Example British politics dissertation topic 2:

Governing without government: An exploration of the effects of policy networks on the governance of the UK post-Major.

The arrival of Blair in Downing Street in May 2010 was seen by many political commentators (such as Hennessey and Riddle) to usher in a new system of governance. This dissertation explores the interlinking concepts of ‘core executive’, ‘policy networks’ and ‘governance’ and questions the extent to which a series of informal networks and cross departmental initiatives changes the face of Whitehall during the Blair premiership. It also questions the extent to which such modes of government were foreshadowed by the co-ordinating initiatives developed by Heseltine and Major and through so doing seeks to question the assumption that Blair’s approach was revolutionary, proposing instead that it represented a further evolution of that which had gone before.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Coates, D. (2000) ‘New Labour’s industrial and employment policy’, in, Coates, D. and Lawler, P. (eds) New Labour in power. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 122-135.
• Hennessy, P. (2000) The Prime Minister: The office and its holders since 1945. New York: Palgrave.