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The rights of the child, as recognised by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have been increasingly reiterated in international declarations and national commitments. However, there exists a disparity in ‘the de jure protection and de facto realization of human rights’ (Landman 2005: 5). The relative absence of systematic engagement within academia and without on the issue of mapping the operationalisation of children's rights by States not only hinders ongoing attempts to identify and explain the causes and variation in the failure to implement children's rights but also weakens national and international efforts to hold States accountable for their obligations. This article seeks to address the lack of utilisation of measures of children's rights and the deficiencies in the measures that are in use. By drawing on the existing academic literature and intergovernmental efforts to measure human rights, the article proposes a measurement matrix that could be used to chart the implementation of States' obligations towards children's rights. The matrix is an attempt to further the emerging international endeavours to develop children's rights indicators.

We use focus group transcripts from the innovative Qualitative Election Study of Britain dataset to provide insights into why 'Cleggmania' failed to translate into electoral success for the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Analyses conducted on participants' vote choice stories indicate the effect of 'Cleggmania' was limited to strengthening the resolve of wavering Liberal Democrats. Long-time Labour and Conservative supporters who leaned Liberal Democrat before the election found their latent party identification made voting for a different party psychologically uncomfortable. Qualitative electoral research can advance our understanding of people's voting calculus by analysing narratives for values, identity, utility maximizing, and constituency dynamics.