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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > Central government policies
Technological innovation, the globalization of exchange, greater marital instability, and new environmental and health challenges are reshaping the world in which we live. This edited volume analyzes current and projected future socioeconomic trends in the context of New York State, a state that has historically played an important role in public policy innovation. The contributors identify major trends, compare New York State to the United States as a whole, and indicate the need for new social policy at the local, state, and federal levels. Among the issues discussed are the distribution of income, trends in land use, recent immigrants, and family living arrangements.
Is the American judiciary still the least dangerous branch, as Alexander Hamilton and legal scholar Alexander Bickel characterized it? Unlike legislatures or administrative agencies, courts do not make policy so much as direct and redirect policy as it is implemented. The judicial contribution to policymaking involves the infusion of constitutional rights into the realm of public policy, and as the government has grown, the courts have become more powerful from doing more and more of this. Powers and Rothman explore the impact of the federal courts, providing a brief account of the development of constitutional law and an overview of the judiciary's impact in six controversial areas of public policy. Busing Affirmative action Prison reform Mental health reform Procedural reforms in law enforcement Electoral redistricting In each of these areas, the authors review significant cases that bear on the particular policy, exploring the social science evidence to assess the impact of the courts on policies--and the consequences of that intervention. Powers and Rothman conclude that judicial intervention in public policy has often brought about undesirable consequences, sometimes even for the intended beneficiaries of government intervention.
George Kennan and Hans Morgenthau argued that moralistic and legalistic beliefs bound Wilsonian internationalists to policies outside the national interest. Establishing their claims in the decade following World War II, Kennan and Morgenthau contended that the United States had over-extended its commitments, an interpretation that came to dominate opponents' criticisms of Wilson and his followers. Bucklin shows, after careful examination of the evidence, that the policies that Wilsonians advocated from 1919 to 1954 were generally in concert with those of the realists. Wilsonians understood balance of power politics, sought the professionalization of the Foreign Service, advocated diplomacy, and demonstrated an acute understanding of the long-term national interest. After establishing the basis of the Kennan/Morgenthau thesis, Bucklin provides a comparative analysis between the policies of Wilson and his disciples and those of Kennan and Morgenthau. This study is based upon an examination of the papers and voluminous publications of three prominent Wilsonians: Quincy Wright, Frederick Schuman, and Denna Fleming, as well as the writings of Kennan and Morgenthau. Beginning with a detailed study of Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy, Bucklin presents the case that Wilson's policies were designed to meet the national interest. The test continues with a consideration of American policies in the inter-war years, World War II, and the first decade of the Cold War to include collective security, neutrality, appeasement, and containment. Efforts to label the Wilsonians as idealistic fail when put to the test of the realists.
Tracing the antecedents and the creation of the U.S. Department of Transportation, this work assesses its role in both the control of transportation and the encouragement of big businesses in the industry. The U.S. government has struggled for over a century with the complex issue of transportation regulation. The prevailing view from the 1880s until recently was to consider private transportation a public utility, which led to the creation of the DOT in 1966. This work covers much of the regulation/deregulation debates from Hoover to the Nixon presidencies, and focuses on the bipartisan crescendo for deregulation led by Gerald Ford and Edward Kennedy. Whitnah also analyzes the heated debate over airline deregulation that resumed in the Carter years and continues to have an impact today.
The book presents a study of the social and economic viability of mini-cement plants in the Indian economic context.
