34th Edition of the Social and Political Review
This edition and previous editions of the SPR are available in PDF format here.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Volume XXXIV of the Social and Political Review. Thir¬ty-four years ago, the SPR was established to provide the students of Trinity with an opportunity to contribute to the fields of sociology and political science. By providing a platform dedicated to students’ work, we promote fresh perspectives on current political and social issues, and form a crucial part of the educational journey for many students. We are honoured to publish the latest volume of the SPR, and we hope you enjoy the work of our contributors.
This volume demonstrates the value of publishing undergraduate re¬search. It contributes to the literature on social movements, through Alannah Maxwell’s research on an ongoing political conflict in Atlanta. There is also a strong focus on European policy: Eliza Barrett-Cotter conducts a comparative analysis of European migration policy respectively, while Eoin Ryan compares the EU’s response to the 2015 mi¬gration crisis and the Ukraine refugee crisis. Beyond Europe, Prachi Tailor discusses the impact of deliberative reforms in Chinese local government on the stability of the Chinese Communist Party regime, and Oliwia Borek compares the effectiveness of various transparency regulations. Finally, this volume features unique contributions to sociol¬ogy and social theory, through Gabriella Welhoelter’s unique and fresh perspective on the potential of WWE as a topic of sociological inquiry, and Giorgia Carli’s work on the social model of disability.
The publication of the SPR would not have been possible without the passion and commitment of its board members. I owe a debt of gratitude to each of my colleagues on this volume’s board: to Fiona, Eoin, Tara, and Eva for their dedication and rigour throughout the editorial pro¬cess, to Amy and Ashling for their thorough and detailed copyediting, to Ciara for her beautiful cover art, layout, and banner design, to Josephine for her success in securing funding for this volume, and to Jimena for her brilliant work on publicity and for organising a wonderful launch event. This year’s print run is the largest in several years, demonstrating the interest of the student body in the publication and the efforts of successive boards to promote student research. Interest in the publication was also demonstrated through the quality and number of submissions, and through attendance at our workshop on academic writing. We have worked with the Library of Trinity College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland to identify volumes missing from their archives and reprint replacements to ensure the work of previous contributors is accessible in libraries in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. We also worked with Professor Richard Layte and the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy to introduce anonymous online submission and plagia¬rism detection, improving the resources available to the editorial process in future years. The tireless efforts of this year’s board have provided a foundation for the continued success of the SPR in the decades to come.
It has been a great honour to lead the SPR in its thirty-fourth volume. I encourage you to read each of the articles published in this year’s vol¬ume. I trust you will find them as insightful as I have.
Le gach dea-guí,
Evan Carron-Kee
Editor-in-Chief