This unique book offers a comprehensive survey of the privatization and deregulation of the public sector in a number of important developed and developing economies. The first part examines the privatization and deregulation process in Japan, Korea, India, Latin America, the US and the UK. The authors examine the costs and benefits in each country and describe the private initiatives and ongoing government intervention in the new markets. Wide country coverage allows readers to compare and contrast the different regimes in each country, particularly in the less studied Asian and Indian regions. The authors also describe the regime in the US and UK, the forerunners of privatization initiatives, from which useful policy lessons can be learnt in terms of ownership, price setting, universal service and welfare implications. The second part offers sector surveys from important industries, including telecommunications in Japan, India and Latin America, electricity in the UK and US, and the banking sector in Japan. Privatization, Deregulation and Economic Efficiency will be useful supplementary reading for scholars and students of the theory and practice of public economics, as well as for governments and NGOs interested in the policy implications of the privatization and deregulation process.

How might the entire citizenry of a country make the decisions that affect them? Carson and Martin provide the first accessible and comprehensive overview of random selection as a possible process for transforming our modern political systems. Building on the theoretical work of the likes of John Burnheim and Fred Emery and drawing on their own work with social action groups, they outline a set of methods that go beyond the mere tapping of community opinion to reveal not only preferences but a more active role in creating the community.

Random selection, as Carson and Martin show, has been used in community participation in short-term decision making and long-term planning. It can be a powerful tool in the development of local, federal, and international policy. An important and innovative look at government decision making, this will be of primary interest to scholars and researchers in political theory and electoral systems, as well as political activists and reformers.

This book argues that the relationship between cities and climate change is entering a new and more urgent phase. Thirteen contributions from a range of leading scholars explore the need to rethink and reorient urban life in response to climatic change. Split into four parts it begins by asking 'What is climate urbanism?' and exploring key features from different locations and epistemological traditions. The second section examines the transformative potential of climate urbanism to challenge social and environmental injustices within and between cities. In the third part authors interrogate current knowledge paradigms underpinning climate and urban science and how they shape contemporary urban trajectories. The final section focuses on the future, envisaging climate urbanism as a new communal project, and focuses on the role of citizens and non-state actors in driving transformative action. Consolidating debates on climate urbanism, the book highlights the opportunities and tensions of urban environmental policy, providing a framework for researchers and practitioners to respond to the urban challenges of a radically climate-changed world.

Most American Indian reservations are islands of poverty in a sea of wealth, but they do not have to remain that way. To extract themselves from poverty, Native Americans will have to build on their rich cultural history including familiarity with markets and integrate themselves into modern economies by creating institutions that reward productivity and entrepreneurship and that establish tribal governments that are capable of providing a stable rule of law. The chapters in this volume document the involvement of indigenous people in market economies long before European contact, provide evidence on how the wealth of Indian Nations has been held hostage to bureaucratic red tape, and explains how their wealth can be unlocked through self-determination and sovereignty.

This unique book provides a platform for resilience research, combining knowledge from various domains, such as genetics, primatology, archeology, geography, physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, medicine, ecology, psychology, risk management and systems science, in order to examine specific concepts. The term "resilience" was originally used in psychology, but in current-day usage, it mainly refers to the "ability to recover from disaster"; however, the concept of resilience is still ambiguous. This book challenges readers to reconsider the concept of resilience comprehensively from diverse perspectives and to re-conceptualize it as an important framework applicable in various research fields. The book explores resilience by expanding the time and space scales to the maximum. On the time axis, it traces back to our human ancestors (and even to anthropoid apes) and follows the evolution of humans, the origin of agriculture, the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, and the present day. On the space axis, it discusses levels ranging from genetic; bacterial flora; individual, indigenous communities; and modern societies; to the global level. As such it expands the base for considering the problems facing modern society and selecting a future direction. In the long history of evolution, we Homo sapiens have faced, and overcome, various kinds of risks. By acquiring resilience, we have surpassed other animals and become apparent rulers of the earth; but, at the same time, we are also facing more serious risks than ever before. This book provides insights into addressing the challenges of a sustainable future.

