Second Terms for the PSA Chair and Vice Chair
At the end of 2025, the PSA’s Executive Committee agreed to re-appoint Professor Rose Gann and Professor John Craig as PSA Chair and PSA Vice-Chair respectively for a second three year term (until spring 2029) In this blog, Rose and John highlight their reasons for standing again, and share their hopes for what they wish to achieve in their second term: Professors Rose Gann and John Craig discuss their recent appointment to a second term of office as PSA Chair and Vice-Chair. Providing leadership and strategic direction for an organisation like the PSA is a great privilege. Both of us […]
Rise of Indy Parties Alarms the “United” Kingdom
The upcoming Holyrood and Cardiff elections may result in the largest parties across the three nations all centred on independence. How can Westminster display its commitment to the union and the people of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales? Current polling for the May elections predicts that the SNP is likely to continue leading the Scottish Government and that Plaid Cymru may soon take over the reins in Cardiff. If these trends hold, the largest parties across the three devolved nations would all be nationalist, including Sinn Féin in Stormont. What does this mean for the future of the United Kingdom? […]
International Human Rights Day 2025
International Human Rights Day was observed worldwide on 10 December 2025. In recognition of this occasion, this blog highlights a recently acknowledged human right that directly concerns women and examines how this right is represented and upheld in today’s working world. In support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality, the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2024 adopted a resolution on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM). The resolution calls on UN member states to respect, protect, and fulfil their obligation to create environments that enable women—who constitute more than half of the global […]
Turkey’s Venezuela Test: Solidarity Talk and Power Politics
By Dr Begum Zorlu, City St George’s, University of London and Co-convener and chair of the PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group The capture of Nicolás Maduro has exposed the limits of Ankara’s performative alliances and the constraints facing middle powers in an increasingly volatile international order. On January 3, 2026, US special forces carried out a dramatic military operation in Caracas, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transporting them to the United States, where they now face federal charges. Dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the raid represented a US intervention in Latin America on a scale […]
Gbaraun Clan Marginalisation in Edo State, Nigeria – A Risk Too Brittle to Ignore!
On the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, we are reminded that the consequences of conflict extend beyond human suffering; they also deeply affect ecosystems, resource governance, and community survival. In the Niger Delta, the aftermath of armed conflict continues to shape the lives of ex-combatants, particularly those excluded from formal reintegration programs. The Gbaraun Clan in Ovie South-West is one of the five ethnic groups forming the Ijaw communities in Edo State, Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. The Gbaraun people took part in the Niger Delta coastal insurgency and militancy against Nigerian […]
Why study politics? An international student’s perspective
Yelyzaveta Yeroshkina 25 September 2025 Why does anyone study politics? Why does someone decide to get a degree in political science? What motivates students to dedicate 3 or 4 years of their life to this? No doubt a degree in politics can lead to a range of interesting careers. And what about those who can’t escape politics? During my first year studying International Relations at Edinburgh University I was exposed to a new world I didn’t know existed. I learned that there are theories of international relations, where realism and liberalism appear as the two most favoured. The other thing I was exposed to was […]
UK Parliament doesn’t look or sound like the rest of the country: should this change and, if so, how?
For the duration of its instatement, all those 807 years ago, the role of Parliament has gained more and more prominence. Admittedly, to begin with, it worked more in favour of MPs, – particularly the Lords such as landed gentry – using their power to manipulate the system: from Rotten Boroughs to patronage. However, within the last 150 years, or so, this purpose has changed from one of monarchical focus to one of social focus. Today’s Parliament, in particular, is more focused on representing the UK’s wider population and their interests. Firstly, what is the disparity between society and Parliament? […]
New British Academy report shows degree course cold spots across the UK
Our friends at the British Academy (BA) have produced a hard-hitting new report which shows that financial difficulties or strategic choices in our universities have led to large swathes of the UK becoming cold spots for social sciences, humanities and arts degrees. What are the implications and why does this matter? More students than ever are choosing to study close to home – some 56% of undergraduates in 2023/24. Historically underrepresented or disadvantaged students are more likely to opt to study locally, so the disappearance of degree opportunities (especially on a regional scale) risks deepening inequalities and will impact the strength […]
A-Level Results Day – Thinking About Doing a Politics Degree?
Congratulations if you have now received your exam results. We hope you have achieved the grades you need to continue your studies at university! If you didn’t get the grades you hoped for (or indeed did better than expected), we encourage you to both contact your chosen universities to discuss your options, and to check out the wide range of courses available to you through the UCAS clearing system. And it won’t surprise you to learn that we hope you will consider opting to study Politics and International Relations at university, this year or in the future! Did you know… […]
The Idea of the Good Society: Essays in Honour of Raymond Plant
Kevin Hickson & Matt Beech 18 July 2025 The publication of The Idea of the Good Society: Essays in Honour of Raymond Plant by Oxford University Press The Idea of the Good Society – Matt Beech, Kevin Hickson – Oxford University Press celebrates the work of one of the leading figures in British political studies in recent times. The essays reflect on Plant’s contribution, which is remarkable in its breadth – including political philosophy, jurisprudence, social work, social policy and theology – and its depth. Far from being hagiographical in nature the chapters are reflective and, in some cases, critical of Plant’s ideas […]