Paul Cairney

1 week ago | paulcairney.wordpress.com | Paul Cairney

This post summarises my paper for the 20th Anniversary of British Politics, which should appear on Twenty Years of British Politics any day now. Much like a diesel engine, it starts off with an unhelpful grumble, soon chugs along happily enough, then takes a bit of time to stop at the end. Just read the grumble at the start if you like. See also Politics and Policymaking in the UK co-authored with Sean Kippin.

2 weeks ago | tandfonline.com | Paul Cairney |Claire Toomey

Needham et al.’s (Citation2025) valuable new account of ‘system diplomacy’ seeks an alternative to systems leadership in professional training. However, the authors do not really specify what systems leadership is, which makes it difficult to say what it is not. Therefore, it is difficult to tell if they are offering a meaningful alternative or exacerbating the high levels of confusion that people may experience when engaging with systems leadership to a non-trivial extent.

1 month ago | bdaily.co.uk | Paul Cairney

Partner Article In 2025, cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect, leaving businesses vulnerable to attacks they may not even know are happening. Whether it’s a phishing scam, a ransomware attack or an unpatched system, the risks are real and can be incredibly costly. Most businesses don’t see a cyberattack coming. In fact, 43 per cent of cyberattacks target small to medium-sized businesses - and most don’t realise it unless a breach happens.

2 months ago | paulcairney.wordpress.com | Paul Cairney

I’ve taken the old Policy in 500 Words: what is public policy and why does it matter? then mentioned AI and changed the examples from tobacco to (mostly Scottish) education policy (to accompany a lecture for EDUU9E2). Here is the lecture recording, powerpoint to download, and not-short blog post. The classic introduction to the study of public policy and policymaking is to seek – but not find – a clear, concise, and agreed-upon definition of public policy.

Jan 10, 2025 | paulcairney.wordpress.com | Paul Cairney

By Paul Cairney and Claire Toomey, University of Stirling. This post summarises our pre-print in Open Research Europe. It is the second of a three-part series of articles on collaborative policymaking. Abstract‘Systems leadership’ research rejects the idea that complex policy problems can be solved by a few heroic leaders in the centre of government or at the top of organisations.