Spring 2015 | Public lectures and events | Video

Contributor(s): Sir Michael Barber | Billions of citizens around the world are frustrated with their governments. Political leaders struggle to honour their promises and officials find it near impossible to translate ideas into action. The result? High taxes, but poor outcomes. Cynicism not just with government but with the political process. Why is this? How could this vicious spiral be reversed? In his new book, How to Run A Government so that citizens benefit and taxpayers don't go crazy, due to be launched on 26 March, Michael Barber draws on his wealth of experience of working for and with government leaders the world over to present a blueprint for how to run a government. Using contemporary cases from every continent and classic examples from history, he makes a compelling case for a new approach. From Downing Street to Punjab, Charles I to Churchill, this book shows that the solution is less about ideology and more about sustained priorities, solving problems as they arise and not giving up when the going gets tough. By applying the lessons set out in the eight chapters of the book, governments of all political persuasions can dramatically enhance their capacity to deliver results and control costs, thus delighting citizens rather than driving them crazy. Sir Michael Barber (@michaelbarber9) is the co-founder of Delivery Associates and Chief Education Advisor at Pearson. Over the last two decades he has worked on government and public service reform in more than 50 countries. From 2001 to 2005 he was the first Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in the UK. His previous books include Instruction to Deliver: Fighting to Transform Britain's Public Services. Sir Jeremy Heywood is Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service. British Government @ LSE is an initiative led by the LSE’s Government Department (@LSEGovernment) to promote research, teaching and debate about politics and government in the UK. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor William A Callahan | Although we live in a visual age, few actually study the role of images in international politics. This inaugural lecture will examine how maps, photographs and film can tell us much about the international politics of war, identity and sovereignty. William A. Callahan is Professor of International Relations at the LSE, and his recent publications include China Dreams: 20 Visions of the Future (2013), and the documentary video, China Dreams: The Debate (2014). Chris Brown is a Professor of International Relations at the LSE. The International Relations Department (@LSEIRDept) is one of the oldest as well as largest IR departments in the world. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Nicola Sturgeon | Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) is Scotland’s first female First Minister and the first female to lead any of the devolved UK administrations. Born in Irvine in 1970 and educated at Greenwood Academy, she studied law at the University of Glasgow where she graduated with LLB (Hons) and Diploma in Legal Practice. Before entering the Scottish Parliament as a regional MSP for Glasgow in 1999 she worked as a solicitor in the Drumchapel Law and Money Advice Centre in Glasgow. She is currently MSP for Glasgow Southside having been, before boundary changes, MSP for Govan between 2007 and 2011. In government she served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing between May 2007 and September 2012 and then Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities with responsibility for government strategy and the constitution until November 2014. Throughout this period she also served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland. She became SNP Leader on November 14, 2014 and was sworn in as First Minister on November 20, 2014. Simon Hix (@simonjhix) is Professor of European and Comparative Politics and Fellow of the British Academy and Head of Department of Government at LSE. British Government @ LSE (@lsegovernment) is an initiative currently based in the Government Department to promote and develop research on British Government being conducted at the LSE. So far world class speakers have attended our events, talking on a range of topics. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor John Hills, Dr Polly Vizard | John Hills will present new findings from the Social Policy in a Cold Climate programme of research on the ways in which patterns of economic inequality changed in the UK over the economic crisis 2007-13. Dr Polly Vizard will present new findings on the patterns of inequality in London, and how the distribution of key economic outcomes - including income and wealth, employment and unemployment, earnings and wages, and educational qualifications - have changed amongst different population groups. John Hills is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE. His research interests include the distribution of income and wealth, the welfare state, social security, pensions, housing and taxation. He led a review of fuel poverty for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (2011-2012), was Chair of the National Equality Panel (2008-2010), carried out a review of the aims of social housing for the Secretary of State for Communities in 2006-07 and was one of the three members of the UK Pensions Commission from 2003 to 2006. He was Co-Director of the LSE’s Welfare State Programme (1988-1997). Dr Polly Vizard is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), her research interests include equality, capability and human rights. She has carried out research for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Government