Today, two-thirds of the world's nations have abolished the death penalty, either officially or in practice, due mainly to the campaign to end state executions led by Western European nations. Will this success spread to Asia, where over 95 percent of executions now occur? Do Asian values and traditions support capital punishment, or will development and democratization end executions in the world's most rapidly developing region?
David T. Johnson, an expert on law and society in Asia, and Franklin E. Zimring, a senior authority on capital punishment, combine detailed case studies of the death penalty in Asian nations with cross-national comparisons to identify the critical factors for the future of Asian death penalty policy. The clear trend is away from reliance on state execution and many nations with death penalties in their criminal codes rarely use it. Only the hard-line authoritarian regimes of China, Vietnam, Singapore, and North Korea execute with any frequency, and when authoritarian states experience democratic reforms, the rate of executions drops sharply, as in Taiwan and South Korea. Debunking the myth of "Asian values," Johnson and Zimring demonstrate that politics, rather than culture or tradition, is the major obstacle to the end of executions. Carefully researched and full of valuable lessons, The Next Frontier is the authoritative resource on the death penalty in Asia for scholars, policymakers, and advocates around the world.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this updated second edition, internationally renowned scholar B. Guy Peters provides a succinct introduction to public policy and illustrates the design approach to policy problems. Peters demonstrates how decision-makers can make more effective choices and why a design approach to public intervention can improve policy formulation. Key features of the second edition include: Analytical identification and evaluation of the vital components of policy design Reflections on the challenges posed by Covid-19 and public policy solutions An expanded overview of evaluation and behavioral public policy analysis Critical discussions of alternatives to cost-benefit analysis. Offering a timely and concise approach to the field, this book will be crucial for high-level students who are new to public policy, as well as scholars and researchers hoping to improve and advance their understanding of the design perspective. Its analytic and theoretical grounding will also prove useful for policy practitioners, enabling sophisticated solutions to common policy problems.

In Legislating International Organization, Kathryn Lavelle argues against the commonly-held idea that key international organizations are entities unto themselves, immune from the influence and pressures of individual states' domestic policies. Covering the history of the IMF and World Bank from their origins, she shows that domestic political constituencies in advanced industrial states have always been important drivers of international financial institution policy. Lavelle focuses in particular on the U.S. Congress, tracing its long history of involvement with these institutions and showing how it wields significant influence. Drawing from archival research and interviews with members and staff, Lavelle shows that Congress is not particularly hostile to the multilateralism inherent in the IMF and World Bank, and has championed them at several key historical junctures. Congress is not uniformly supportive of these institutions, however. As Lavelle illustrates, it is more defensive of its constitutionally designated powers and more open to competing interest group concerns than legislatures in other advanced industrial states. Legislating International Organization will reshape how we think about how the U.S. Congress interacts with international institutions and more broadly about the relationship of domestic politics to global governance throughout the world. This is especially relevant given the impact of 2008 financial crisis, which has made the issue of multilateralism in American politics more important than ever.

The concept of `economic planning' was a central theme of the popular economic policy debate in the 1930s. Dr Ritschel traces the many interpretations of planning, and examines the process of idealogical construction and dissemination of the new economic ideas. He finishes with an explanation of the planners' retreat, later in the decade, from the economics of planning towards the far less ambitious (but also less contentious) alternative - the `middle way' of Keynesian economics.

Just as Latin American countries began to transition to democracy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the region also saw gains in social, cultural and economic gender equality. In accordance with modernization theories, women in the region have also made significant inroads into elected office. However, these gains vary a great deal between countries in Latin America. They also vary significantly at different levels of government even within the same country. Inside government arenas, representation is highly gendered with rules and norms that advantage men and disadvantage women, limiting women's access to full political power. While one might expect these variations to map onto socioeconomic and cultural conditions within each country, they don't correlate. This book makes, for the first time, a comprehensive comparison of gender and representation across the region - in seven countries - and at five different levels: the presidency, cabinets, national legislatures, political parties, and subnational governments. Overall, it argues that gender inequality in political representation in Latin America is rooted in democratic institutions and the democratic challenges and political crises facing the region. Institutions and political context not only influence the number of women and men elected to office, but also what they do once in office, the degree of power to which they gain access, and how their presence and actions influence democracy and society, more broadly. Drawing on the expertise of scholars of women, gender, and political institutions, this book is the most comprehensive analysis of women's representation in Latin America to date, and an important resource for research on women's representation worldwide. The causes, consequences, and challenges to women's representation in Latin America are not unique to that region, and the book uses Latin American patterns to draw broad conclusions about gendered representation in other areas of the world.

