The British electoral system 1885-1970

At a time when the electoral system is coming under renewed scrutiny, this article examines the origins and creation of the present system in 1884-5, and its subsequent survival. This is the first such analysis to draw upon Public Record Office and party archives. Whilst showing that the political classes have been quite prepared to consider the merits of alternatives, particularly S.T.V., for Ireland or in colonial settings, they have usually been seen as less appropriate for Westminster. In exploring why that should be the case this article seeks to provide a new explanation for the longevity of the electoral arrangements of 1885.

The rise and fall of Monica Felton, British town planner and peace activist, 1930s to 1950s

This article reflects growing academic interest in the careers and historical significance of professional women town planners, an interest clearly registered in Planning Perspectives and other publications. Unlike other women town planners, however, the career of Monica Felton remains largely obscure. It was certainly short-lived, beginning as it did on the London County Council in 1937 and ending spectacularly while she was Chairman of Stevenage Development Corporation in 1951. Felton became an outcast from both her profession and her country when she gave up on new town development to campaign against British and American involvement in the Korean War in 1951. This article emphasizes her distinctive contribution to the evolving roles of women in British town planning during the mid-twentieth century and shows how this contribution was obscured by her fall from grace.

Examination of the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) among British and Trinidadian adults

Much debate in schizotypal research has centred on the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), with research variously showing higher-order dimensionality consisting of two to seven dimensions. In addition, cross-cultural support for the stability of those factors remains limited. Here, we examined the factor structure of the SPQ among British and Trinidadian adults. Participants from a White British sub-sample (n = 351) resident in the UK and from an African Caribbean sub-sample (n = 284) resident in Trinidad completed the SPQ. The higher-order factor structure of the SPQ was analysed through confirmatory factor analysis, followed by multiple-group analysis for the model of best-fit. Between-group differences for sex and ethnicity were investigated using multivariate analysis of variance in relation to the higher-order domains. The model of best-fit was the four-factor structure, which demonstrated measurement invariance across groups. Additionally, these data had an adequate fit for two alternative models: a) 3 factors and b) a modified 4-factor. The British sub-sample had significantly higher scores across all domains than the Trinidadian group, and men scored significantly higher on the disorganised domain than women. The four-factor structure received confirmatory support and, importantly, support for use with populations varying in ethnicity and culture.

Monetary policy, exchange rates and stock prices in the Middle East region

A structural vector autoregressive model is employed to investigate the impact of monetary policy and real exchange rate shocks on the stock market performance of Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. In order to identify the structural shocks both short run and long run restrictions are applied. Unlike previous literature the contemporaneous interdependence between the financial variables are left unrestricted to give a more accurate depiction of the relationships. The heterogeneity of the results reflect the different monetary policy frameworks and stock market characteristics of these countries. Mainly, monetary policy and the real exchange rate shocks have a significant short run impact on the stock prices of the countries that apply a relatively more independent monetary policy and flexible exchange rates.