Concerns about European prospects for competitiveness, jobs and growth are high on the European Union agenda and regulatory reform, both at national and EU levels, is widely recognised as a crucial tool for improving the performance of European companies. Despite the single market, selective sectoral regulatory reform and certain reforms at the national level, regulation in Europe still tends to discourage new entrants, impede new production methods and inhibit the exit of existing competitors. It often increases costs without providing compensatory benefits, reduces operational flexibility and distorts capital expenditure, creating obstacles to innovation. The authors in this book argue that regulatory reform can, more often than not, help improve the competitiveness of companies while generating net growth effects for the European Union as a whole.In this book, the authors discuss the horizontal issues involved in regulatory reform. Following an extended introduction by the editors, two general chapters address regulation and growth, and the regulatory burdens and failures in Europe. Other chapters deal with national competition policy, state aid, EU environmental policy, reforms in product markets, labour market reforms, the regulatory environment of small and new firms, and the current, insufficient EU reforms to improve regulatory quality. Throughout the book the authors aim to demonstrate how the market can function more efficiently and offer policy recommendations to show how regulatory reform can improve competitiveness at the firm level as well as performance at the industry, national and EU levels.

This book is an up-to-date analysis of the issues facing the future of the social work profession in the face of rising political authoritarianism, economic inequality and insecurity, class and racial conflicts, fiscal pressure and the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides an account of how these factors interact, and what their consequences are for policy and practice. Reflecting the author's experiences in Europe and Commonwealth countries, the book is international in its scope and analysis. It is suitable for professionals and students alike, and will also be relevant for social policy academics and researchers.

From the time he began his life as a "throwaway child," clearly, some crucial pieces of Ron Huber's life had been missing: Parents. Love. Self-esteem. A helping hand. Cruelly abandoned at an early age by his alcoholic parents, Ron and his brother, Vic, were left to rot in a poisoned, rat-infested slum with no food, heat, or electricity. For the next long decade, Ron and Vic suffered unbearably as they were shipped from one brutal foster care home to another. Not soon enough it was time for Ron to break loose from the chains of the mental and physical restraints of the welfare and foster care system and strike out on his own with newfound and well-deserved hope to halt the runaway turbulence of his young life. From a throwaway child to a top federal government executive, this is Ron Huber's remarkable true story of bravery, gallantry and recovery from a system which today poses a national crisis. Foster care provides for half a million "nowhere to go" children and, of that half a million, a shocking 80 percent of the children end up in prisons. This account of Ron's life sends a powerful message to those unfortunate victims of a foster home care existence today of unswerving hope and optimism that one day you will find a world WITH unquestionable love to wipe away all the tears of your saddened, inhumane, hurt, your torturous loneliness, your savage abuse, and the tears from your humiliating defeats. It will come.

This book presents various multi-criteria analysis methods for sustainability-oriented analysis and decision-making for energy systems, under various different conditions and scenarios. It presents methodologies to answer the questions relating to which of the options are the most sustainable among the alternatives, and how multi-criteria decision analysis methods can be used to select the most sustainable energy systems. A systematic innovative methodological framework is presented, which enables the most appropriate energy system to be selected under different conditions including: Scientific decision support tools for sustainable energy system selection; Fuzzy, grey, and rough sets based multi-criteria decision analysis; Decision-making models under uncertainties; and The combination of life cycle thinking and multi-criteria decision analysis This book is of interest to researchers, engineers, decision makers, and postgraduate students within the field of energy systems, sustainability, and multi-criteria decision analysis.

The health care system remains in crisis, and it's hurting the overall economy. Join an insider as he examines the problem and offers solutions.

Everyone knows that there are severe challenges when it comes to health care delivery and financing these days. Even so, not many people are offering viable solutions. Author Roger H. Strube, MD, spent thirty-six years in medical education, training, practice, and health care administration, and he's not satisfied with the status quo. He shares his personal experiences along with a vision of how to fix the problems associated with a broken system.

