radical reforms. Evolutionary changes in structure are caused, for example, by population growth or...

Discussion about quasi-government usually involves the term ‘quango’. There is, however, no generally accepted definition of this concept or any widespread understanding of the way in which in the term has influenced the debate about quasi-governmental bodies. In this paper the origins and development of ‘quango’ are explored and its persistence an...

The structure of local government in England and Wales is evaluated on the basis of public-choice theories concerning structural effects on performance. The concepts of fragmentation and concentration are applied to changes in the pattern of top-tier units since 1831. For most of this period the structure of this set of authorities became much less...

The concept of a tier is central to the structure of local government. However there has been no clear definition of the concept, and the term has been applied in vague and inconsistent ways. Furthermore, no procedure exists for identifying the number of tiers in a local government system. In order to resolve these problems a pure model of a hierar...