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| Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government 
 
 Seventy-two percent of South Sudan's population is under thirty years of age. It is this generation that must create a new South Sudanese identity that is inclusive of all its nationalities. In The Power of Creative Reasoning, author Lual A. Deng shows how the ideas and concepts touted by Dr. John Garang could facilitate the advancement of the ideals of freedom, liberty, and human dignity. The Power of Creative Reasoning provides an insider's perspective on Garang, a visionary leader who used a combination of strategic thinking and a path-goal approach to resolve complex societal problems. Deng has coined the term "Garangism" as the pursuit of Sudanese commonality with conviction, courage, consistency, and creativity to end all forms of marginalization. Deng shows how Garang employed symbolic logic in the form of Venn Diagrams to articulate the vision of New Sudan and presents ten power-ful ideas to help the Sudanese as they are facing serious challenges of leadership, democratic governance, sustained peace, economic growth, poverty, and corruption. The Power of Creative Reasoning communicates that the leadership of the new Sudan can manage these challenges by internalizing Garang's ideas. 
 
 "Staging Stigma "is a captivating excursion into the bizarre world of the American freak show. Chemers critically examines several key moments of a performance tradition in which the truth is often stranger than the fiction. Grounded in meticulous historical research and cultural criticism, Chemers' analysis reveals untold stories of freaks that will change the way we understand both performance and disability in America. This book is a must-have for serious students of freakery or anyone who is curious about the hidden side of American theatrical history. 
 Snaking 2,540 miles from Montana to the Mississippi River, the Missouri is the longest waterway in the nation. Its basin--stretching 530,000 square miles--extends broadly into ten states and twenty-five Indian reservations. For millions of years the river and its tributaries meandered untamed. But that irrevocably changed with the passage of the Pick-Sloan Plan, part of the Flood Control Act of 1944. In "River of Promise, River of Peril," John Thorson takes the first comprehensive look at how and why the Missouri River basin-now with six major dams and hundreds of miles of navigation canals-has become one of the most significantly altered drainage systems in the country. He also looks at the consequences. The Pick-Sloan Plan, he argues, has not fared well over time, particularly in its failure to provide an effective blueprint for regional river management. Persistent conflicts over the river, he contends, illuminate important weaknesses of federalism in dealing with regional resources, the most glaring being the exclusion of any proactive role for Indian tribal governments. To support his argument, Thorson examines the physical, demographic, and political features of the river basin; analyzes the comprehensive river development that gave birth to the Pick-Sloan Plan; reveals why the original goals of the legislature were never achieved; explores the deep-seated and continuing tensions between basin governments; and investigates how Indian tribes, the river's ecology, and federalism have been damaged as the river has been developed. He also describes the various associations created and later abandoned from the sixties to the eighties and assesses their virtues and limitations. Thorson sees in the story of the Missouri River Basin the vertical and horizontal strains of federalism-the states chafing against federally mandated and controlled projects exacerbated by the lack of constitutional guidance for handling conflicts among neighboring states and with Indian nations. Not just bent on spotlighting problems, Thorson also evaluates different approaches for improved river system management and recommends a Missouri River management institution based on environmentally sensitive policies, a strong state role, and full participation by the basin's tribal governments. 
 
