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Identity Cards and Political Commitment: a Study in the Formation, Operationalisation and Measurement of a Concept

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Identity Cards and Political Commitment: a Study in the Formation, Operationalisation and Measurement of a Concept Identity Cards and Political Commitment: a study in the formation, operationalisation and measurement of a concept by Robert Denny A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. Acknowledgements I would like to thank some of the many people who have kindly helped me with this thesis. In particular, I offer my thanks to: Those individuals who, despite incredibly busy work loads, gave their time for interviews. To Professor Perri 6, Professor Chris Bellamy, and Dr. Steph Walker for their excellent supervision. I have benefited greatly from their many useful comments on this work, and I could not conceive of a better supervisory team. To Chereece for her love and support over this long process, and without whom this thesis would not have been at all possible. Finally, to my family for their gentle optimism, kindness, and unswerving belief in my ability to finish. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my father. Identity Cards and Political Commitment: a study in the formation, operationalisation and measurement of a concept by Robert Denny Abstract This thesis presents a new definition of the concept of political commitment. It shows how the concept can be operationalised for empirical research in parliamentary and executive settings, and reports findings from a study to measure the commitment of the Labour Government to its identity card policy. Drawing on literature from across the social sciences, the thesis derives an eight-limbed synthesis definition of the concept. This new definition is operationalised for empirical examination in a single case study of British identity cards policy between 2001 and 2006. The Labour government‘s stance towards compulsory identity cards remained robust in the face of strong parliamentary, media and pressure group opposition, and is offered as an ―extreme‖ case study of commitment. The thesis uses these findings to evaluate the concept formation and operationalisation process, and compares results in operationalising for the parliamentary and executive arenas. Data are drawn from elite interviews, parliamentary archives, biographies, and policy documents. The thesis concludes that this new approach to political commitment allows for a nuanced understanding of the concept, which offers a more accurate description of the relationship between governments and ―object‖ of their commitment than the existing theory permits. It also provides a solid foundation for the development of explanatory models of political commitment, in the future. Table of Contents Chapter One – Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Commitment in political science ...................................................................................... 2 Concept formation .......................................................................................................... 15 Case selection strategy ................................................................................................... 17 Policy chronicle .............................................................................................................. 19 The proposed administration and operation of the identity cards scheme ..................... 22 Justifications for introduction ........................................................................................ 28 Opposition faced by Government .................................................................................. 30 International context....................................................................................................... 34 British identity cards in historical context ..................................................................... 37 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter Two – Political Commitment ........................................................................... 45 The concept of commitment – a strategy for concept formation ................................... 46 Commitment in the social sciences: presentation of a definition and a review of the literatures ........................................................................................................................ 51 Political commitment - a definition ............................................................................... 52 1. Intention .................................................................................................................... 53 2. Capacity...................................................................................................................... 57 3. Assets at hazard .......................................................................................................... 63 4. Perseverance over time .............................................................................................. 66 5. Perseverance against escalating costs ........................................................................ 69 6. Self-binding ................................................................................................................ 77 7. Reputation .................................................................................................................. 82 8. Thought style .............................................................................................................. 84 Elements of a definition of commitment ........................................................................ 87 Commitment by collective actors such as governments ................................................ 93 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 94 Chapter Three - Methodological strategy for conceptualising, operationalising, and measuring political commitment .................................................................................... 96 Case selection and bounding .......................................................................................... 97 An arena approach to understanding political commitment .......................................... 98 Methodology for operationalisation and measurement of the definition, and application of the coding strategy ................................................................................................... 102 1. Intention ............................................................................................................... 105 2. Capacity................................................................................................................ 109 3. Assets at hazard .................................................................................................... 113 4. Perseverance over time; and 5. Escalation of costs ............................................. 117 6. Self-binding .......................................................................................................... 119 7. Reputation ............................................................................................................ 121 8. Thought style ........................................................................................................ 122 Integrative analysis....................................................................................................... 125 Data collection strategy ................................................................................................ 126 Ethical considerations .................................................................................................. 129 Construct validity ......................................................................................................... 130 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 132 Chapter Four - Commitment in the Parliamentary Arena ........................................ 134 1. Intention ................................................................................................................... 136 Government‘s intention to legislate on identity cards.............................................. 136 The object of intention in the parliamentary arena – ―means‖ ..................................... 144 The object of intention in the parliamentary arena – ―ends‖ ....................................... 152 2. Capacity.................................................................................................................... 166 3. Assets at hazard ........................................................................................................ 167 4. Perseverance over time and 5. Against escalating costs .......................................... 185 6. Self-binding .............................................................................................................. 191 7. Reputation ...............................................................................................................
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