Equalities Office and a number of NGOs including specific projects on recipients of social care in the UK, older people internationally, and the development of tools to measure ‘autonomy'. Bharat Mehta is Chief Executive at Trust for London (@trustforlondon). Prior to taking up this post he was Chief Executive of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship (NSF, renamed RETHINK). He has also worked for the Medical Research Council; the National Council for Voluntary Organisations; and the Social Services Department of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE (@CASE_lse) focuses on the exploration of different dimensions of social disadvantage, particularly from longitudinal and neighbourhood perspectives, and examination of the impact of public policy. LSE Works is a series of public lectures, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed at LSE Works. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor Julia Black, Dr Jon Danielsson, Professor Charles Goodhart, Professor Katharina Pistor | In financial markets law and finance are intrinsically connected. When markets collapse, however, legal rules are pushed into the background and other forces take over. Julia Black is a Professor of Law and Pro-Director for Research at LSE. Jon Danielsson (@JonDanielsson) is Director of the Systemic Risk Centre. Charles Goodhart is Emeritus Professor of Banking and Finance at LSE. Katharina Pistor is the Michael I Sovern Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world. The Systemic Risk Centre (@LSE_SRC) investigates the risks that may trigger the next financial crisis and develops practical tools to help policy-makers and private institutions become better prepared. The Law and Financial Markets Project is based in the LSE's Law Department and explores the interactions of law, regulation, financial markets and financial institutions, principally within the EU and the UK. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor Julie Cohen, Anne Barron | The problem of control over information flows has emerged as a doubly critical vantage point from which to interrogate the exercise of power and the pursuit of justice. Scholars of law and communications have come to recognize that in the networked information society, the dialogue between truth and power is mediated by the code. The Internet has been hailed as the ultimate medium for speaking truth to power, but networked information technologies also can become means for embedding power and entrenching inequality. Information and network protocols also have become sources of great wealth and competitive advantage. Struggles to shape-or even simply to understand-the patterns of information flow have profound consequences for human flourishing in the networked world. Less widely recognized, perhaps, is that in legal contests over control of information flows and network protocols, law is not simply a bystander or neutral arbiter. Struggles to shape the patterns of information flow are seeking out new modes of recognition and accommodation within the legal system, and those struggles are beginning to produce new institutional settlements. In the networked information society, code and law together sit between truth and power. We should understand contemporary struggles over control of information and information networks as a contest to define new governance institutions for the information age. Julie Cohen (@julie17usc) is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Anne Barron (@AnneBarron01) is Associate Professor (Reader) in the Department of Law at LSE. Nick Couldry (@couldrynick) is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory and Head of the Department of Media and communications at LSE. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world. The Department of Media and Communications at LSE (@MediaLSE) has recently been ranked 2nd in the 2014 QS World University Rankings by subject. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor Jonathan Holslag, Dr Mareike Kleine | This discussion will explore the vexed question of the demos of European citizenship and the democratic deficit. Jonathan Holslag is Professor of International Politics at the Free University of Brussels. Mareike Kleine is Associate Professor of EU and International Politics in the European Institute at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Jeff McMahan | The annual Auguste Comte Memorial Lecture will be delivered by a leading scholar in social and political philosophy. Jeff McMahan is White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford and the author of The Ethics of Killing: problems at the margins of life and Killing in War. Mike Otsuka is a professor in the philosophy department at LSE. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Professor Bob Hancké, Professor David Soskice | This discussion will explore the pressures facing Europe’s welfare states in a time of austerity, an aging population and global economic competition. Bob Hancké is Associate Professor of Political Economy in the European Institute at LSE. David Soskice is Professor of Political Science and Economics at LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr Selina Todd | Drawing on the testimonies of hundreds of people, Dr Todd refutes the claim that class is dead and exposes some of the myths that animate contemporary politics. Selina Todd (@selina_todd) is History Fellow and Vice Principal of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. Robin Archer is the Director of the Postgraduate Programme in Political Sociology at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@rmilibandlse) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.