If you have been frustrated by excessive paperwork, high expenses, and poor treatment in the current health care system, Strube can help you understand the root causes behind the troubles. You'll discover
ways that the medical-industrial complex cripples the economy; a plan to get control of skyrocketing medical expenses while improving the quality of care; strategies to develop the right decision-making tools and protocols; a vision to bring the practice and administration of medicine into the electronic age.

All Americans must understand our core problems and realize what real reforms can be made to control costs and improve our health care system. Learn an insider's perspective on "Discovering the Cause and the Cure for American's Health Care Crisis."

How do we incorporate analytical thinking into public policy decisions? Stuart Shapiro confronts this issue in Analysis and Public Policy by looking at various types of analysis, and discussing how they are used in regulatory policy-making in the US. By looking at the successes and failures of incorporating cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, and environmental impact assessment, he draws broader lessons on its use, focusing on the interactions between analysis and political factors, legal structures and bureaucratic organizations as possible areas for reform.Utilizing empirical and qualitative research, Shapiro analyzes four different forms of analysis: cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, and impact analysis. After interviewing nearly fifty individuals who have served in high levels of government, and who have made countless regulatory policy decisions in their careers, Shapiro argues that advocates must become less ambitious and should craft requirements for simpler and clearer analysis. Such analysis, particularly if informed by public participation, can do a great deal to improve government decisions. As this book details the relationship between analysis and institutional factors such as politics, bureaucracy, and law, it is appropriate for a variety of readers, such as scholars of policy, students, scholars of regulation, and congressional and state legislative staff looking to create new analytical requirements.

This edited volume presents unique insights on sibling relationships in adulthood in the early 21st century, focusing on three themes: relations beyond childhood and school years; factors shaping social support provision between siblings; and changes in family life and how these impact sibling relations. Comprised of chapters from distinguished international family scholars, this book examines sibling dynamics across age, race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, geography, and social environments. It answers important questions such as, to what extent do siblings support each other at different stages of the life cycle? How do cultural practices and family obligations impact on sibling support? How does sibling support differ when looking at surrogates, migrant families, polygamous families, and siblings with disabilities? These contributions expand and contribute greatly to the field of sibling studies and will be of interest to all students and scholars studying and researching family relationships.

In this fascinating inquiry into the Soviet retreat from the Third World, Melvin A. Goodman analyzes GorbacheV's policy from the standpoint of disillusionment with the Third World. He cites, among other reasons for the retreat, the diminished strategic significance of the Third World to current Soviet leadership, the limitations for Soviet power projection in distant areas, and the dilemmas in MoscoW's relations with Third World regimes. Goodman contends that GorbacheV's foreign policy shift to achieve a more stable international arena and a less militant Soviet stance allowed Moscow to focus on its internal economic problems. This volume provides the first exploration of Afghanistan as a watershed in Soviet thinking on the Third World and discusses the current Soviet emphasis on conflict management and resolution in Third World states--particularly Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua. "GorbacheV's Retreat" explains how cooperation with the United States improves MoscoW's image in the West and tends to stabilize Third World flash points. Up-to-the-minute data on Soviet military and economic assistance to the Third World as well as Third World responses to the new Soviet policy are also presented.

The volume examines Soviet retrenchment and retreat in the Third World; analyzes GorbacheV's decisions relative to Third World relationships; zeroes in on the withdrawal from Afghanistan; explores some of the reasons for Soviet power limitations; and assesses the regional implications of GorbacheV's New Political Thinking. "GorbacheV's Retreat" then looks at Soviet power projection and crisis management, Soviet military and economic aid, and Soviet retreat in the 1990s. The volume will be particularly useful to undergraduate and graduate courses in foreign policy and international relations as a discussion of the impact of the new Soviet policy in the Third World and the consequences for U.S.-Soviet relations. Regional studies specialists will find its in-depth analyses of the limits on Soviet actions in the Third World cogent and timely.