 Well before the creation of the United States, the Cherokee people administered their own social policy - a form of what today might be called social welfare - based on matrilineal descent, egalitarian relations, kinship obligations, and communal landholding. The ethic of gadugi, or work coordinated for the social good, was at the heart of this system. Serving the Nation explores the role of such traditions in shaping the alternative social welfare system of the Cherokee Nation, as well as their influence on the U.S. government's social policies. Faced with removal and civil war in the early and mid-nineteenth century, the Cherokee Nation asserted its right to build institutions administered by Cherokee people, both as an affirmation of their national sovereignty and as a community imperative. The Cherokee Nation protected and defended key features of its traditional social service policy, extended social welfare protections to those deemed Cherokee according to citizenship laws, and modified its policies over time to continue fulfilling its people's expectations. Julie L. Reed examines these policies alongside public health concerns, medical practices, and legislation defining care and education for orphans, the mentally ill, the differently abled, the incarcerated, the sick, and the poor. Changing federal and state policies and practices exacerbated divisions based on class, language, and education, and challenged the ability of Cherokees individually and collectively to meet the social welfare needs of their kin and communities. The Cherokee response led to more centralized national government solutions for upholding social welfare and justice, as well as to the continuation of older cultural norms. Offering insights gleaned from reconsidered and overlooked historical sources, this book enhances our understanding of the history and workings of social welfare policy and services, not only in the Cherokee Nation but also in the United States. Serving the Nation is published in cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University. 
 Media pressure is often implicated in changes to foreign policy. It is at once hailed as a check on the abuse of power and then reviled for undermining the roles and responsibilities of democratic institutions. But we are still left to wonder what media pressure "is." This question is explicitly answered here, and in doing so it shows how the never-ending conversation between the media and executive creates social imperatives to which the executives "must" respond or else threaten their needed moral positions required to lead or act in international affairs. 
 All over the world, many people who live in urban areas find themselves in an arduous social situation. In the third world, people in overcrowded metropolitan areas have a problem in maintaining even the slightest standards of living. But also richer parts of the world, the United States, Europe and the far-East, show growing social inequalities in their cities. And social problems are not confined to the large metropolitan areas: impoverishment, long-term unemployment, social isolation, and the dependency on welfare programs pops up in medium-sized cities and even in smaller communities. At the same time, these cities are confronted with a growing bureaucratic conglomerate which is increasingly inapt to fight social degeneration. The catastrophe seems to be total: how to deal at once with declining social conditions and bureaucratic inadequacy? Two American authors, Osborne and Plastrik (1997), claim to have found the answer: just banish bureaucracy. The liberating accomplishments of the free market will elevate ordinary citizens and force lazy, incompetent bureaucrats to do their work properly. If they succeed, they survive. Otherwise, these agencies will vanish. They illustrate their arguments with the American city of 'Uphill Battle' which stopped its decline by reinventing government. Strict performance measures, allotting financial controls and incentives to the citizens, and improving accountability have saved the city. We should, however, be very careful in taking such measures so far that they banish bureaucracy. It is far from obvious that simply banishing bureaucracy indeed will help people in poor social situations. 
 This book is the first study of the power of the Russian Parliament in the policy process from 1994-2001, within the context of executive-legislative relations. It challenges the widely held view that between 1994 and 2001 Russia had a presidential system with a strong, authoritarian leader who ruled by decree and a weak parliament which did not have much power. 
 This book looks at the past and present condition of Russian nationalism. Its chapters examine the influence of tsarist and Soviet official policies upon national identity, and seek to explain the broader political, social and cultural factors which helped or hindered the ambitions of rulers. The changeability of Russian national consciousness is exmphasised. Several chapters also highlight the various long-standing inhibitions to the emergence of a consolidated civic nationalism in a Russian Federation which gained its independence at the break-up of the USSR. 
 This study synthesizes and summarizes the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence that suggest that competition works remarkably well to reduce costs and improve efficiency and innovation, even in an arena where competition has typically been ignored--government-financed services. The arguments and data marshaled here, drawn primarily from the American experience, portray the substantial benefits to consumers and taxpayers that can result from efforts to increase competition in commercial services previously operated as government monopolies. Competition in Government-Financed Services will help fortify the efforts of competition advocates, both in the United States and in the emerging market economies of Eastern Europe and the developing world, to get on with the job of strengthening competition and opening their systems to market forces. 
 Most publications on heavy metals and the environment have focused on environmental pathways and risks. The present book establishes a link between the environmental risks of heavy metals and the societal causes of the risks. Economic models, substance flow models and environmental fate and risk assessment models have been integrated into a single analytical framework that has been used to trace and understand the routes by which four heavy metals enter the economy, through to their final destination in the environment. The long-term impacts of the current metals management regime in the Netherlands have been used as a case study by which to assess the effectiveness of certain policy measures. Readership: Environmental scientists, especially those practising in the areas of ecological economics, industrial ecology, materials flow accounting and integrated environmental assessment. Environmental policy makers will also find the book an invaluable aid in their deliberations. 
