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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government
The increasing tabloidization of politics and focus on politicians involved in sex scandals is both problematic and important. This book examines how gender impacts political sex scandals in the United States, in the past and today; explains how political sex scandals contribute to the mistrust of government; and identifies why these titillating events do have serious consequences for our political system. When a major political sex scandal occurs, it occupies as much as 25 percent of all news coverage in the United States. Even if people may deny it, they enjoy "consuming" and talking about political sex scandals. Written by a former journalist who has frequently explored the intersections of politics, sex, and gender in the United States, Sex Scandals, Gender, and Power in Contemporary American Politics investigates how political sex scandals contribute to the mistrust of government and why these titillating events have great significance in our frenzied media environment. The book makes use of comprehensive descriptive data (including statistics) to explain how political sex scandals are a representation of society's broader gender dynamics, conveying subtle messages about power and morality. It addresses the roles of men and women in political sex scandals over time, the increasing tabloidization of politics, and the often-overlooked consequences of sex scandals for the political system. Readers will see how the types of sex scandals that politicians are typically involved in differ by political party, and that all major political sex scandals have involved male-not female-politicians engaged in bad behavior. Author Hinda Mandell also documents how scandals' multiple negative effects for the politicians themselves and for society include turning politics into a spectator sport, contributing to the mistrust of government, the questioning of politicians' competence and judgment as a group, and politicians' diminishing effectiveness in office. Explains how sex scandals regarding political figures significantly impact people's opinions of politicians and government as well as how sex scandals harm the U.S. political process Demonstrates how political sex scandals are a representation of society's broader gender dynamics, conveying subtle messages about power and morality Offers data and statistics about political sex scandal occurrences, including breakdowns of political scandals by party lines and the most common type of political sex scandals Supplies extensive analysis of how voters respond to different "types" of political wives (such as the supportive political wife versus the absent political wife)
This first systematic critique on the rhetoric of 21 presidents shows how political constraints shaped rhetoric and how oratory shaped politics. An introduction places American public address in the context of classical rhetorical practices and theory and sets the stage for the bio-critical essays about presidents ranging from Washington to Clinton. Experts analyze the style and use of language, important speeches and their impact, and their ethical ramifications. Each essay on a president also keys major speeches to authoritative texts and offers a chronology and bibliography of primary and secondary sources. For students, teachers, and professionals in American public address, political communication, and the presidency.
The idea of public support for the arts is being challenged. Multiculturalism has been proposed as a worthy and necessary goal of public arts policy; whether or not it should be is explored for the first time in this book. Issues of cultural pluralism, the relations of art and culture, justice and affirmative action, and artistic value are presented as essential points of debate in making decisions concerning public support of the arts. This book will be of interest to professionals and teachers in the arts, public policy, arts management, and education. Its focus on multiculturalism and its analysis of basic concepts related to timely issues of public arts policy make it a unique contribution.
"Europe's Greece" evaluates Greece's European membership and finds that it has been largely successful. Despite its reputation of a southern laggard with very little improvement, Greece has behaved much like any other members of the EU, pushing its interests and stumbling upon the large issues that are associated with membership. Societal development has improved Greek society but has drawn out the same resistance that is evident in the larger more powerful members. Economic development has greatly improved incomes but now attracts waves of economic immigrants from the Balkans and beyond. The most successful area of improvement for Greece is foreign policy, considering the avalanche of problem Greece faced after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Finally, the book suggests some strategies of overcoming the problem associated with this successful EU membership.
Explores how the framing of issues on the EU agenda affects policy-making. In a study that traces the highly contested developments in biotechnology policy over twenty years, the book introduces the conceptual and theoretical tenets of policy framing and shows how this analytical lens offers a unique perspective on issues in EU policy-making.
From its origins in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the diffusion of participatory budgeting to other parts of the world has been met with varying degrees of success despite its label as a product of democratic innovation. Drawing on in-depth empirical and theoretical analysis, this book sheds light on the diffusion dynamics of participatory budgeting and the processes of its framing and adaptation in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. It explores the question of participatory budgeting's national characteristics and potential for realising a more democratic society. Thus, the volume engages in a theoretically innovative and empirically grounded overview and critical assessment of participatory budgeting initiatives in three European countries. The double focus on frames in the diffusion and implementation of single cases and the systematic evaluation of their results offers a deeper understanding of "success factors" and results of participatory budgeting and other institutional processes of citizen participation.
