This book investigates how women's power and caste cleavages often continue to transcend and crosscut the boundaries of caste/tribe, gender, age, class and religion in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh It examines the gendered divisions of labor in rural communities and how countervailing forces have restricted women's status and roles in South Asia.

In the first volume of its kind, a collection of top policy scholars combine empirical and methodological analysis in the field of comparative policy studies to provide compelling insights into the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies across regional and national boundaries.

The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and the resulting 'Great Recession' merely accelerated an already worrisome trend: the shift away from an employer-based social welfare system in the United States. Since the end of World War II, a substantial percentage of the costs of social provision--most notably, unemployment insurance and health insurance--has been borne by employers rather than the state. The US has long been unique among advanced economies in this regard, but in recent years, its social contract has become so frayed that is fast becoming unrecognizable. Despite Obama's election, the burdens of social provision are falling increasingly upon individual families, and the situation is worsening because of the unemployment crisis. How can we repair the American social welfare system so that workers and families receive adequate protection and, if necessary, provision from the ravages of the market?
In Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk, Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary have gathered a distinguished group of scholars on American social policy to address this most fundamental of problems. Collectively, they analyze how the 'privatization of risk' has increased hardships for American families and increased inequality. They also propose a series of solutions that would distribute the burdens of risks more broadly and expand the social safety net. The range of issues covered is broad: health care, homeownership, social security and aging, unemployment, wealth (as opposed to income) creation, education, and family-friendly policies. The book is also comparative, measuring US social policy against the policies of other advanced nations. Given the current crisis in America social policy and the concomitant paralysis within government, the book has the potential to make an important intervention in the current debate.

The column, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, had instant appeal from a broad spectrum of the public. The readership grew rapidly, crossing gender, age, background, and geographical lines. This volume contains a compilation of the most successful and noted published columns, From Our Perspective, covering a period of five years. Most of the pieces follow a pubic policy theme, either foreign or domestic. Included, are several columns of local interest, with overarching conceptual implications which cut across cultural lines. It can be said that the brilliance of the authors' writing style is only eclipsed by the quality and comprehensiveness of the substance. When reading these selections, there is no need to wonder, "Where is the beef?" One should note, there is a generational age difference between the authors but therein lies the unique creative strength of the two columnists as a team. It is the bridging of this generational gap, with the individual strengths and talents of each author, which adds vibrancy, relevance, and dynamism to the Heichberger/Burr team and contributes greatly to this combined writing venture. Welcome to FIVE YEARS ON THE CUTTING EDGE. Robert L. Heichberger, Ph.D. M. Andrew Burr Through the past fifty-seven years, Dr. Robert L. Heichberger has been a teacher, public school and university administrator, college professor, and public policy consultant. M. Andrew Burr is an economist and advanced graduate student with honors in economic theory and practice. He is a self-made business entrepreneur. Currently, Dr. Heichberger and M. Andrew Burr are serving as leadership, public policy and organizational consultants. They specialize in developmental strategies in. strategic planning, conflict management, and organizational management. Dr. Heichberger and Mr. Burr are weekly newspaper columnists on domestic, world, and human affairs. Their Column has generated a considerable following and is popular among people of all ages and backgrounds.

Based on the assumption that without understanding institutions, economists cannot make satisfactory policy prescriptions, this book draws some insightful conclusions on the strengths and limitations of applied economics in the field of heritage. Sicily provides an interesting and unique backdrop against which the study is set, demonstrating the economic complexities of heritage and the range of economic tools and concepts which can be employed to analyse it. The book is a compilation of various approaches that economists trained in different branches of economics have brought to bear on heritage. It considers the political economy of heritage policy from a variety of different perspectives. These include a study of the economic problems of defining and valuing culture and, through detailed case studies in the economics of regulation, an examination of the incentives and principal-agent problems in the management of heritage policy. The authors move on to discuss the public choice view of fiscal federalism and look at the problems of assessing the efficiency of policy measures. Finally, they provide an interesting overview of the national experiences of France, Scotland and Italy in terms of heritage policy. Taking a new institutional approach, this book is as much a concise manual of applied economics as a contribution to cultural economics. It stresses the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the study of heritage and offers a unique opportunity to understand law-making and administrative procedures in the civil code tradition. It will be essential reading for students, researchers and academics of cultural economics, as well as policymakers wanting to assess the value and efficiency of heritage policies.

