This work profiles the appalling human rights record of modern Indonesia, against a history of the country. Brutal repression, the unjust legal system and corrupt nepotism are described, with attention to the independence struggles of the East Timorese and West Papuans. The historical survey includes the anti colonialist campaign, the role of Sukarno as first president, the Suharto decades, the 1998 appointment of Habibie as third president and the social chaos caused by economic collapse. It also describes also how the United States and Britain plotted anti Sukarno coups, supported 1960s massacres and protected the despotic Suharto regime.

Hungry for Revolution tells the story of how struggles over food fueled the rise and fall of Chile's Popular Unity coalition and one of Latin America's most expansive social welfare states. Reconstructing ties among workers, consumers, scientists, and the state, Joshua Frens-String explores how Chileans across generations sought to center food security as a right of citizenship. In so doing, he deftly untangles the relationship between two of twentieth-century Chile's most significant political and economic processes: the fight of an emergent urban working class to gain reliable access to nutrient-rich foodstuffs and the state's efforts to modernize its underproducing agricultural countryside.

Environmental policy is high on the political agenda in many countries. This book identifies the failures of the market mechanism in the face of environmental problems and shows how economic policy should be designed to overcome them. Special attention is paid to the possible benefits from a green tax reform.

Entrepreneurship is often cited as the single most important factor in economic development. Although this contention is limited mostly to the realm of private business activities, entrepreneurship is also present in governmental organizations. Public entrepreneurs, like their private counterparts, are agents of change.

This study hypothesizes that although public entrepreneurship requires availability of capital and presence of educated public and administrators, to be effective it demands also cultural values of 'individualism', 'need for achievement', and 'need for certainty'. Or, in other words, that culture and history matter. The hypothesis is tested in four historically and culturally distinctive regions in Poland. The research shows that despite forty-five years of communist rule stressing the uniformity of the "new socialist society," differences in the realm of cultural and political values remained. These, in turn, influenced other areas of public life. Almost immediately after the decentralization of local governments in 1991, some local governments showed more entrepreneurial spirit than others. At least part of these differences can be accounted by better socioeconomic situation of a region, but culture seems to be playing even a larger role in this entrepreneurial race.

With the end of the 20th century, Dixon and Scheurell decided it was an opportune time to critically assess what governments have achieved with their plethora of public social welfare policies. While Marxist socialists, democratic socialists, social democrats, and reluctant collectivists were all eager, at various times, to construct their vision of the ideal society, the idea of state welfare was slow to take root. As Dixon and Scheurell point out, at the turn of the century, only a handful of industrializing countries were willing to grapple with the problems of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Two world wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s, however, sensitized many societies to the human, social, and even political costs of un-met social welfare needs. Thus, the milieu needed for the birth of state welfare came into existence, first in Western Europe, then in Australasia, followed by North and South America and, finally, in parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

The state welfare dream was that citizenship would guarantee every individual a secure lifestyle, with a minimum degree of insecurity, and the wherewithal to develop to the greatest possible extent as individuals and as members of society. It is, Dixon and Scheurell argue, the most significant set of social institutions developed in the 20th century. Admittedly, it is one that had within it the seeds of its own potential destruction--the vicious circle of growing welfare dependency, increasing state control, deepening poverty, and the emergence of an intractable underclass--that has legitimized calls for the individualization of the social. Undoubtedly, this collection of essays on key states, charting the rise and fall of state welfare, examines a monumental 20th century event and will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and students involved with social welfare issues, as well as policy makers and concerned citizens.

A one-of-a-kind introduction to the major issues and controversies dominating the heated debate over U.S. forest policy today. Forest Conservation Policy: A Reference Handbook chronicles the dramatic history, current status, and global influence of U.S. forest policy. Beginning with the foundations of early forest law during the colonial period through the rise of the Conservation Movement in the wake of 19th century massive forest exploitation, this reference also discusses the environmental challenges that have rewritten recent U.S. forest policy and explores future policy directions. What are the effects of forest destruction on biological diversity? Has the sustainable forest management movement been effective? Given the fact that individual landowners control the greatest share of U.S. forestland, how are forests on private lands regulated? Students and concerned citizens alike will discover answers to these and other critical questions regarding what is left of the nation's dwindling forests. Subject-indexed description of the major issues dominating the current debates over the future of forest policy Exhaustive references to government and nongovernment forestry organizations at both the national and regional levels

