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    From dynasty to decay: an analysis of 19th century changes to the Chinese political economy

From dynasty to decay: an analysis of 19th century changes to the Chinese political economy

Written by Caroline Wohl (General Course)

Despite economic prowess during the Song dynasty, subsequent regimes failed to
replicate growth (Brandt, Ma and Rawski, 2014). Using Francis Fukuyama’s Reactionary Thermador Model, I will argue that interlocking incentives among the Qing’s bureaucratic elite provided resistance to reform in the nineteenth and twentieth-century. This lack of reform deteriorated the state’s legitimacy, creating preconditions for […]

March 28th, 2019|Articles|0 Comments|
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Are Populism and Democracy Incompatible?

Written by George Pipiou (PPE)

The one-line argument employed to discredit populism is a reiteration of the mantra that ‘populism is incompatible with democracy’. In this article I aim to prove that this is actually far from the truth. A simple etymological decomposition of the word democracy into its two Greek components dêmos and kratía sheds light on this. For […]

March 5th, 2019|Articles|0 Comments|
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    Is the European Union governed by ‘unelected bureaucrats’?

Is the European Union governed by ‘unelected bureaucrats’?

Written by Eponine Howarth (LLB)

The opinion that the European Union is governed by ‘unelected bureaucrats’ is commonly held by europhobes and an argument wielded by the Leave campaign in the referendum on the British exit of the European Union. The claim refers to the powers of the Commission in particular, one of the executive bodies of the EU, partly […]

February 19th, 2019|Articles|14 Comments|
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Orientalism: in review

Naomi Potter (Bsc Politics and International Relations) undertakes an analytical review of Edward Said’s seminal book, Orientalism (1978).

Edward Said, a Palestinian academic working in the mid-late 20th century, wrote Orientalism (1978) in order to underline the essentialising narratives of Western scholars which he saw as dominating the East throughout history. The so-called ‘East’ in his account was the geographical territory spanning […]

January 15th, 2019|Articles|0 Comments|
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Globalisation and State Sovereignty: A Mixed Bag

By Jacalyn Goldzweig Panitz (Bsc International Relations)

As the process of economic globalisation has unfolded since the 1960s, international trade and capital flows have grown tremendously (Hay, 2014). While perhaps not unprecedented, this growth has led some to argue that the sovereignty of the nation-state is under dire threat. At a campaign rally in April of 2016, then U.S. Presidential-nominee Donald […]

January 10th, 2019|Articles|0 Comments|
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    Essay competition 2018 third place: What are the effects of the rise of China on the present world order?

Essay competition 2018 third place: What are the effects of the rise of China on the present world order?

“What are the effects of the rise of China on the present world order?”

This article was written by Joseph McGrath, year 13 student at the Judd School.

The rise of China onto the forefront of the world stage is both remarkable and concerning, signalling at the very least a threat to the present world order, currently dominated by the ever-present […]

October 15th, 2018|Articles, Essay Competition|0 Comments|
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    Essay competition 2018 second place: Is war and conflict an inevitable feature of global politics?

Essay competition 2018 second place: Is war and conflict an inevitable feature of global politics?

“Is war and conflict an inevitable feature of global politics?”

This article was written by Dheevesh Mungroo, year 13 student at John Kennedy College, Mauritius.

War and conflict takes several forms; military or non-military and interstate or state versus organisation. I shall use the steps to war (Vasquez and Henehan, 1999) and motivated biases (Mercer, 2005) theories to support my argument that war and conflict may […]

October 9th, 2018|Articles, Essay Competition, Uncategorized|1 Comment|
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    Essay competition 2018 winner: “The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate” – Thomas Jefferson

Essay competition 2018 winner: “The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate” – Thomas Jefferson

“The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate”. With the rise of fake news, historically low voter turnouts, and populist angst, to what extent is Thomas Jefferson correct regarding democracy in the twenty-first century?

This article was written by Gabriel Brown, year 12 student at Charterhouse school.

 

Recent years have seen many of the most contentious and […]

October 5th, 2018|Articles, Essay Competition, Uncategorized|0 Comments|
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Overrepresentation in criminal justice systems

Why are certain groups of people overrepresented in the criminal justice system?
By Eponine Howarth (LSE (BSc Politics and International Relations)

Criminal statistics usually categorise social groups according to religion, race, gender and class. But, why are certain groups of people systematically overrepresented in the criminal justice system? We do not assume the existence of a single criminal justice system or definition […]

January 25th, 2018|Articles|1 Comment|
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What can neuroscience teach us about the social world?

By Philipp Ershov
(BSc Government and Economics)

It is easy to forget that the social sciences as we know them now are a relatively modern phenomenon. Economics was, even in the time of the father of modern ‘textbook’ economics Alfred Marshall, still called ‘political economy’. Political science, prior to its inclusion in the name of the London School of Economics and Political […]

December 6th, 2017|Articles|1 Comment|
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