The tariff policies of the 1890-1922 led to the development of tariff rates that launched the United States on a path that led to later trade wars. The Republican Party and Porter McCumber took the lead in promoting these policies, claiming that the tariff would protect new and struggling industries. In many instances, items subjected to high tariffs were not in conflict with industries in the United States. In addition, although the tariff covered agricultural products, it was not sufficient to halt an agricultural decline. This work traces the course of U.S. policy through five tariffs which preceded the Fordney-McCumber tariff of 1922, when the tariff was used for both protection and revenue. McCumber's economic nationalism combined with his internationalism in other areas is detailed in the work.
France's political leaders have been deeply committed both to maintaining France's independence and to asserting its leadership role in Europe. The end of the Cold War, the demise of the "Europe of Yalta," as well as the unification of Germany, have forced France to rethink its European and international strategies. The purpose of this study is to analyze France's effort to redefine its role in the post-Cold War era and in an integrated Europe, and what that redefined role might mean to France, to Europe, and to the United States. In examining France's international role after the Cold War, Steven Philip Kramer seeks to answer the question, "does France still count?"
"African Media and the Digital Public Sphere"examines, from theoretical and empirical perspectives, the claims that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are catalysts of democratic change in Africa. Contributors do so from optimist, pragmatist-realist and pessimist stances through analyses of words and deeds of various political actors and organizations or institutions, from government units to political parties and party leaders to civil society organizations and minority groups. It is the first such publication contributed to by various African and Africanist scholars, based in Africa and around the world, whose research and/or practice activities focus on the relationship between new digital media and democracy on the continent.
Written by both historians and political scientists, this new essay collection explores the sources, style, and quality of Lincoln's leadership. Challenging several popular schools of thought, the contributors show that both Lincoln's character and American democratic culture influenced his leadership style. They present him as a principled leader who sought realistic solutions in extenuating circumstances. Building on the democratic principles of the nation's framers, his vision of equality was consistent with the views of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The portrait that emerges is of an active-flexible president whose culture permitted a magnanimous and prudential political style. Lincoln's leadership encouraged the development of responsible democratic rule. The volume places Lincoln's leadership in a historical context and within the political perspective of the influences on him and his impact on others. It also examines his leadership style in terms of the factors organization theorists consider essential for effectiveness. The initial chapters focus on the impact others had on Lincoln and how he transformed their ideas into his own political vision. The work then turns to Lincoln's political style during the Civil War and how he influenced others. The final chapter puts Lincoln's political style in the perspective of world leaders of his age. This volume will be of interest to both historians and political scientists.
Lotteries and state-sponsored gambling is big business. This is the first study that evaluates the business strategies of state lotteries on two fronts. First, it examines which of the lottery strategies produces the most consistent source of revenue for the state. Second, it analyzes possible overall gambling strategies that states will need to utilize as they seek to expand gambling revenue. This is must reading for those operating lotteries, state legislators, vendors to state lottery commissions, taxpayers, and scholars in public policy and government. The whole question of state-sponsored gambling is explored, integrating both the business and policy strategies of operating a state lottery. Initially, gambling and lotteries were introduced into the public policy process in times of social unrest, brought on by the outbreak of war. Since regular sources of governmental revenue were diverted to the war effort, proceeds from gambling activites were used to finance the building of roads, canals, and schools. An Ethics of Tolerance also had to evolve in order to engender the public's acceptance of lotteries and gambling. Today, states are using gambling revenues to support education, public transportation, and aid to local towns and cities. Hence, gambling revenues must be maintained or increased. States now must decide whether they should introduce other gambling initiatives, possibly cannibalizing their existing activities in the process. The basic question, of whether it is actually possible for a state to establish an overall gambling strategy, is explored by an analysis of the gambling policies of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The future of gambling in the United States, as states move beyond lotteries to sanctioning casino gambling by private entrepreneurs, concludes this most relevant and provocative book.
