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Parliamentary Affairs Advance Access originally published online on March 5, 2007
Parliamentary Affairs 2007 60(2):313-331; doi:10.1093/pa/gsm007
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© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government; all rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

New Labour, Old Epistemology? Reflections on Political Science, New Institutionalism and The Blair Government

Stuart McAnulla

This paper provides a response to Bevir's remarkable new book ‘New Labour: A Critique’ (Bevir, New Labour: A Critique, Routledge, 2005). It is argued that the author's criticism of the place of positivism in political science is powerful but incomplete. Aspects of institutionalist theory are defended against Bevir's criticisms, particularly the assumption that institutional structures can play a legitimate role in political science explanation. The paper offers some support to Bevir's view that new Labour's relies excessively on new institutionalist/positivist theory in its approach to policy reform. However, it is argued that this reliance is problematic for reasons that differ in part from those offered by Bevir. It is proposed that it is positivism's privileging of observation and measurement that most bedevil new Labour's strategy (as well as political science). Finally, the paper questions Bevir's contention that his interpretivism offers a promising vantage point from which to ground an alternative social democratic approach.


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