 Since 9/11, a new configuration of power situated at the core of the executive branch of the U.S. government has taken hold. In Crimes of Power & States of Impunity, Michael Welch takes a close look at the key historical, political, and economic forces shaping the country's response to terror. Welch continues the work he began in Scapegoats of September 11th and argues that current U.S. policies, many enacted after the attacks, undermine basic human rights and violate domestic and international law. He recounts these offenses and analyzes the system that sanctions them, offering fresh insight into the complex relationship between power and state crime. Welch critically examines the unlawful enemy combatant designation, Guantanamo Bay, recent torture cases, and collateral damage relating to the war in Iraq. This book transcends important legal arguments as Welch strives for a broader sociological interpretation of what transpired early this century, analyzing the abuses of power that jeopardize our safety and security. 
 British Counterinsurgency examines the insurgencies that have confronted the British State since the end of the Second World War, and at the methods used to fight them. It looks at the guerrilla campaigns in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, South Yemen, Oman, and most recently in Northern Ireland, and considers the reasons for British success or failure in suppressing them. It provides a hard-nosed account of the realities of counterinsurgency as practiced by the most experienced security establishment in the world today. 
 The Brazilian experience is a pace setter in the transition from an authoritarian regime to the establishment of stable and democratically responsible political institutions. This insightful analysis, based on decades of field work, is the very first of its kind on a legislature outside the United States. Moreover, it addresses important issues regarding the role of executive and congressional bureaucracies in the system of government. There is no other book like this. It is very useful for understanding the Brazilian military regime and how Brazil emerged from it. The author, because of long association through a research project of his university with the Brazilian Congress, is in a unique position to study it in depth. Robert Alexander Rutgers University This in-depth report opens with a brief history of the presidential system of government in Brazil, a description of political parties, and the bureaucracy. The first chapters show how the military regime tried to reformulate the political system and how these changes affected Congress and its ability to discharge constitutional mandates. The next chapters analyze the congressional bureaucracy, its modernization of informational capabilities, and the workings of Congress in detail. The final chapters examine changes in Congress when developing new policy and when drafting a new constitution. The study closes with a discussion of the main characteristics of the new constitution and an assessment of the overall performance of Congress and the presidential system in Brazil. This inside analysis is based on decades of field work and is intended for students of comparative government, public policymaking, and Latin American studies. 
 Hardie investigates the link between the financialization - defined as the ability to trade risk - and the capacity of emerging market governments to borrow from private markets. He considers the government bond markets in Brazil, Lebanon and Turkey and includes interviews with 126 financial market actors. 
 The book provides a comprehensive account of the scope and variety of the work performed by the departments which are responsible to the Scottish ministers. 
 Explores how a famous trial court judge used rhetorical strategies to engage the public and the legal community in challenging the accepted views of the proper roles for the courts and the community in the pursuit of justice. Analyzes the role of Judge Lord in stimulating public debate about some well-known and controversial cases and in doing so helps enrich our understanding of how trial court judicial rhetoric and opinions can contribute to public understanding and a fruitful discussion of the law, the courts, and their relationship to the community. Judge Lord made his opinions accessible and potentially persuasive to a public auidence through his attention to judicial personal, argument structures that helped to maintain a sense of dramatic narrative, the use of plain language, and the use of substitution, metaphor, and comparison. In addition to offering practical insights into the operation of trial courts, judicial persuasion, and the settlement of some important cases, provides an overview of different judicial approaches to the use of rhetoric. This in-depth study of a noted judge and important trials can serve as a useful text for students in law, communications, public policy, and American studies and will be of interest to scholars and professionals alike. 
 Systemic Governance addresses accounting and accountability and develops conceptual tools to enhance the capacity of policy makers and managers. The structures and processes of international relations and governance need to be re-considered to allow diversity to the extent that is does not undermine the freedoms of others. The book makes a plea for systemic governance. Policy makers and managers need to work with rather than within theoretical and methodological frameworks to achieve multidimensional and multilayered policy decisions. Conceptual tools can be used to enhance systemic governance. The closest we can get to truth is through compassionate dialogue that explores paradoxes and considers the rights and responsibilities of caretakers. It contains case studies and conceptual tools which enliven the text. 
 The purpose of this book is to break a number of the conventions of research texts by writing an academic text on methodology as a case study of building case studies, one that cites classic works in the field and contains autobiographical considerations throughout its account, one that narrates the conscious process of designing a framework from the range of philosophies that were involved in chronicling this topic. 
 This book provides an up-to-date account of housing policy systems in eight countries - Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. With one chapter devoted to each country, there are, in addition, introductory and concluding chapters, in which the editors identify both the similarities in the problems faced, and in the approaches adopted, by the governments of the Asian countries - setting them apart from the West - as well as the differences that indicate the variety of Asian solutions. 
 