This volume closely examines the near-ubiquitous images of state security walls, domes, and other such defense enclosures flashing across movie screens since 2006, the year of the ratification of George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act. This study shows that many of the films of this era enable us to imaginatively test the effects of these security mechanisms on citizens, immigrants, refugees, and other sovereign states, challenging our commitment to constructing them, maintaining them, staffing them, and subsidizing their enormous overheads. With case studies ranging from Atomic Blonde and Ready Player One to Black Panther and Elysium; Walls without Cinema serves as a timely counterpoint to the xenophobic rhetoric and abusive, carceral security conditions that characterize the Trump administration’s management of the Mexico-U.S. border situation.
The hatred of drugs, according to the author, is the axis of politics that has fundamentally shifted the nation's policy format--from the progressive orientation that dominated from from the time of Roosevelt to the Sixties, to the punitive orientation that emerged during the Nixon presidency and continues to this day. This triumph of the political use of drug hate is simultaneously a disaster in policy consequences as it corrupts the criminal justice system, exacerbates class inequality, drains public resources, and denies the public their Constitutional heritage. Sadofsky Baggins shows that the political success of the domestic war has overwhelmed the policy failure in the nation's deliberations. The War on Drugs is politically successful because it serves traditional racial antagonisms, media need for theater, religious needs for piety and denunciation of sinful pleasures, and maintains conservative coalition politics by emphasizing punishment over progress toward social justice. This book recognizes the need to reassess the War on Drugs as a necessary step toward national healing and future policy development. Recent popular movements and initiatives, as well as the failure of some politicians to benefit from deploying drug hate rhetoric, are considered as the opening of such an awakening. Sadofsky Baggins treats the War on Drugs as the epic of politics and civilization in our time. This book continues his efforts to explain how well-meaning citizens and manipulative politicans and institutions construct laws that miserably fail in their intended purpose and harm the nation in significant unintended ways. This book is of interest to concerned citizens as well as scholars, researchers, and policy makers involved with legal, drug, and political issues.
The post-Cold War era has witnessed a dramatic transformation in the German political consensus about the legitimacy of the use of force. However, in comparison with its EU and NATO partners, Germany has been reticent to transform its military to meet the challenges of the contemporary security environment. Until 2003 territorial defence rather than crisis-management remained the armed forces' core role and the Bundeswehr continues to retain conscription. The book argues that 'strategic culture' provides only a partial explanation of German military reform. It demonstrates how domestic material factors were of crucial importance in shaping the pace and outcome of reform, despite the impact of 'international structure' and adaptational pressures from the EU and NATO. The domestic politics of base closures, ramifications for social policy, financial restrictions consequent upon German unification and commitment to EMU's Stability and Growth Pact were critical in determining the outcome of reform. The study also draws out the important role of policy leaders in the political management of reform as entrepreneurs, brokers or veto players, shifting the focus in German leadership studies away from a preoccupation with the Chancellor to the role of ministerial and administrative leadership within the core executive. Finally, the book contributes to our understanding of the Europeanization of the German political system, arguing that policy leaders played a key role in 'uploading' and 'downloading' processes to and from the EU and that Defence Ministers used 'Atlanticization' and 'Europeanization' in the interests of their domestic political agendas.
Legislative initiative, in response to public demands for more accountability, require public agencies at all levels of government to measure organizational performance and to report on service efforts and accomplishments (SEA). What considerations should managers use in developing performance measurement protocols? What is the experience to date in the U.S. and abroad? This collection of original articles does not represent a consensus about the one best way for developing an SEA reporting system. Rather, it aims to put performance measurement in perspective by relating it to the budgeting, auditing, and policy making processes. Towards that end, the issues managers need to consider are examined in a critical way and from various points of view. This book addresses the issues involved in developing Service Effort and Accomplishment (SEA) reports from various points of view. It addresses the context of SEA reporting and relates performance measurement to the budgeting process, auditing process, and policy making. It provides examples of successful performance measurement protocols from the U.S. and abroad.