Japanese foreign direct investment surged into Western markets in the late 1980s provoking intense policy debates in Europe and America. How did the European authorities respond to this 'Japanese Challenge'? How did their response compare to the US policy record? Does this international business activity give any insights into the idea of increasing convergence of behaviour of the world's capitalist economies? To answer these questions, Mark Mason investigates European policies towards the Japanese Challenge in cross-national and historical perspectives. He compares the policy response of European governments with that of the US government by contrasting case studies in three key sectorsthe automobile industry, consumer electronics, and banking. The case studies are then examined in the context of wider policy patterns and models across the entire Triad throughout the postwar period. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in international business history, Japanese investment policies, international trade, corporate strategy, and government-industry relations.

This book is organized into eight parts: systemic reform; sociology and educational policy; national content standards and assessments; opportunity-to-learn standards; school to work; school, parent, and community support; professional development; safe, disciplined, and drug free schools; and the implications of federal legislation. The basic format of the sections provides a chapter on the major topic and response followed by an issue sheet. The issue sheets are responses to the chapters in this book originally presented at the 1995 conference Implementing Recent Federal Legislation and summarize issues discussed in the roundtable discussions that were conducted at tne conference in which all participants shared ideas and background information. These issue sheets were prepared for the Spivak Program of the American Sociological Association and were then compiled for this volume into one issue sheet per topic.

How do bank supervisors strike a balance between market self-regulation and pro-active regulatory intervention? This book investigates the choice of banking supervision approach in four European Union member states from Central and Eastern Europe - Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Slovenia - after their transition to democracy and market economy.

This book considers the origins, performance and diffusion of national immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants. Unlike asylum seekers and immigrants admitted under family reunification streams, highly skilled immigrants are typically cast as "wanted and welcome" as a consequence of their potential economic contribution to the receiving society and putative assimilability. Testing the degree to which this assumption holds is the principle aim of this book. In contrast to publications which see highly skilled immigration as functional response to labor market needs, the book probes the political and sociological dimensions of policy, drawing on contributions from an international group of established and new scholars from the fields of history, law, political science, sociology, and public policy. The book is organized into four parts. Part I probes the origins of post-WWII immigration policies in Canada, Australia, and the United States. Part II analyzes recent debates on highly skilled immigration policy in the United States, whose origins go back to the 1965 Act by Congress which favored family reunification over skilled immigration. Part III considers the degree to which highly skilled immigrants are welcome, by focusing on the integration trajectories of foreign trained professionals in Canada. Paradoxically, just as Canada has succeeded in orienting its admissions system more explicitly toward privileging highly educated and skilled professionals, highly skilled immigrants have experienced worsening economic outcomes as reflected in rates of unemployment and falling earnings. Part IV considers the internationalization of highly skilled immigration policies, focusing on Europe's most important immigration countries, Germany and Britain. As is true in Canada, the labor market outcomes for highly skilled immigrants in Europe are disappointing, and the final chapter discusses why this is the case and what might be done to improve matters. Given its combination of cross-disciplinary insights, cross-national comparisons, and empirical richness, the book will be of interest to both scholars and policymakers concerned with immigration policy.

Generally remembered as a notorious diarist rather than a serious political figure, Richard Crossman's imposing presence in Harold Wilson's Cabinet during the 1964-1970 Labour governments proved, not least to himself, a disappointment. However, in this new reassessment, Stephen Thornton rescues Crossman's political achievements from obscurity. From 1955 to the end of his life in 1974, Crossman was committed to a radical scheme that promised to break Britain free from the existing Beveridge model of welfare provision and transform the social security regime in the UK. Although the scheme as Crossman envisaged it was not directly implemented, his actions did prompt highly significant modifications to both Labour and, more surprisingly, Conservative social security policy. Here Crossman's reputation as a towering figure of the patrician Left is rehabilitated as Thornton argues that in the era of New Labour the lessons Crossman learned from his project of welfare reform are more valuable and relevant than ever. Conclusion: Crossman's legacy.

Policy makers--Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative--call for federal intervention to fund emerging high-growth industries, believing they are starved for capital. Congressional hearings, newspapers, industry newsletters, and government reports all assert that capital gaps exist for these firms. But the widely held belief that emerging high-growth firms like those in high technology--so vital to the growth of the U.S. economy--face severe capital gaps, preventing them from starting up or growing to their full potential, is false. This book systematically brings together, for the first time, disparate sources of information from a wide variety of disciplines and synthesizes them into a compelling case against federal intervention.

