The Handbook of Public Policy in Europe provides an invaluable overview of the content of public policy across the full range of policy areas in Britain, France and Germany. It is designed to be used by students, experts and practitioners both to help compare public policy across different policy areas and countries and as a source of information on individual policy areas. Each chapter describes the nature of public policy in a particular area, makes detailed comparisons of selected aspects and outlines recent developments. Detailed internet references are also provided.

Information Communication Technologies (ICT) have become an increasingly prevalent part of everyday life. Today, there are many cases in which ICT assist the elderly and people with disabilities to complete tasks once thought impossible. Enhancing the Human Experience through Assistive Technologies and E-Accessibility discusses trends in ICT in relation to assistive technologies and their impact on everyday tasks for those with disabilities. This reference work provides different perspectives on upcoming technologies and their impact on e-accessibility and e-inclusion, essential topics for researchers, businesses, and ICT product developers in the field of assistive technologies.

In designing policies to help resolve its energy problems, every country faces a unique set of conditions. Contributors to this volume profile the energy situation in the developing countries, assess the role of energy policy in Third World development, and discuss the global energy situation in relation to these countries' consumption, production, trade, and resource endowment. The rest of the volume provides researchers with different sources of information--statistical and bibliographic--relating to energy policy development in the Third World. Managing the increasing demand for energy is explored in depth.

Globalization poses a formidable dilemma for the third world state. While there are compelling external pressures to liberalize domestic economies, market-oriented reforms threaten the economic well-being of various societal groups. Popular resistance to these reforms has been strong throughout the developing world. This volume examines the political strategies employed by third world governments to maintain programmes in the face of domestic opposition.

This volume represents the beginning of a 'cross pollination' of different social scientific disciplines, bridging the boundaries between national and disciplinary epistemic communities in the worlds of European welfare markets. It maps the common ground and uncovers new research directions for the future study of actors, policies and institutions shaping the growth and dynamics of European welfare markets. The book defines welfare markets as politically shaped, regulated and state supported markets that provide social goods and services through the competitive activities of non-state actors. The chapters focus on what happens after states have initiated welfare markets, with equal weight given to the analysis of the agency of state actors and non-state actors in the contraction, stabilisation, and disruption of welfare markets. By focusing the analysis on two cases of welfare markets, private pensions and home-based domestic/care work, the contributions explore and compare the dynamics of different types of markets. The research will be of use to sociologists and scholars of social policy interested in the social dimension of welfare markets, political scientists and political economists, as well as diverse epistemic communities across the social sciences. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book exposes the barriers to inclusive and effective public policy making, which are the current decision making paradigm and commonly held ideas that reduce public policy problems to scientific and technical ones. Through both environmental policy and other decision making examples, readers are shown the commonalities of all decision making. Solution-oriented practitioners and stakeholders will find this book filling a conceptual and methodological gap in existing policy literature and practice. The authors deftly guide readers from post-normal science, wicked problems, and uncertainty concepts to a conceptually-grounded, practical implementation of a new approach, the open solution approach. The Multi-criteria Integrated Resource Assessment (MIRA) is described as the first generation methodology that fulfills the expectations for the inclusive, transparent, and learning-based open solutions approach. MIRA is a holistic package of concepts, methods and analytical tools that is designed to assess Decision Uncertainty, the combined uncertainties that include data, problem formulation, expert judgments, and stakeholder opinions. Introduction of the Requisite Steps, the common steps found in all decision making, provides the yardstick for evaluating a variety of decision making processes, decision tools, and commonly found indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Newsweek Green Ranking of corporations. The use of anecdotes, policy stories, and case examples makes this a very readable and practical book for citizens and experts. With this book, readers are prepared to critically evaluate these common indices for their personal use as well as challenge policy processes as a stakeholder. For policy practitioners, this guidebook will become a rubric to ensure an effective public policy making process and to critically evaluate decision support tools.

Gun control remains one of the hottest topics on America's agenda. Increased violence, gang wars in metropolitan areas, and the prevalence of guns in the United States frequently bring this debate to new crescendos of public concern. How can we find answers that maintain safety while protecting individual liberty? "The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy" offers a compelling look at how other democracies have attempted to solve their own gun problems, and what we can learn from these countries.

Migration expert Bastian Vollmer explores the contentious issue of irregular migration in the highly-charged contexts of Germany and the UK. Through policy and discourse analysis the author explains why, despite the differing contexts and migration histories, German and British policy responses to the issue are now on a convergent path.

The arts are situated at the centre of policies and programs seeking to make communities more creative, cohesive or productive. This book highlights the governmental, aesthetic and economic contexts which shape art in community, offering a constructive account of the ties between government, culture and the citizen.