Deborah Posel breaks new ground in exposing some of the crucial political processes and struggles which shaped the reciprocal development of Apartheid and capitalism in South Africa. Her analysis debunks the orthodoxy view which presents apartheid as the product of a single `grand plan', created by the State in response to the pressures of capital accumulation. Using as a case study influx control during the first phase of apartheid (1948-1961), she shows that apartheid arose from complex patterns of conflict and compromise within the State, in which white capitalists, the black working class, and popular movements exercised varying and uneven degrees of influence. Her book integrates a detailed empirical analysis of the capitalist State and its relationship to class interests.

Stem cell therapy is ushering in a new era of medicine in which we will be able to repair human organs and tissue at their most fundamental level- that of the cell. The power of stem cells to regenerate cells of specific types, such as heart, liver, and muscle, is unique and extraordinary. In 1998 researchers learned how to isolate and culture embryonic stem cells, which are only obtainable through the destruction of human embryos. An ethical debate has raged since then about the ethics of this research, usually pitting pro-life advocates vs. those who see the great promise of curing some of humanity's most persistent diseases.
In this book Cynthia Cohen agrees that we need to work toward a consensus on the issue of how we treat the embryo. But more broadly she claims that we need to transform and expand the ethical and policy debates on stem cells (adult and embryonic). This important and much-needed book is both a primer and a means by which to understand the implications of this research. Cohen starts by introducing readers to the basic science of stem cell research, and the core ethical questions surrounding the embryo. She then expands the scope of the debate, looking at the moral questions that will crop up down the line, such as e.g. the use of therapeutic cloning to overcome the body's immune resistance to stem cells; the ethics of using animals to test stem cells; how to disentangle federal and state legal and regulatory policies in pursuit of a coherent national policy; and how to develop an ethics of stem cell research that will accommodate new techniques and controversies that we cannot even foresee now. Her final chapter develops a concrete plan for an oversight systemfor this research.
This is the first single-author book that addresses the many broad ethical and legal issues related to stem cells, and it should be of great interest to bioethicists, researchers, clinicians, philosophers, theologians, lawyers, policy makers, and general readers.

One of the longest and seemingly most intractable civil wars in Latin America was brought to an end by the signing of the Peace Accords between the Guatemalan government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) in December 1996. The essays in this volume evaluate progress made in the implementation of the peace agreements and signal some of the key challenges for future political and institutional reform. The volume opens with a chapter by Gustavo Porras, the government's main negotiator in the peace process. The first section then examines the issue of demilitarization. This is followed by aspects of indigenous rights in the peace process, including conceptual frameworks for rights advancement, the harmonization of state law and customary law, and the challenges of nation-state and citizenship construction. The next section examines issues of truth, justice, and reconciliation, and assesses prospects for the Truth Commission. The volume closes with an analysis of different aspects of political reform in Guatemala and includes comments made on the chapters and developed in the debate which took place at the conference on which it is based. The contributors are Marta Altolaguirre*, Marta Elena Casa?s*, Demetrio Cojt?*, Edgar Guti?rrez*, Frank La Rue, Roger Plant, Gustavo Porras*, Alfonso Portillo*, Jennifer Schirmer, Rachel Sieder, David Stoll, Rosalina Tuyuc*, Anna Vinegrad, Richard Wilson (* chapters in Spanish).