This study examines three major bomber aircraft acquisition programs: the B-36, the B-52, and the B-2. The central question for each of these programs is whether they were chosen to fit national strategic objectives or to meet the more narrow political and economic needs of the so-called military-industrial complex. The book concludes that U.S. Air Force senior leadership acquired better bombers than did civilian defense leaders. The extensive use of original documents in this book reveals that Air Force generals were less concerned about defending their own interests than previous research has implied.
Ashley and Hubbard examine ways that tribal/state relations can be improved in the United States. While the long history of tribal-state relations point to the need for better cooperation, they contend that the first and most vital step is a greater understanding of the role that tribal governments play in the federal system. All too often, they assert, tribes are overlooked as viable political entities with unique legal and political status. They begin by providing background information needed for an understanding of the position that tribal governments hold in the broader United States system. Often overlooked is that tribal governments are, by legal standards, equal to or greater than states. The federal/tribal/state order of primacy must be established in order to understand state/tribal intergovernmental relations. Ashley and Hubbard then provide case studies necessary to provide evidence of both positive and negative tribal/state relations. Following a brief background of the tribe in question--where they are located, any pertinent treaty information--they examine instances over time where this particular government has been in conflict or concert with the state in which they currently reside. This lays a foundation for understanding current relations. They then look at the level of cooperation--or lack thereof--between the tribe and the state across key areas of policy making and implementation--air pollution control, water management, and law enforcement. Through this they pinpoint common themes that facilitate or work against cooperative efforts. They conclude by proposing an alternative model for understanding tribal/state relations and offer an alternative approach for both sides when dealing with one another; one designed to improve cooperative handling of issues.
Digital government is a new frontier of the development of electronic commerce. Electronic Government Strategies and Implementation is a timely piece to address the issues involved in strategically implementing digital government, which is a collection of high-quality papers that covers the various aspects of digital government strategic issues and implementations from the perspectives of both developed and developing countries. This book combines e-government implementation experiences from both developed and developing countries, and is useful to researchers and practitioners in the area as well as instructors teaching courses related to digital government and/or electronic commerce.
On New Year's Eve 1961, the first broadcast of the Irish television service was made. The initial broadcast featured addresses by the President of the Republic, Eamon de Valera, and the Primate of all Ireland, Cardinal D'Alton. Both expressed concern over the effect television might have on Irish society. The dire warnings issued by both men illustrated the high level of apprehension held by many. This anxiety had been articulated by numerous organizations and interest groups since the debate over television began to take shape in the 1950s. A number of corporations and organizations had expressed a keen interest in building and operating television stations in Ireland. Other groups stepped forward to make the case that their particular interests should be addressed in any service that might be established. From the onset, a coherent policy eluded successive governments, with the fiscally conservative Department of Finance insisting that public television was beyond the means of an under-developed economy, while the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, already responsible for the national radio service, championed a state-run system. The arguments of these and other organizations, including the Catholic Church, Irish language groups, and professional organizations, culminated in the establishment of a Television Commission to recommend public policy. After deliberating for more than a year, the Commission issued a confused and contradictory final report. As Professor Savage shows, the television service that emerged was a synthesis of these opposing positions; an Irish solution to an Irish problem. This volume will be of considerable interest to students and scholars of Ireland as well as public policy and communications.
This in-depth study of the decision-making processes of the early 2000s shows that the Swiss consensus democracy has changed considerably. Power relations have transformed, conflict has increased, coalitions have become more unstable and outputs less predictable. Yet these challenges to consensus politics provide opportunities for innovation.
How should political community be seen in the context of European integration? This book combines a theoretical treatment of political allegiance with a study of ordinary citizens, examining how taxi-drivers in Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic talk politics and situate themselves relative to political institutions and other citizens.
Drawing upon a series of elite interviews, focus groups and representative surveys, "Identity and Foreign Policy Perceptions in the Other Europe" maps changing definitions of statehood in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova as a result of their exclusion from an expanding Europe. The authors examine the perceptions of the place of each state in the international political system and its foreign policy choices. They conclude by drawing comparisons across the region and considering what the implications are both for the rest of Europe and for the Atlantic community. |
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