This highly topical book focuses on a particularly interesting area of post-1989 social policy. Existing public pension systems in Central-Eastern Europe underwent fundamental change as Latin-American style pension reforms were adopted. Such radical change in retirement provision defied conventional wisdom among scholars of the political economy of pension reform, suggesting a need for fresh research. This unique study accepts the challenge, focusing on the divergent pension reform experiences of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. This study was granted the EACES Award 2000, a bi-annual prize awarded in the area of comparative economic systems and economics of transition. It has also been awarded the Ed. A. Hewett Prize by the AAASS (American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies).

Innovation is critically important for countries seeking to maintain or improve their competitive advantage in the global economy. This book addresses the major current policy debates in science, technology and innovation focusing mainly on Europe but also including comparisons with other countries around the world.The R&D policies of five European countries - the UK, The Netherlands, France, Finland and Germany - are examined to understand national innovation systems and public policies, the determination of R&D spending priorities, research responsibilities and the allocation of funds. The authors combine interviews with senior civil servants, analyses of government publications and various government statistics on R&D performance. They consider national debates on science, technology and innovation policies within the wider context of the overarching political and administrative culture, and relate actual innovation and research policies to structural and institutional features of national economies. This book will be warmly welcomed by scholars and all those in decision making positions in government and non-governmental institutions on research, innovation and technology.

Over recent years Complexity Science has revealed to us new limits to our possible knowledge and control in social, cultural and economic systems. Instead of supposing that past statistics and patterns will give us predictable outcomes for possible actions, we now know the world is, and will always be, creative and surprising. Continuous structural evolution within such systems may change the mechanisms, descriptors, problems and opportunities, often negating policy aims. We therefore need to redevelop our thinking about interventions, policies and policy making, moving perhaps to a humbler, more learning approach. In this Handbook, leading thinkers in multiple domains set out these new ideas and allow us to understand how these new ideas are changing policymaking and policies in this new era.' - Peter M Allen, Cranfield University, UK'Complexity Theory has come to the fore because the world we live in is complex and many of the issues which confront us cannot be handled by the conventional tools of science, including social science. In public policy and professional practice, we are well aware of wicked issues where simple interventions often make things worse instead of better. The chapters in this excellent Handbook put complexity to work where it matters in informing our thinking and action across governance and public policy.' - David Byrne, Durham University, UK Though its roots in the natural sciences go back to the early 20th century, complexity theory as a scientific framework has developed rapidly from the 1970s onwards. Since the 1990s, it has been increasingly integrated into the social sciences and public policy. The ground-breaking and wide-ranging Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy brings together the latest work from top academics, researchers and policy actors working with complexity and policy from Europe, North America, Brazil and China and organizes it into three clear and cohesive parts: - Theory and Tools - Methods and Modelling for Policy Research and Action - Applying Complexity to Local, National and International Policy. With its distinctive combination of theory, methods and policy applications, comprehensive coverage of the field and state of the art overview, this Handbook is an essential read for students, academics and policy practitioners. Contributors include: S. Astill, U.Bilge, T. Bovaird, P. Cairney, A. Caloffi, T. Carmichael, M. Darking, G. de Roo, B. Edmonds, C. Gershenson, R. Geyer, M. Givel, B. Gray, M. Hadzikadic, P. Haynes, C. Hobbs, M. Howlett, L. Johnson, R. Kenny, K.E. Lehmann, A. Little, Q. Liu, E. Mitleton-Kelly, G. Morcoel, D. Nohrstedt, S. Occelli, J. Price, J. Rayner, C. Ricaurte, G. Room, F. Rossi, M. Russo, F. Semboloni, K. Treadwell Shine, J. Stroud, T. Tenbensel, C. Warren-Adamson, T.E. Webb, A. Wellstead, J. Whitmeyer