Why do some countries appear to be far more centralized than others? In some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are delivered by national and other non-local bodies. Moreover national government oversees the operation of local government with varying degrees of stringency. In addition, local politicians in some countries seem to have greater influence over their national counterparts than those in others. The answer to this question can be found in the distinctive patterns of development experienced in southern and northern Europe. Differences in national-local relations also have direct implications for patterns of policy-making at the local level. This book examines the legal and political bases of relationships between national and local government in Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Spain, and assesses the causes and consequences of differences in such relationships.

This enlightening book scrutinizes the shifting and overlapping governance paradigms that inform public administration reforms. Exploring the models that shape and reshape the daily operation of public organizations, it explains the core features of public bureaucracy and professional rule in the modern day. From the rise to supremacy of New Public Management to the growing preference for alternatives, such as Digital Era Governance, Public Value Management and New Public Governance, four world-renowned authors launch a powerful and systematic comparison of the competing and co-existing paradigms. Advancing the 'public governance diamond' as a critical tool for comparing the core features of governance paradigms, this insightful book discusses the underlying behavioural assumptions of these models and the challenges faced by leaders when managing in a public sector. Informed by both key theory and empirical analysis, this book will be crucial reading for students and researchers seeking an authoritative voice on competing and co-existing modes of governance. Public leaders and managers, as well as public employees, will also benefit from its insights into the varying and multifaceted dynamics of public governance.

In Media in Postapartheid South Africa, author Sean Jacobs turns to media politics and the consumption of media as a way to understand recent political developments in South Africa and their relations with the African continent and the world. Jacobs looks at how mass media defi nes the physical and human geography of the society and what it means for comprehending changing notions of citizenship in postapartheid South Africa. Jacobs claims that the media have unprecedented control over the distribution of public goods, rights claims, and South Africa's integration into the global political economy in ways that were impossible under the state-controlled media that dominated the apartheid years. Jacobs takes a probing look at television commercials and the representation of South Africans, reality television shows and South African continental expansion, soap operas and postapartheid identity politics, and the internet as a space for reassertions and reconfi gurations of identity. As South Africa becomes more integrated into the global economy, Jacobs argues that local media have more weight in shaping how consumers view these products in unexpected and consequential ways.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Jon Pierre and Guy Peters expertly guide the reader through governance - one of the most widely used terms in political science - and its differing interpretations, with comprehensive discussion of the key issues covering global as well as local level governance. A detailed look into what constitutes 'good governance', whether produced by a government or by more informal means, is also explored. Key features include: examination of what governance is, how it is created and the differing styles of governance how governance is becoming more collaborative between governments and the private sector an investigation into the governance process and outcomes, including topics such as bargaining, negotiation and the use of political power. This insightful Advanced Introduction will be an excellent resource for both graduates and undergraduates studying governance and political science. It will also be a useful guide for academics who are interested in governance and who need a concise introduction.

This timely Handbook considers the increasing struggles facing international development in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It investigates the role global co-operation must play in resolving the multiple crises of the pandemic, resultant economic devastation and existing climate changes and external-debt concerns. Contributions identify the need to question current assumptions and approaches to international development in the context of how markets are constructed, states reformed and resources distributed. Split across four thematic parts, this thought-provoking Handbook explores the concept and politics of development, development and contested globalization, the politics of development agendas and global actors in the politics of development. Chapters examine the politics of: developmental regionalism, crime, law and development in historical perspective, international monetary relations, food, global health, the global gender agenda, the sustainable development goals, development in the WTO, and private foundations. Engaging and accessible, the Handbook on the Politics of International Development will be a key resource for students and scholars of international politics and relations, public policy, geopolitics and development studies.