Scientific studies, conventional wisdom among entrepreneurs and investors, and economic reasoning all fail to support the existence of widespread capital gaps for start-up high-growth firms. Nor does this evidence show capital in short supply in some regions, in industrial sectors including high technology, or for women and minorities. Nor do existing federal programs providing capital to emerging high-growth businesses reveal capital gaps. Rather, they either unnecessarily duplicate private investment or represent poor investment decisions. This study shows that calls for increased federal intervention, using public monies to plug capital gaps, are unjustified.

The world changed for Australia after the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001 and the Bali bombings of 2002. Security became the dominant theme of Australian foreign policy. Australian military forces remained in Afghanistan years later, opposing the terrorist threat of the Taliban, while hundreds of Australian troops and police worked with public servants to build the state in Asia-Pacific countries such as East Timor and Solomon Islands. The world changed for Australia, too, when the global financial crisis of September 2008 threatened another Great Depression. Meantime the international community made slow progress on measures to stem climate change, potentially Australia's largest security threat.In a newly revised and updated edition, Australia in International Politics shows how the nation is responding to these challenges. The book describes how Australian foreign policy has evolved since Federation and how it is made. It examines Australia's part in the United Nations, humanitarian intervention and peacekeeping. It analyses defence policy and nuclear arms control. It explains why Australia survived the global financial crisis and why the G20 has become the leading institution of global economic governance. It charts the course of Australia's climate change diplomacy, the growth of Australia's foreign aid, human rights in foreign relations and the rise of China as a great power.Written by one of Australia's most experienced teachers of international relations, Australia in International Politics explains Australian foreign policy for readers new to the field.'. one of the best books on Australian foreign policy that I have read in recent years' - Samuel M. Makinda, Australian Journal of Political Science

The book focuses on policy-making at the highest levels of the United States government. Chapter contributors examine political, military, and foreign policy processes from micro and macro perspectives in documenting how President Bush personally dominated U.S. national security policy and was the driving force behind the United Nations-backed coalition of nations against Saddam Hussein. The authors place the president's actions into political and historical perspective and examine the consequences of the Gulf War in both military and diplomatic terms. Among the subjects discussed by experts are the president's political and constitutional roles in war-making; the foreign policy implications and military issues in the war; the domestic implications; and the postwar environment and planning for peace.

China is not an easy country to rule: it is experiencing rapid growth and with it rapid social change. Resources and religion are two of the most difficult of its challenges, and their combination with ethnicity is not unique to China. It may well be one of the major underlying currents of the 21st century and is present throughout Asia-with the Baloch of Pakistan, the Kurds of Iraq and Turkey, and the Timorese of the former island of East Timor in Indonesia, now Timor-Lest. In all these nations, as in China, ethnic identity, often united with religious differences, is driven by the presence of valuable resources to create a nationalism with economic underpinnings. However, as Van Wie Davis shows, with China the outcome is vital, as how it copes with the pressures for good governance with the Asian economic model, treats its ethnic minorities under scrutiny, and gathers resources to fuel its dynamic economy impacts us all.

Why do policy actors create branded policy ideas like the big society and does launching them on Twitter extend or curtail their life? This book reveals how policy analysis can adapt in an increasingly mediatised world, offering interpretive insights into the life and death of policy ideas in an era of hashtag politics.

This theoretically rooted and research-based book provides insights on the JESSICA funding model which - unlike the traditional non-repayable aid - focuses on supporting sustainable urban development projects in a repayable and recyclable way. Looking through the lens of the JESSICA financial engineering mechanism used in urban transformation, it examines the functioning and performance thereof and formulates policy recommendations for the future. The aim of this volume is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the JESSICA sustainable funding model by exploring its repayable assistance mechanism to support sustainable urban development projects. The authors make several noteworthy contributions to the literature on EU cohesion policy and shed light on the use of the repayable instruments within public interventions, while providing, for the first time, a critical analysis of the JESSICA sustainable funding model from the holistic perspective which is especially relevant for supporting sustainable urban development. Financial Engineering in Sustainable Funding of Urban Development in the EU provides policy-significant findings that are important for EU cohesion policy in the field of repayable assistance to be reinvested in the long term in urban and regional transformation.