This book is a unique, single-volume treatment offering original source material on the life, accomplishments, disappointments, and lasting legacy of one of American history's most celebrated social reformers-Cesar Chavez. Two decades after Cesar Chavez's death, this timely book chronicles the drive for a union of one of American society's most exploited groups-farm workers. Encyclopedia of Cesar Chavez is a valuable one-volume source based on the most recent research and available documentation. Historian Roger Bruns documents how Chavez and his United Farm Workers (UFW), against formidable odds, organized farm laborers into a force that for the first time successfully took on the might of California's agribusiness interests to achieve greater wages and better working conditions. Set against the backdrop of the 1960s, a time of assassinations, war protests, civil rights battles, and reform efforts for poor and minority citizens, the approximately 100 entries in this encyclopedia provide a glimpse into the events, organizations, men and women, and recurring themes that impacted the life of Cesar Chavez. It also contains a section of primary documentation-useful not only to enhance the understanding of this social and political movement, but also as source material for students. Presents a unique narrative of the events in the life of Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement, as well as original documents and entries on people and events Provides a valuable source of information for tracing attitudes, legislation, and progressive reform efforts in the last half-century, especially in light of the current heated debate over immigration Demonstrates how a determined organizer applied various methods and tactics to accomplish what seemed at the onset of the movement to be a quixotic venture-a relevant lesson for those strategizing to achieve social justice today

This book provides the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the emerging civil service systems in 9 Central and East European states. Its comparative nature provides a fascinating insight into the emerging patterns of administrative development in the region since the beginning of the transition period. The authors apply the same methodological framework developed by the Civil Service Research Consortium to all the country case studies, which gives the book a high level of coherence and enhances the comparability of the country case studies. This methodological framework provides a solid background for the in-depth analysis of the history of the civil service system, internal labour market, public opinion, relations between politicians and administrators and civil service reform and development. Special attention is given to topical issues such as the influence of the European Union on the emerging civil service systems and possibility of European Union candidature. Civil Service Systems in Central and Eastern Europe will be warmly welcomed by academics and advanced level students in public administration, law, political science and transition studies as well as policymakers and international organizations helping to develop civil services in former communist countries.

How much freedom of action does an ambitious reforming party have as it moves from opposition to government? Drawing on original research and first-hand interviews, Andrew Connell analyzes the development of welfare reform policy following New Labour's ascent to power in 1997 to show how ideas, actors, and structures can constrain policy options. He looks at the contrasting ideas of Frank Field, Minister for Welfare Reform in 1997-8, and of Gordon Brown, and shows how Brown's approach eventually came to prevail. The book also includes a unique exposition of Field's political and social philosophy, showing how his consistent Christian socialist beliefs influenced his work as Minister for Welfare Reform. "Welfare Policy under New Labour" will be essential reading for scholars of contemporary politics and social policy and for those interested in New Labour and welfare reform.

Economic Policy in the European Union analyses the key issues confronting Europe as we enter the 21st century. It focuses mainly on the transition problems linked with the creation of European Monetary Union as well as more specific issues such as social, labour, environmental and science and technology policy. It addresses major questions, including: * is it true that the disappearance of exchange risks will benefit trade and growth? * can the EMU function if integration is not speeded up in other areas? * will the EMU enhance internal cohesion? * is the creation of a single currency a popularly accepted idea in the member states? The authors also examine some more specific issues including European Work Councils, the possibility of coordinated environmental policy within the European Union, employment rights and technological collaboration. This topical book will be welcomed by those scholars, students and policymakers interested in some of the most important issues currently faced by Europe.

This book explores the role of the university in upholding democratic values for societal change. The chapters advocate for the moral virtue of democratic patriotism: the editors and contributors argue that universities, as institutions of higher learning, can encourage the creation of critical and patriotic citizens. The book suggests that non-violence, tolerance, and peaceful co-existence ought to manifest through pedagogical university actions on the basis of educators' desire to cultivate reflectiveness, criticality, and deliberative inquiry in and through their academic programmes. In a way, universities can respond more positively to the violence on our campuses and in society if public and controversial issues were to be addressed through an education for democratic citizenship and human rights.