 
 One of the commonly stated virtues of modern constitutional democracies is their capacity to insure reliable and accepted methods of political succession through election. This book focuses on one particular, though not uncommon, complication in the democratic mode of political succession: American vice-presidents who assume office as a result of the death, assassination or resignation of a president. Three basic strategies by "accidental presidents" to establish and enhance their legitimacy are identified and evaluated. While none are reliably successful, each provides a lens to study the nature of presidential power and authority as well as to contribute to a democratic theory of succession. 
 
 The East Asian Crisis of 1997 and the following economic meltdown has raised new questions about the role of public policy in Asian economic growth and the best mix of policies to insure the survival of economic growth. Although economists agree that macroeconomic stability, the encouragement of exports and FDI inflows, and the development of human resources have been important in East Asian growth, they do not agree on whether industry specific policies have been useful. The policy experiences of the countries are diverse and do not show a strong relationship between policies and success. Bringing together the work of development economics experts, this book looks at the role of economic policy in East Asian development, the challenge of the economic meltdown, and the critical issues raised by that meltdown. Based on research and conferences at the International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development in Kitakyushu, Japan, the book opens with general chapters considering the policies behind East Asian growth, then discusses the policies of each country in country specific chapters. Up to date in its discussion, the book considers the questions raised by the crisis of 1997 from a variety of perspectives. 
 This text on the interaction between public health policies and social inequality probes three issues: what groups wield the greatest influence over the policy process? Who gains most from health policies? And how can we best understand the policy link between health and social inequalities? A theory of social opportunities clarifies the reasons for policy effectiveness, particularly the impact of public programmes on the environmental and personal conditions that improve people's health. 
 
Think tank traditions is a follow up to the critically acclaimed
monograph "Think Tanks across Nations" (Manchester University
Press, 1998), edited by the same authors, which was widely
acknowledged as a ground-breaking work in the comparative study of
think tanks. The book looks at the historical role and contemporary
significance of think tanks in the West, including Europe, the
United States and Canada, as well as considering their activities
in China, Eastern Europe and Argentina. In so doing, the book
provides a broad-based and in-depth analysis of the role of think
tanks in the processes of economic liberalization and
democratization. 
 Advances in GIS technologies have provided a more robust framework for planners and designers. These frameworks offer greater control and monitoring, which can lead to greater accuracy in policymaking and urban planning. Utilizing Decision Support Systems for Strategic Public Policy Planning is an essential research publication that provides comprehensive research on the possibilities of GIS technology for spatial analysis and visualization. Featuring a wide range of topics such as open data, architecture, and regional development, this book is ideal for design professionals, academicians, policymakers, researchers, professionals, and students. |     You may like...
	
	
	
		
			
			
				The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to…
			
		
	
	 
		
			William Bernstein
		
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