This is the only book the general reader will ever need in order to understand the workings of money, banking, and finance as a citizen and consumer. Financial Market Meltdown: Everything You Need to Know to Understand and Survive the Global Credit Crisis makes the arcane world of finance easily understood in concrete terms. This is not simply a quick recap of the current crisis. It is a guide designed to develop a real and lasting understanding of money and finance—an understanding readers can use to come to their own conclusions regarding the 2008 meltdown and any further economic events. Financial Market Meltdown explains the nature and workings of money, credit, financial instruments, and markets, from the beginnings of integrated finance in Medieval Italy up to the panic of 2008. It then describes how the modern global financial ecology evolved through a series of historical accidents and how this limits what can actually be done to make the system "safe." Throughout, author Kevin Mellyn uses simple examples, analogies, and the "real" history of institutions to make abstract financial concepts concrete and comprehensible.

Romero examines the extent to which majority American opinion has shaped Congressional and Supreme Court responses to civil rights issues. She provides an institutionally oriented history of civil rights policy as well as an examination of the validity of the blueprint for our national government. In Romero's view, the design of the government, as articulated in "The Federalist," was meant to provide a balance between a facilitation of the majoritarian democratic process and protection of the rights of minorities. The struggle for civil rights reform represents perhaps the best modern test of whether the Founders' expectations were valid: Were the Founders correct in assuming that, in their respective consideration of minority rights, Congress would reflect majority preferences while the Supreme Court would remain insulated?

After analyzing the shape and direction of public opinion regarding civil rights, Romero examines the congressional record and the record of the Supreme Court. She concludes with a reassessment of the predictions of the Founders as applied to civil rights policy. Of particular interest to scholars and students involved with institutional policy making as well as civil rights issues.

At the transition from the 20th to the 21st Century, land use planning and growth management have become two of the most controversial issues in state and local government policy. Primarily the province of local government until the 1970s, state governments have become increasingly involved in land use planning. In the 1990s Vice President Gore's promotion of "Smart Growth" has brought it into the national arena, while President Clinton has devoted considerable time to land use, land preservation, and urban development issues. Critically examining government land use policies and arguments supporting them, the contributors explore market alternatives to government land use planning. Despite the apparent popularity of government restrictions on land use, the scholars writing for this volume advocate a more market-based approach. Showing that the problems of sprawling development have been misunderstood and overstated, they argue that land use policy can be better improved through market mechanisms than by the central planning of land use bureaucracies.

Using theories and methods from the toolbox of Comparative Public Policy and Comparative Political Economy, Thomas Krumm's excellent book is a must-read for anyone interested in the politics of public-private partnerships in a cross-country perspective.' - Karsten Mause, University of Muenster, Germany'Why have some countries in Western Europe heavily relied on public-private partnerships between 1990 and 2009 while others have abstained from using this policy instrument? In his important study, Thomas Krumm provides an encompassing and detailed overview of PPP activities, in no less than 14 West European EU member states, that so far has not been available. Using a mixed-methods research design, the author convincingly shows that political and economic factors explain the diverse PPP trajectories in Western Europe.' - Reimut Zohlnhoefer, University of Heidelberg, Germany This comprehensive book provides a unique comparative policy analysis of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in 14 Western European countries - from Scandinavia to Greece - bringing together important insights from government and politics as well as economics and institutional analysis. Thomas Krumm focuses on political drivers for policy change in favour of PPPs, and the supportive and limiting socioeconomic and institutional conditions. Using comparative data, he charts key policies and actors involved in supporting collaboration between the State and private business organisations across Western Europe. Students and scholars of public policy, regulation and comparative politics, among other disciplines, will find this book to be useful in their research or teaching. It will also be of substantial interest to PPP practitioners, and other specialists in the subject.

This study identifies the mechanisms through which women can reach positions of power in public life. The study highlights the processes which may contribute new impulse to the vitality of the industrialized countries, introducing models characterized by flexibility and creativity both in enterprises and politics.