Written for the motivated non-specialist, this work provides the most clear and thorough coverage available of the causes and consequences of the Great Financial Crisis and the role of the Federal Reserve in preventing it from escalating into a massive depression a la the 1930s. The Great Recession that followed the popping of the dual credit and housing bubbles deprived more than 8 million Americans of their jobs and triggered a per capita loss of income of more $6,000 in 2008 and 2009 alone. This work provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of the myriad forces that combined to create the bubbles that were the source of the economic contraction. It retraces the chain reaction that took place as these bubbles deflated. The channels through which the crisis spilled over to produce the Great Recession are carefully laid out. The book is unique in thoroughly contrasting the Federal Reserve's brilliant implementation of policies that saved us from disaster in the recent crisis with its inept behavior that strongly contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
While the field of public management has become increasingly international, research and policy recommendations that work for one country often do not work for another. Why, for example, is managerial networking important in the United States, moderately effective in the United Kingdom, and of little consequence in the Netherlands[unk] Comparative Public Management argues that scholars must find a better way to account for political, environmental, and organizational contexts to build a more general model of public management. The volume editors propose a framework in which context influences the types of managerial actions that can be used effectively in public organizations. After introducing the innovative framework, the book offers seven empiricalchapters-cases from seven countries and a range of policy areas (health,education, taxation, and local governance)-that show how management affects performance in different contexts. Following these empirical tests, the bookexamines themes that emerge across cases and seeks to set an agenda forfuture research. Intended for students and scholars of public administration and public policy, this book will be the first to provide a comprehensive comparative assessment of management's impact on organizational performance.
This volume focuses on a case where community organizing, academic research and governmental responsibility were successfully mobilized and synchronized to bring about change in educational policy and practice. The focus of this book is the methodology implemented and the results obtained over the course of a year-long action research project on language and education in St. Eustatius, one of the islands of the Dutch Caribbean, commissioned by the educational authorities in both St. Eustatius and the European Netherlands. On the island, the language of instruction is Dutch, however, outside of the classroom most students only speak English and an English-lexifier Creole. The research project was set up to address the negative impact on school success of this disparity. It included a community-based sociolinguistic study that actively involved all of the stakeholders in the education system on the island. This was complemented by a multi-pronged set of research strategies, including a language attitude and use survey, a narrative proficiency test, in depth interviews, and a review of the relevant literature. The resulting report and recommendations were accepted by the government, which is now in the process of changing the language of instruction.
How do small states approach their security problems? What types of strategic instruments exist for small states, and when and why are certain strategies chosen rather than others? The security of `weak' states is problematic, demanding trade-offs in the decisions made. Using 19th century Swedish security policy as an example, it is argued here that small states, in their pursuit of security and autonomy, face a dilemma between abandonment and entrapment, leading to a choice between balancing between great powers or making an approach to one of them. This hard choice confronts both non-aligned and allied states. It is also argued that a focus on the images of decision makers is required as a complement to traditional realist theory in order to gain an in-depth understanding of small state security decisions. This book is special in its focus on small, non-aligned states. Most studies on balance-of-power behaviour limit their analysis to alignment decisions. The study also expands the domain of image constructs by introducing perceived regime characteristics into the analysis, besides images of power and intentions. Audience: Scholars and students interested in foreign policy analysis, particularly small-state behaviour. The book points to the importance of beliefs and ideas in security policy.
Improving urban air quality has become a policy priority for the European Union, national governments and city authorities as more evidence comes to light of the harmful health effects of road traffic pollution. This book clearly illustrates how to work towards effective policies for improved urban air quality.The authors argue that designing and implementing successful policies is not just a matter of deciding on the most appropriate technological solutions. A process of institution building has to take place which works towards consensus among a variety of potentially divergent interests; from the police and highway authorities to business interests and citizens. Making use of policy network theory, this volume presents studies of attempts to build such coalitions, and the factors that have often frustrated them, in countries such as Canada, France, Italy and Switzerland. This book provides a major contribution to the theoretical and empirical understanding of the policies needed to combat road traffic pollution. The Politics of Improving Urban Air Quality will prove invaluable to scholars of environmental studies and public policy.
Why is it that market instruments have not been used to their full potential in environmental policy? Using a public choice perspective, this book critically analyses the political economy of environmental policy with special emphasis on the role of powerful interest groups which have blocked the introduction of market instruments.Drawing on new case studies of market instruments, Dr Dijkstra examines the attitudes of interest groups and how they influence environmental policy. He discusses the preferences of shareholders and workers in the polluting industry, the environmental movement and the environmental bureaucracy. He then investigates the circumstances under which market instruments will have low or no probability of being accepted, assuming that they are welfare-maximizing. The Political Economy of Environmental Policy will be of interest to environmental and ecological economists, policymakers, political scientists and public choice scholars.