This is a valuable, well-written book on the development and current state of intercity passenger and freight transportation in 12 countries (Brazil, China, East Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the USSR, the UK, the US, West Germany, and Zaire). Locations studied represent a good mix of advanced and developing countries with market and centrally planned economies. "Choice"

This volume surveys the public transportation systems and policies of twelve countries. It is concerned with the selected countries' experiences with the development, maintenance, and use of publicly provided transportation infrastructure for both public (commercial) and private (individual) purposes. The diversity of the countries surveyed, both in terms of the type of economic system and the level of economic development, provides rich and varied national experiences from which lessons can be learned. The volume allows the reader to compare and contrast different needs and policy responses in the public transportation sector of the countries selected.

All modes of transportation are covered and both passenger and freight/cargo transportation are included. Narrative descriptions of transportation modes are accompanied by quantitative indicators of the volume of transportation and other related data. Each country chapter provides the following information: historical and geographical factors influencing the development and maintenance of the country's public transportation system and policy; the impact of socioeconomic changes and political and ideological factors on a country's public transportation system and policies; recent trends and future prospects in public transportation; and transportation policy organization and process. The survey covers the post-World War II period through 1987-88. The country chapters are followed by a bibliographical essay that introduces a selective collection of English-language materials on public transportation systems and policies in the twelve countries surveyed, as well as additional, general works on public transportation. This unique work will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in a cross-cultural perspective on transportation policy.

This book offers insight into the motives behind Moscow's behaviour in the Persian Gulf (with a specific focus on the GCC member states and Iran), considering Russia's growing role in the Middle East and its desire to protect national interests using a wide range of means. The book explores the drivers and motivations of the Russian foreign policy in the Gulf region, thus, helping the audience to generate informed prognosis about Moscow's moves in this area over the next years. In contrast to most studies of Russia's presence in the region, this book considers the Russian involvement in the Gulf from two standpoints - the Russian and foreign. The idea of the book is to take several key problems of Moscow's presence in the Gulf, each of these to be covered by two authors-Russian and non-Russian scholars, in order to offer the readers alternative visions of Moscow's policies towards Iran and the GCC countries

This book analyzes the rhetorical strategies employed by the four Democratic presidents, Truman, Johnson, Clinton and Obama, who tried to expand access to and affordability of healthcare in the United States. It considers how they made such arguments, the ethics they advanced, and the vision of America they espoused. The author combines rhetoric analysis, policy analysis, and policy history to illuminate the dynamic nature of the way American presidents have imagined the moral and social bonds of the American people and their exhortations for governance and policy to reflect and honor these bonds and obligations. Schimmel illustrates how Democratic presidents invoke positive liberty and communitarian values in direct challenge to opposing conservative ideologies of limited government and prioritization of negative liberty and their increasing prominence in the post-Reagan era. He also draws attention to the ethical and policy compromises entailed by the usage of specific rhetorical strategies and their resulting discursive effects.

For a variety of reasons market-oriented improvement efforts are becoming increasingly visible on the educational reform landscape. In particular, privatization strategies, such as vouchers and contracting out, are receiving considerable attention at all levels of educational governance and administration. Our objective in this volume is to help the educational community develop a deeper understanding of the privatization movement in general and the major pathways to privatization in particular.

Water managers tend to have narrow views on what they consider to be the value of water. However, not all water use is market driven; therefore, a comprehensive understanding of local community values associated with water can inform decision making by water managers. We use the term 'water manager' to encompass not only the singular person assigned this community duty but also the many councils and institutions who make decisions regarding local water resources. Regarding conventional values of water, an abundance of research exists; yet, for intangible aspects such as conservation for its own sake and spiritual connections, research involving value is limited. There are volumes of works that estimate the monetary values of water; however, intangible values are often overlooked. In general, few studies endeavor to estimate worth for water that encompasses more than a monetary value. We argue that it is the inclusion of both monetary and non-monetary values that justifies trust in the position of water manager.

Across the EU, populations are shrinking and ageing. An increasing burden is being placed on a smaller working population to generate the taxes required for pensions and care costs. Welfare states are weakening in many countries and across Europe, households are being increasingly expected to plan for their retirement and future care needs within this risky environment. At the same time, the proportion of people buying their own home in most countries has risen, so that some two-thirds of European households now own their homes. Housing equity now considerably exceeds total European GDP.

This book discusses questions like: to what extent might home ownership provide a potential cure for some of the consequences of ageing populations by realizing housing equity in order to meet the consumption needs of older people? What does this mean for patterns of inheritance and longer-term inequalities across Europe? And to what extent are governments banking on their citizens utilising their housing wealth now and in the future? "