This handbook is unique in its consideration of social and cultural contributions to sustainable oceans management. It is also unique in its deconstruction of the hegemonic value attached to the oceans and in its analysis of discourses regarding what national governments in the Global South should prioritise in their oceans management strategy. Offering a historical perspective from the start, the handbook reflects on the confluence of (western) scientific discourse and colonialism, and the impact of this on indigenous conceptions of the oceans and on social identity. With regard to the latter, the authors are mindful of the nationalisation of island territories worldwide and the impact of this process on regional collaboration, cultural exchange and the valuation of the oceans. Focusing on global examples, the handbook offers a nuanced, region relevant, contemporary conceptualisation of blue heritage, discussing what will be required to achieve an inclusive oceans economy by 2063, the end goal date of the African Union's Agenda 2063. The analysis will be useful to established academics in the field of ocean studies, policymakers and practitioners engaged in research on the ocean economy, as well as graduate scholars in the ocean sciences.

Language policies in Southeast Asia have been shaped by the process of nation-building on the one hand and by political and economic considerations on the other. The early years of nation-building in Southeast Asia generated intensive language conflicts precisely because state policies privileged the idea of a monolingual nation and thus endeavoured to co-opt or even do away with troublesome ethnic identities. In recent years, language policies are increasingly influenced by pragmatic considerations, especially globalization and the awareness of a linkage between language and economic development, such that Southeast Asian states in varying degrees have become less insistent on promoting monolingual nationalism. This book evaluates the successes and drawbacks of language policies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, especially the ways in which these policies have often been resisted or contested. It is an invaluable primer on this linguistically complex region and a resource for scholars, policy-makers, civil society activists and NGOs in various parts of the world facing equally challenging ethnic/language issues.

Policy dismantling is a distinctive form of policy change, which involves the cutting, reduction, diminution or complete removal of existing policies. The perceived need to dismantle existing policies normally acquires particular poignancy during periods of acute economic austerity. Dismantling is thought to be especially productive of political conflict, pitting those who benefit from the status quo against those who, for whatever reason, seek change. However, scholars of public policy have been rather slow to offer a comprehensive account of the precise conditions under which particular aspects of policy are dismantled, grounded in systematic empirical analysis. Although our overall understanding of what causes policy to change has accelerated a lot in recent decades, there remains a bias towards the study of either policy expansion or policy stability. Dismantling does not even merit a mention in most public policy textbooks. Yet without an account of both expansion and dismantling, our understanding of policy change in general, and the politics surrounding the cutting of existing policies, will remain frustratingly incomplete.
This book seeks to develop a more comparative approach to understanding policy dismantling, by looking in greater detail at the dynamics of cutting in two different policy fields: one (social policy) which has been subjected to study before and the other (environmental policy) which has not. On the basis of a systematic analysis of the existing literatures in these two fields, it develops a new analytical framework for measuring and explaining policy dismantling. Through an analysis of six, fresh empirical cases of dismantling written by leading experts, it reveals a more nuanced picture of change, focusing on what actually motivates actors to dismantle, the strategies they use to secure their objectives and the politically significant effects they ultimately generate.
Dismantling Public Policy is essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand a hugely important facet of contemporary policy and politics. It will inform a range of student courses in comparative public policy, politics, social and environmental policy.

The death penalty remains one of the most controversial issues in the United States. Its proponents claim many things in their defense of its continued application. For example, they claim that it deters crime, that death by lethal injection is painless and humane, that it is racially neutral, and that it provides "closure" to families of the victims. In this comprehensive review of the major death penalty issues, the authors systematically dismantle each one of these myths about capital punishment in a hard-hitting critique of how our social, political, and community leaders have used fear and myth (symbolic politics) to misrepresent the death penalty as a public policy issue. They successfully demonstrate how our political and community leaders have used myth and emotional appeals to misrepresent the facts about capital executions. Successive chapters address the following topics: the notion of community bonding, the expectation of effective crime fighting, the desire for equal justice, deterrence, the hope for fidelity to the Constitution, the claim of error-free justice, closure, retribution, cost-effectiveness, and the messianic desires of some politicians. In each of these areas the authors quote from death penalty advocates making these claims and then proceed to analyze and ultimately dismember the claimed advantages of the death penalty.

Sandra M. Anglund examines the American national government's small business assistance policy from the passage of the Small Business Act of 1953 onward. She traces the heritage of the policy and shows how American core values, those often referred to as the American Creed, contributed to shaping that policy.