Market-based instruments are becoming the environmental management tool of choice and have provided a new perspective on the conventional wisdom about policy instruments. This book analyses the complexities of designing and implementing market-based instruments using case study experiences from the Nordic countries, Japan, France, The Netherlands, Germany and Britain, where a range of green taxes have been introduced. The contributors examine the role of political processes in designing, introducing and implementing green taxes and charges and analyse the extent to which political concerns complicate the approach favoured by environmental economists. The authors then focus on the implementation of market-based instruments to achieve environmental objectives and offer an ex-post evaluation of different countries' experiences with economic instruments. This volume brings together contributions from political scientists and environmental economists and will prove invaluable for academics, practitioners and policymakers interested in the experiences of countries where market-based instruments are well established.
A volume in Studies in the History of Education Series Editor Karen L. Riley, Auburn University at Montgomery Educational Research, The National Agenda, and Educational Reform examines the origins, history, nature, purposes, and status of educational research by focusing on the relationships among educational research, the national agenda, educational reform, and the social and behavioral sciences. Its major claim is that the history of educational research is embedded in the nation's social, political, intellectual, and economic histories. Attention is given to three significant periods: the Progressive Era when modern educational research began to assume its present form; the Post-World-War-II-Era when educators and educational researchers were directed to return to or turn to the academic disciplines; and the Civil Rights Era after the Supreme Court in Brown ended legal racial segregation and raised questions about equality of educational opportunity that are still with us. These were significant periods when there was a clear national agenda shaped by both public and private agencies. Educators and educational researchers adopted policies and strategies in response to concerns and interests expressed by the public, by government officials, and by philanthropies. Researchers' responses have had long-term consequences as seen in the reaction to The Coleman Report, debates about the merits of quantitative research as opposed to qualitative research, the ongoing discussion about the merits of No Child Left Behind, the achievement gap, the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences, and the emphasis now placed on "scientifically-based research." The origins of the common school, the work of the philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart and his followers, and the revolution in scientific method brought about by Charles Darwin's work are included because they serve as the foundation for educational research. Educational researchers' identification with and interest in individual performance and ability and their measurement is related to the close relationship educational researchers have had with psychology, a discipline that typically does not focus on social context. The significance of educational researchers' borrowing from the behavioral sciences, especially psychology, is examined through a discussion of the mental hygiene movement, as supported by private philanthropy, and through consideration of contributors such as G. Stanley Hall, Arnold Gesell, Lewis M. Terman, Daniel Starch, and Stuart A. Courtis.
Immigration is a comprehensive and practical guide to the history, economics, and contributions of immigrants, written by a former key policymaker who is now a leading researcher in the field. Immigration is a comprehensive examination of U.S. immigration policies and their impact on the nation, combining a historical overview and a guide to how immigration works in practice. In this one-volume compendium on the history, politics, culture, and contributions of immigrants to the United States, the author uses his experience in key immigration policy posts to provide an insider's perspective on a broad array of immigration-related issues. Offering a detached, unbiased analysis of the economic, fiscal, and other impacts of current immigration policies, he recommends reforms and policy solutions for the thorniest immigration issues, such as illegal immigration. But the book does not ignore the fact that immigration has always enriched and strengthened our nation. Along with policy considerations, it also encompasses enlightening profiles detailing the many contributions of individual immigrants in such diverse areas as science, sports, the military, and business.
