Michael Rush – författare

This wide-ranging study, by one of the UK's leading scholars of British politics, presents a fascinating picture of the role of the MP during the last 150 years. The author examines the various roles of Members of Parliament since the middle of last century. Backbench MPs have three major roles-a partisan role, a constituency role, and a scrutiny role. They increasingly expect and are expected to support their parties; to help constituents with individual problems and look after their collective interests; and they are expected to keep a check on the government and its policies. These roles existed 150 years ago, but the balance between them has changed. The partisan role now dominates at Westminster, the constituency role has expanded beyond all recognition, and the scrutiny role is widely seen as the poor relation. Moreover, while constituency work has been virtually hived-off as a non-partisan role, the conflict between the partisan and the scrutiny role creates a dilemma at the heart of parliamentary government.

Contributors to this Hansard Society/Palgrave volume consider how British government and politics changed as Tony Blair gave way to Gordon Brown. Gordon at the Helm looks at a range of factors under Brown such as public opinion, party and opposition politics, British government and administration, public policy, local government and foreign policy.

Abundantly illustrated with frames and sequences, Video Art offers a history of the medium seen through the perspectives of its early practitioners, through the vast array of conceptual, political, personal and lyrical installations of the 80s and 90s to the present digital revolution. This book remains the most complete and up-to-date overview of an art form born less than forty years ago and now ubiquitous worldwide.

'Parliament Today' is an up-to-date textbook, explaining Parliament’s historical and constitutional context but focusing on how it operates in modern Britain and how it might be reformed. It looks at parliamentary government in theory and practice, drawing widely on academic research and making extensive use of Parliament’s own records. Themes and concepts are illustrated by historical, recent and contemporary examples. Where appropriate, comparisons are made with practice in other countries.Parliament is treated as a single political institution, at the same time drawing out the similarities and differences between Commons and Lords. Boxes set out themes and concepts, figures illustrate the physical layout and tables provide detailed information on Parliament’s operation.'Parliament Today' is intended for students of politics from A-level to final year undergraduates, but also for anyone interested in what Parliament does and how it works.

The essential message of the ‘two regimes’ model is that the social politics of fatherhood have taken on a global significance and that the USA and Sweden represent two ends of an international continuum of ways of thinking about fatherhood. The key selling points of the two regimes model are its topicality, originality, its global appeal, and its particularised appeal to readers in the USA, the Nordic countries, Great Britain, Ireland, the European Union, Japan and China. The book offers students a comparative analytical framework and new insights into why some welfare states have ‘father-friendly’ social policies and others do not. The book makes an original contribution to the growing fields of welfare regime and gender studies by linking the epochal decline of patriarchal fatherhood to welfare state expansion over the course of the twentieth century and it raises new questions about the legitimacy of religiously inspired neo-patriarchy.

This work aims to introduce students to the wide range of concepts, themes and ideas now regarded as central to political sociology and to draw on the extensive research available. Topics covered include the distribution of power, public opinion and modernization theory.

First published in 1992. Rush and Althoff's An Introduction to Political Sociology was published in 1971 and has been out of print for some years. In the meantime, the scope of political sociology has broadened considerably and a number of its traditional concerns have benefited from further research and publication, although some have suffered from relative neglect. The present volume is not therefore a revised edition of the original book, but a new and much more comprehensive piece of work, covering a number of major themes not previously included. Its purpose is to introduce students to the wide range of concepts, themes and ideas now regarded as central to political sociology and to draw on the extensive research available.

We constantly disagree with each other on issues of fundamental importance. Does God exist? Should the latest scientific findings be trusted? Are there innate psychological differences between men and women?In four lively chapters, Beebee and Rush explain philosophy’s role in addressing such questions. They consider what it means to be human, how we should engage in public debate, philosophy’s relationship with science and religion, and the nature of our moral choices. Far from being only an abstract endeavour, philosophy engages with issues on a practical level, and philosophers draw inspiration from real-life situations. At its core, philosophy is about how to live and how to make sense of the world we inhabit. It is a set of tools and techniques for clearly and systematically considering our arguments and uncovering our hidden assumptions, which helps us to make more informed choices about what to believe and how to act. Philosophy is everywhere, and open to everyone.

We constantly disagree with each other on issues of fundamental importance. Does God exist? Should the latest scientific findings be trusted? Are there innate psychological differences between men and women?In four lively chapters, Beebee and Rush explain philosophy’s role in addressing such questions. They consider what it means to be human, how we should engage in public debate, philosophy’s relationship with science and religion, and the nature of our moral choices. Far from being only an abstract endeavour, philosophy engages with issues on a practical level, and philosophers draw inspiration from real-life situations. At its core, philosophy is about how to live and how to make sense of the world we inhabit. It is a set of tools and techniques for clearly and systematically considering our arguments and uncovering our hidden assumptions, which helps us to make more informed choices about what to believe and how to act. Philosophy is everywhere, and open to everyone.