Anglund points out that the American national government is in the business of promoting small business. Government agencies help entrepreneurs develop small businesses through a wide range of programs providing financial assistance such as loans, government contract assistance including set-asides, and management and technical support. Unlike government programs for farmers and big businesses, which are usually invisible to the citizenry, small business aid programs are extremely and intentionally visible.

Congress declared the policy of aiding small business and launched the contemporary era of small business assistance programs in the Small Business Act of 1953. In this study, Anglund traces the heritage of the Small Business Act, probes influences on small business and enactments of the 1953-1997 period, and show how American core values, those often referred to as the American Creed, contributed to shaping small business policy and to the support it received. Scholars, students, and researchers involved with public policy, political culture, business politics and history, and economic development will find this study of particular interest.

This book is a study of the centrality of racism in the construction and maintenance of class-based societies in Britain, the United States, and Western Europe. It combines analysis of historical and contemporary material to provide the reader with a better understanding of contemporary forms of racism.

The essays challenge assumptions of both racial superiority and inferiority and of "natural" racial antagonism. The book is intended for those readers concerned with understanding and changing our increasingly unequal and unjust societies as well as for those studying the issues of race relations, social structure, and equality in an academic setting.

" 'Where in the world is the Philippines?' is a question that has been deftly and consistently dodged by our politicians at the expense of clearly defining the Philippines' territorial and maritime jurisdictions. Severino's scholarly work lays out what has happened in the past and what must be done in the future - and does so just as newly elected President Benigno S. Aquino begins his term in office. With the help of this timely and comprehensive study, it is imperative that Aquino and the Congress confront and resolve territorial issues once and for all." - Roberto R. Romulo, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines

This book analyses neo-liberal economic policy in Hong Kong and its relationship to British colonial governance. Using historical, political, and economic examples, the author argues that the growth and stability experienced by Hong Kong in the post-WWII/pre-1997 era was a direct result of policies enacted by the British in an effort to maintain colonial dominance in an era of decolonization rather than the independent workings of the free market. The book works through examples of policies employed by the British in Hong Kong, such as the creation of artificial scarcity in colonial land policy, the construction of large-scale public housing and the Mass Transit Railway System, and education policy that favored competition. Challenging long-accepted narratives, this book draws a direct line between market fundamentalism and direct colonial control. As such, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of economics, political science, history, and those studying the Asia-Pacific region.

Policing and ecological crises - and all the inequalities, discrimination, and violence they entail - are pressing contemporary problems. Ecological degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change threaten local communities and ecosystems, and, cumulatively, the planet as a whole. Police brutality, wars, paramilitarism, private security operations, and securitization more widely impact people - especially people of colour - and habitats. This edited collection explores their relationship, and investigates the numerous ways in which police, security, and military forces intersect with, reinforce, and facilitate ecological and climate catastrophe. Employing a case study-based approach, the book examines the relationships and entanglements between policing and ecosystems, revealing the intimate connection between political violence and ecological degradation.

This comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of Japanese policy between the two world wars utilizes both English and Japanese sources to present Japan as an independent agent, not a state whose policy was determined by the actions of other countries. Beginning with Japan's disappointment with the Versailles Peace Treaty in 1919, Nish examines the roots of Japanese discontent and feelings that ambitions in China were being unreasonably restrained. He explains British and American policies in the region as reactive, but concludes that their responses helped to determine which factions would dominate Japan's political arena. This non-partisan account is even-handed in apportioning responsibility for the events leading to the Second World War.

While some Japanese politicians in the 1920s tried to follow the international path, there were others who tended to side with the army in establishing Japan's position, first in Manchuria and later in North and Central China in the 1930s. Conscious of the nation's unpopularity in the western world, Japan allied itself with Germany and Italy in the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 and the Tripartite Alliance of 1940. To pursue its own national objectives, Japan joined her allies in making war on the United States and the colonial empires of Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Its forces succeeded in overrunning many colonial territories; and, with a view to easing the problems of occupying them, Japan liberalized its harsh military policies, granting independence to Burma and the Philippines and welcoming Asian leaders to Tokyo for the Greater East Asian Conference of November 1943.