Examining actual policy to identify the facts, this book exposes how racially charged political and legal debates over immigration reform in the United States continue to inform our immigration policy. Immigration reform policies continue to influence domains like housing ordinances, official language laws, mass deportation, and bilingual education, amongst many other topics. In this work, authors Donathan Brown and Amardo Rodriguez demonstrate how immigration policies belie simplistic conversations pertaining to border control. Their focus is on actual policy as opposed to mere headlines and "talking points," as it is policy and the debates that it produces that inform the headlines and subsequently incite controversy and heated arguments. Each chapter of the book addresses both policies and the fallout they produce to clearly articulate how such policies usurp fact with fiction, producing residual messages that equate "diversity" with destroying our social and political order. This accessible book provides high school, college, and graduate-level students insight into the laws and lawsuits stemming from current legislation, an understanding of the peculiar racial dimensions intertwined in these policies and debates, as well as comprehension of immigration reform against the grander backdrop of the growing Latino demographic in the United States. The authors argue that the varying degrees of immigration reform passed by state legislatures throughout the country are based on thinking that ignores the sociopolitical and cultural realities of modern-day America and continue to rely less on facts and more on fear, causing greater deep-seated paranoia, distrust, and resentment within our nation. Covers policies pertaining to immigrants and immigration reform and relates these policies to associated topics such as language, bilingual education, housing, borders, and voting rights Provides immigration policy analyses that are engaging and accessible to a wide range of readers Examines past policy actions as well as findings from recent case studies, allowing readers to grasp the specific racial dimensions intertwined in these controversial policies and debates
This provocative and controversial book rejects the popular pabulum of more laws, more money, more enforcement personnel, and more jails as the road to victory in the 'war on drugs'. Steven Wisotsky masterfully documents the failure of the drug war and the erroneous premise central to its destructive and doomed strategy: the idea that drug taking controls human behaviour; that drugs 'cause' physical dependency. We must move beyond the war on drugs by repudiating their obsessive preoccupation with controlling or prohibiting drugs. Instead, we must replace this mindset with a new view that acknowledges individual freedom and the power of directing our choices toward responsible human behaviour.
On any given night, there are over 643,000 homeless peopleresiding
in shelters and on the streets across America. What can we do to
help?
This book sheds new light on the political economy of public management reform. It examines the new forms of economic decentralization and macroeconomic adjustment, and discusses their implications for policy design and regulation.The authors discuss leading-edge research on public management reform, privatization and decentralization in both industrialized and aid-dependent countries, concentrating on the meso-level of institutional response. Combining theory, case studies and institutional analysis, they focus on issues including public/private partnerships, public finance and aid allocation. The authors also present new ideas on the design of a regulatory framework. This book will be welcomed by academics and researchers working in the fields of development studies, development economics, political economy and international public management as well as policymakers working for government agencies and NGOs in developing countries.
The book is an up-to-date and comprehensive description of the institutions involved in the aerospace field. It discusses the activities of the main space powers, the United Nations and other international organizations. Without listing figures and budgets, the author conveys a clear idea of the relative importance of those institutions. The novelty of this work is that, in bringing together national and international entities, it explains how those organizations interrelate and coordinate their programs. A complete picture emerges which is more than the sum of its parts. The field of aerospace, which depends heavily on government funding and direction, has been particularly effected by the shifting alliances and recent financial troubles of the space powers. In a book which is both comprehensive and simple to understand, d'Angelo has collected the many pieces of a complex institutional mosaic to draw a clear picture of the entire framework. In addition to being up-to-date, the book is also a novelty in the sense that it describes the work of both national and international entities and explains how those organizations interrelate and coordinate their programs. Without making a list of figures and budgets, d'Angelo gives a clear idea of the relative weight of the various government activities. From the discussion of those activities the reader gains an understanding of the current state of affairs as well as future trends.
The climate change problem can only be effectively dealt with if global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be reduced substantially. Since the emission of such gases is closely related to the economic growth of countries, a critical problem to be addressed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) is: how will the permissible emission levels be shared between industrialised (ICs) and developing countries (DCs)? The thesis of this book is that the long-term effectiveness of the FCCC runs the risk of a horizontal negotiation deadlock between countries and the risk of vertical standstill within countries if there is little domestic support for the domestic implementation of measures being announced in international negotiations. The research question is: Can one observe trends towards horizontal deadlock and vertical standstill and if yes, how can the treaty design be improved so as to avoid such potential future bottlenecks? The research focuses on the perspectives of domestic actors on the climate convention and related issues in four developing countries: India, Indonesia, Kenya and Brazil. The following key findings emerge from the research: 1. Handicapped negotiating power: The common theme of the foreign policy of DCs is that ICs are responsible for the bulk of the GHG emissions and need to take appropriate domestic action. |
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