Cities, economies, and societies around the world must address the urgent global challenges such as climate change or the transition towards a greener and digital economy. It is important that economies are transformed into resource-efficient, competitive, and resilient ones. In the context of rapid change, transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, or the internet of things (IoT) play a key role in this digital transition across a wide range of areas. The Handbook of Research on Building Greener Economics and Adopting Digital Tools in the Era of Climate Change discusses global challenges like the transition towards a circular, greener, and digital economy. It proposes actions to advance the agenda towards climate-friendly businesses and economies. The book fosters cooperation among researchers, companies, and policymakers to share national initiatives and disseminate relevant knowledge. Covering topics such as cross-cultural communication, green product consumption, and organization performance strategies, this major reference work is an essential resource for business leaders and managers, entrepreneurs, government officials, politicians, policymakers, environmentalist organizations, students and faculty of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Drawing on an extensive range of political, legal and sociological materials, the author presents and evaluates environmental policy-making in France at a time when environmental problems are growing in complexity and gravity. He highlights the range of inputs to the policy process - including popular movements, green parties, interest group representation, EU legislation and international treaties - and evaluates the diverse nature of the outcomes which lead him to conclude that because new developments involve not only changes in policy content but also adaptation of policy style, environmental demands are progressively changing the shape of politics itself.

Among the many ways the world has changed in recent decades, using technology for city planning has become one of the most innovative. Using new, pioneering methods that are reshaping the world into a more efficient and effective society has become the new reality. Citizen-Responsive Urban E-Planning: Recent Developments and Critical Perspectives is a collection of innovative research that presents and discusses various perspectives on facets of citizen engagement in open urban policy processes, all of them based on the widespread use of information and communication technologies in the field of urban/spatial planning. The book offers an updated outline of recent advances in this field as well as a critical perspective of the challenges with which citizen e-participation in urban e-planning is confronted. While highlighting topics including smart ecosystems, urban development, and global intelligence, this book is ideally designed for urban planners, IT consultants, government officials, policymakers, academicians, researchers, students, and industry professionals.

Population aging is perhaps the single biggest economic and social obstacle confronting Asia's future. The region-wide demographic transition towards an older population is fundamentally reshaping the demographic landscape, and is giving rise to two key socio-economic challenges. This timely book provides an in-depth analysis of these challenges and presents concrete policy options for tackling them. First, the expert contributors argue, Asia must find ways to sustain rapid economic growth in the face of less favorable demographics, which implies slower growth of the workforce. Second, they contend, Asia must find ways to deliver affordable, adequate, and sustainable old-age economic security for its growing elderly population. Underpinned by rigorous analysis, a wide range of concrete policy options for sustaining economic growth while delivering economic security for the elderly are then presented. These include Asia-wide policy options - relevant to the entire region - such as building up strong national pension systems, while other policy options are more relevant to sub-groups of countries. This stimulating and informative book will be of great interest to academics, students, and researchers with an interest in Asian studies, economics generally, and, more specifically, public sector economics. Contributors: Q. Chen, K. Eggleston, G. Estrada, L. Ladusingh, M.S. Lai, S.-H. Lee, L. Li, A. Mason, R. Matsukura, M.R. Narayana, N. Ogawa, D. Park, A. Ramayandi, K. Shin, A.-C. Tung

This book investigates key aspects of the development of engaged and entrepreneurial universities. Reflecting the complex and dynamic nature of changes in higher education institutions (HEIs), multi-level perspectives in the field are taken into account, namely the ecosystem, relationship, organisational and individual perspective. The book highlights the entrepreneurial and the social orientation of HEIs by focusing on both primary economically focused (entrepreneurial) universities and primary socially focused (engaged) universities. It challenges the understanding of the role universities and its individual stakeholders play today. The book explores a multitude of facets and perspectives on the topic and addresses both what we already know and what knowledge still needs to be acquired.

German and European immigration policies have only recently begun to cope with the inevitable: growing labor demand in the face of high unemployment and a shrinking labor force due to demographic change. Despite the implementation of Germany's first immigration act and several European initiatives towards legal harmonization at the EU level, an actively controlling immigration policy, which would be needed to master the challenges ahead, is not yet in sight. Against this background, the book draws conclusions from the German history of immigration policy. It analyzes the country's future demand for immigration and develops an economic model for the effective selection and integration of labor migrants that could provide the foundation for a joint European immigration strategy.

A review of the dissemination of spatial data. Topics addressed include: spatial information infrastructure and innovation; designing information policy research; and evaluating information use, access and dissemination. The work also contains comparative case studies of information dissemination.

Established by the Mexican government in 1965 to provide employment for Mexican citizens in the cities along the U.S. border, the maquiladora program is now one of the fastest growing industries in that area. This pioneering volume presents an in-depth examination of the maquiladora phenomenon written by experts on the subject. The contributors focus on three vital dimensions of the maquiladora issue: the impact of the maquilas on workers and economic development in both the United States and Mexico; the success or failure of the maquilas on an industry by industry basis; and the strategic aspects of the maquiladora program from geopoltical and macroeconomic perspectives. The controversial aspects of the maquilas--their impact on local pollution, unemployment, and labor market exploitation--also receive extended coverage.

