BJPIR - British Journal of Politics and International Relations - news

News

New articles
Two articles from the current issue:
- After Chilcot: The 'Doctrine of International Community' and the UK Decision to Invade Iraq (pp.304–325) by Jason Ralph; and
- New Order: Political Change and the Protestant Orange Tradition in Northern Ireland (pp.400–419) by Jon Tonge, Jocelyn Evans, Robert Jeffery and James W. McAuley
are the subject of discussion on "British Politics and Policy at LSE", a prominent scholarly blog that is widely read in policy making circles, at http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/.

Thompson Reuters Ranking
BJPIR has received its first ranking since acceptance into the Thompson Reuters citation index (formerly ISI). The journal has an impact factor of 1.025 and a ranking of 19/73 in International Relations and 38/139 in Political Science. The whole QUB BJPIR team are delighted with this excellent result. Editor, Andrew Baker said, 'for a first ranking this is a truly outstanding result, that reflects the hard work, the whole team have put into the journal over the previous two years. It is also testimony to the quality of the submissions we have received from our authors and the endeavours of previous editorial teams at Nottingham and Birmingham in building the reputation and profile of the journal. We hope that this will encourage authors to continue submitting their best work to the journal. We think this result along with Political Studies ranking at 34 on the Political Science list, headlines that the PSA now has two world class political science journals, of which the Association can be rightfully proud'.

An article published in issue 13:2 (2011) of the Journal, 'Mind the Gap: Political Analysis, Public Expectations and the Parliamentary Decline Thesis' (pp. 249-268), by Matthew Flinders (University of Sheffield) and Alexandra Kelso (University of Southamton) has been the subject of a blog on the Democratic Audit site. To contribute to the debate follow this link .
The article is available as free view until the end of August on the Wiley Blackwell website here.

BJPIR at PSA and ECPR Joint Sessions 2011

Dr. Alistair Clark from the BJPIR editorial team and Joanne Diamond of Wiley-Blackwell at the BJPIR 'Meet the Editor' session at ECPR Joint Sessions, University of St. Gallen.

BJPIR was much in evidence at both the ECPR Joint Sessions and the 61st Political Studies Association Conference in mid-April 2011. With the assistance of Wiley-Blackwell's team, BJPIR editor Dr Alistair Clark ran fruitful 'Meet the Editor' sessions at both ECPR in St. Gallen (pictured) and PSA in London. Contributions to the journal were discussed with a number of authors, and in the case of one previously published article - A. Blau (2004) 'Fairness and Electoral Reform', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 6, (2), pp165-181 - formed a basis for discussion alongside other contributions in a panel on the issue of electoral reform in the UK. Submissions to BJPIR are very welcome and authors considering doing so are encouraged to consult the BJPIR website here for further information on how to do so.

BJPIR at the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, DC

Andrew Baker, with Lucie Peplow of Wiley Blackwell and Professor Vicky Randall, Chair of the PSA

BJPIR at the PSA 60th Anniversary Annual Conference

As one of the PSA's high profile political science journals, the now ISI-cited British Journal of Politics and International Relations (BJPIR) celebrated the association's 60^th Anniversary in style at the recent PSA Conference held in Edinburgh. Led by Drs. Alistair Clark and Susan McManus from BJPIR's editorial team, the journal ran two well-attended and hotly debated roundtable sessions on the first afternoon of the conference.

Participants at the BJPIR 2010 Election Roundtable: L-R, Prof Paul Whiteley, Dr. Rosie Campbell, Prof. John Curtice, Dr. Alistair Clark and Dr. Andrew Russell.

