| Popis: |
The thesis develops an analytical framework, constituted by a combination of political science, parliamentary and crisis management literatures, for the study of representative functions during crises. The framework is then applied to four case studies of contemporary crises (the 2000 fuel protests; the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic; and, the Scottish and English exam crises of 2000 and 2002) and operationalised through interviews with civil servants and elected representatives in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Westminster. Findings are presented about the relationship between representative functions and the management of crises at the macro-level (representative systems), meso-level (representative institutions) and micro-level (individual representatives), which indicate that representation, at all levels, is relevant to the management of crises in a number of ways. In particular, the thesis concludes that representative institutions and individuals are important to the symbolic politics, 'legitimacy dynamics' and operational dimensions of crisis management. |