Divided into six sections, the volume begins with descriptive essays on the history and current status of maquilas and the special provisions of U.S. and Mexican laws dealing with production sharing. The bulk of the volume is devoted to an analysis of the industry from various perspectives. The contributors examine the impact of maquilas on United States and Mexican border regions; describe the financial issues involved, including debt-equity swaps and other types of foreign investment; explore the use of maquiladoras by non-American countries; and look at the impact of maquiladoras on Mexico's balance of payments. A series of chapters assess the impact of maquilas in particular industries, including the automobile and apparel industries. Finally, the contributors turn toward the future of the maquiladora industry, addressing key issues such as the sociological impact of the maquiladoras, and the managerial issues facing maquiladora executives responsible for training and motivating workers in a multicultural environment. Scholars in Latin American studies, and development economics will find this volume a timely and provocative look at a subject of profound economic significance for both Mexico and the United States.

Monique Taylor analyses the policy rationale and institutional underpinnings of China's state-led or neomercantilist oil strategy, and its development, set against the wider context of economic transformation as the country transitions from a centrally planned to market economy.

At all levels of government--from the international to the local--public policies are formulated mainly by men, but their impacts are felt, sometimes differently, by women, men, and children. This book considers the impact of public policy on various aspects of women's lives, including sex and birth, marriage and death, work and child rearing, and women's responses to those policies. Written by scholars who have lived on five continents, the chapters span the First and Third Worlds, with several providing case illustrations of policies affecting women in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Written by scholars from several disciplines, the volume includes the fields of economics, politics, and planning. Literature also is covered, along with women's fiction as a source of women's opinions. The work is divided into two sections. The first section, Economic Policies and Migration, considers the impact of economic and demographic policies. The second section, Sex and Marriage, Violence and Control, considers policies relating to women's interpersonal relationships. Urban culture is discussed in an epilogue.

"The historical response to bank crises has always been more regulation. A pattern emerges that some may find surprising: regulation often contributes to bank instability. It suppresses competition and effective response to market changes and encourages bankers to take on additional risk. This book offers a valuable history lesson for policy makers"--

When the world began to wake up to the global environmental crisis in the 1970s, the United States was the undisputed world leader in environmental policy. Yet, on an unsettling number of international environmental issues including global warming the U.S. has not only forfeited its leadership role but has too often become the major barrier to protecting the global environment. In American Heat, Donald Brown critically analyzes the U.S. response to global warming, inviting readers to examine the implicit morality of the U.S position, and ultimately to help lead the world toward an equitable sharing of the burdens and benefits of protecting the global environment. In short, Brown argues that an ethical focus on global environmental matters is the key to achieving a globally acceptable solution.

Scholars from around the world have contributed to the first major reference book to be published on female prostitution as an international phenomenon. Experts survey and analyze the historical background, current problems and policies, and future possible directions in 16 representative countries. The volume belongs in college, university, and institutional libraries and collections dealing with social problems, women's studies, international relations, and world history. The volume opens with a lengthy introduction by the editor, Nanette Davis, defining the situation in general, pointing to current trends and future concerns. Country chapters, primarily by native writers, include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England and Wales, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, United States, Vietnam, and the former Yugoslavia. Each chapter provides references, and the index makes the volume easily accessible to researchers in various disciplines.

George Bush's 1988 campaign pledge, "Read my lips: no new taxes," has become a mantra for those who distrust politicians and bureaucrats. The gulf between what political leaders say and do seems to be widening, and in democratic societies around the world, contributing to an atmosphere of cynicism and apathy among the citizenry. Understanding the characteristics and functions of speech in policy processes is a requirement for trying to overcome this problem; indeed, politicians and bureaucrats spend a good proportion of their time and resources discoursing, i.e., writing, speaking, and publishing. However, there has been scant analysis of political discourse; the aim of this book is to fill this analytical gap, by exploring political speech from a variety of perspectives, including normative, epistemological, and empirical. Incorporating insights from economics, political science, philosophy, and law, and evidence from the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Turkey, and the EU, the book addresses a wide variety of timely issues, including:. Fiscal discipline in speeches vs budget balance: Is an improvement (deterioration) of the budget balance preceded by a more (less) fiscally disciplined discourse? Revenues and spending forecasted in budget speeches vs realised budget outcomes: Is there a systematic bias? If so, how can we explain it? Electoral pledges vs actual realisations: Do governments follow up on their electoral pledges? Ideological stance in party publications vs spending and revenues of party governments: Do parties of the right and the left speak different languages? How can we validly classify a government as of the left or of the right? Is there a systematic difference between governments of the right and of the left in terms of their policy? Speeches by central bank officers vs monetary policy: Can changes in monetary policy be predicted by official speeches? The political business cycle: How can taking into consideration the speech-action relationship strengthen (or threaten) our knowledge about electoral and partisan cycles in public spending? Other questions explored include: Should policy makers always tell the truth and all the truth? What are the benefits and the costs of transparency? How can we resolve the apparent contradiction between the democratic demand for transparency and the efficiency requirement of secrecy in many policy areas (budget preparation, monetary policy, foreign policy, security, etc.)? Under which conditions is secrecy acceptable in a democratic society? To what extent may deception and lies lead to a breach of trust or to power abuse? What are the most efficient institutional mechanisms to prevent such abuse? Collectively, the authors present new insights for understanding political process and government activity, and suggest avenues for further research.