The first roundtable, 'The 2010 UK General Election: Prospects, Challenges and Implications', examined the forthcoming general election in depth. Dr. Rosie Campbell (Birkbeck) discussed the issue of gender in the so-called 'Mumsnet' election, while Prof. Paul Whiteley (Essex/BES) assessed the parties' opinion poll performances, voting behaviour and prospects for a hung parliament. Dr. Andrew Russell (Manchester) followed up by assessing the parties' campaigning behaviour prior to the election being called, while Prof. John Curtice (Strathclyde) returned to the opinion polls to discuss the performance of the opinion pollsters in tracking developments in public opinion. Extensive discussion between the panellists and audience followed with all convinced that the 2010 contest would be one of the most closely fought in many years, something which the election campaign has not failed to deliver.

Prof. John Street addressing the 'Celebrity Politics' BJPIR Roundtable

The second roundtable on 'Celebrity Politics' celebrated a specific and noteworthy achievement related to BJPIR. Prof. John Street's article 'Celebrity Politicians: Popular Culture and Political Representation' (2004) has been the most downloaded article since BJPIR was launched. To celebrate this, this second roundtable was organised by Dr. Debbie Lisle, supported by the PSA's Art and Politics Specialist Group, and chaired by Dr. Susan McManus. Discussion revolved around Prof. Street's seminal article and the contribution that it has made to developing research in the field of celebrity politics. Prof. Street opened the discussion by reflecting upon the shifting roles of politicians and celebrities in shaping and delivering policy. While recognising a certain amount of increased power of celebrities in 'endorsing' politicians and causes, his recent research on how young people 'read' celebrity politics suggests a more sceptical eye is now being cast upon 'celebrity effects'. Dr Mark Wheeler (London Metropolitan) developed important methodological insights in the field before applying these to the relationship between Hollywood and Washington - exemplified by Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger - in order to propose an analytical model of 'celebrity diplomacy'. Moving into the field of aesthetics and International Relations, Riina Yrjola (Jyvaskyla) developed a critical analysis of 'celebrity humanitarianism', exemplified by Live Aid and Live 8, particularly focusing on the ways in which the interventions of 'celebrity humanitarians' reproduce potentially depoliticizing imaginaries of Africa. Nathan Farrell (Bristol) developed a robustly critical argument on the dangers of the involvement of celebrities in activist politics, such as the ways in which celebrities can function reductively so as to marginalise and exclude other participants and voices. Finally, Dr Philip Drake (Stirling) brought the discussion closer to home, deploying 'frame analysis' in order to order to critically analyse the way in which David Cameron has created 'performances of legitimacy' through the construction of 'leadership frames'. The animated discussion that followed attested to the significance of these new research trajectories in the endeavour to identify, respond to, and critically analyse this increasing important medium through which contemporary political life works. The roundtable was also recorded and can be downloaded as a Podcast

The 'Celebrity Politics' BJPIR Roundtable in deep deliberation

Although the weather in Edinburgh extended a typical Scottish welcome, plenty of hospitality was available at the post-roundtable BJPIR Reception, sponsored by Wiley Blackwell, the journal's publishers. This was an extremely busy event, held in the splendid surroundings of the Merchants Hall just off Princes Street in Edinburgh. Thanks are due to the Edinburgh organising committee for organising such a splendid venue and the message of the reception was to thank BJPIR's wide range of authors, reviewers and readers for their continued support. Equally importantly, it was to remind authors that BJPIR is always on the lookout for excellent scholarship and to encourage colleagues to think of the now ISI-cited BJPIR as one of the first places to submit their research to.

Drs. Alistair Clark and Susan McManus of the BJPIR Editorial Team at the BJPIR wine reception sponsored by Wiley Blackwell

International Studies Association Convention, New Orleans, February 2010
At the ISA annual convention, BJPIR increased its international presence by running a 'Meet the Editors' session at the Wiley-Blackwell stand. The event went well, generating plenty of interest, and editors Lee McGowan and Dan Bulley felt it was a crucial step in raising the profile of the journal still further. BJPIR would like to thank the Wiley-Blackwell team, and especially Terri Teleen, for their help in staging and advertising this event.

Electoral Studies Virtual Issue, January 2010