Examining the increasingly relevant topic of public sector efficiency, this dynamic Handbook investigates the context of constrained fiscal space and public funding sources using cross-country datasets in areas including China, India, sub-Saharan Africa and OECD economies. Expert contributors evaluate public sector efficiency for both national and sub-national governments, analysing important sectors such as education, health, public-private enterprises and state-owned enterprises. Given voters' requirements to be more educated and for greater accountability on the use of public spending, chapters describe methodology and measurement issues alongside the allocation of resources to ensure better efficiency and effectiveness. Forward-thinking, the Handbook provides insights into how improving efficiency can greatly assist governments when dealing with unforeseen events such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. This Handbook will be an important read for academics and students of public sector economics and public administration and management. It will also provide an excellent background for the policy makers of international institutions looking to help the general public have a better understanding of how public spending works in order for them to make informed decisions when voting.

Based on original empirical data collected from three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this engaging book offers comprehensive insights into the institutional environment of public-private partnership (PPP) from a unique and under-explored context. Drawing on ideas from the fields of project management, neo-institutional theory and research on the Gulf rentier states, this book unpacks how individual and organizational actors engage in several strategies to either enable the implementation of PPPs or to resist them. It explores why and how individual and organizational actors in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar seek to disrupt or maintain existing forms of project organizing. Chapters from this book highlight both the macro- and micro-dynamics of initiating, implementing or resisting new forms of project organizing, and offer several theoretical contributions to project management, PPP literature and neo-institutional theory. This book will be an essential read for academics and policymakers interested in broader questions of how the institutional context affects public sector reforms and the introduction of New Public Management ideas to non-western contexts. Public policy and management students and practitioners will also find this book to be a valuable resource.

In this innovative book, Jacob Torfing, a leading scholar of the field, critically evaluates emerging ideas, practices and institutions that are transforming how public governance is perceived, theorised and conducted in practice. Identifying cutting-edge developments in public governance, this incisive book analyses new forms of political leadership, public management, public organisation, administrative steering, cross-boundary collaboration, public regulation and societal problem-solving. Examining some of the most significant instances of public governance transformation, chapters explore the effects of transformations from sovereign to interactive political leadership, from national to multi-level governance, and from hard to soft power. With a novel focus on the production of innovative public value outcomes, the book considers how these developments interact with and are influenced by new digital technologies and increasing globalisation. Torfing concludes with a reflection on how best to comprehend, study and take advantage of current and future transformations in public governance. A novel rethinking of how current societies are governed, this book will inspire students, scholars and practitioners of political science, public policy, regulation and governance, and public administration management to reconsider how public governance and administration may be organised in the future to present innovative solutions to societal problems.

Through a pioneering analysis of two critical junctures in EU counter-terrorism, this topical book examines the drivers, conditions and impediments for policy integration and information-exchange institutionalisation in EU counter-terrorism. Taking a deep dive into the key questions surrounding EU counter-terrorism, Christine Andreeva utilises distinct terrorism case studies over two decades to investigate the evolution of information-sharing in EU counter-terrorism. Using an innovative theoretical framework combining historical and constructivist institutionalism, the book examines key events in EU counter-terrorism development: the 2015-2016 Paris and Brussels attacks and the 2004-2005 Madrid and London attacks. Identifying a post-2015 paradigm policy shift, the book traces the increased efficiency of cross-border and inter-agency co-ordination in the EU's counter-terrorism policy. Andreeva demonstrates how institutionalisation, information-sharing and improved legislative frameworks have led to further policy integration and added significant value to international EU counter-terrorism efforts. Illustrating the importance of practitioners' perception of EU added value in counter-terrorism, this book will be essential to scholars and students of public policy, particularly those studying EU and international politics and EU counter-terrorism. Its empirical findings will also be useful to policymakers and practitioners in security and counter-terrorism fields.

Transportation and the State explores the role of the emerging national state in the 19th century as an organiser of territory and a governor of infrastructure. It offers a comparative historical analysis of eight industrialising nation-states and discusses their role in the democratisation and economic development of the industrialising world since the post-Napoleonic era. Hans Keman and Jaap J. Woldendorp provide a comprehensive analysis of how nation-states have regulated the economy and society from the 19th century to the present day, with particular focus on the development and operation of railway systems. They demonstrate how states define and direct infrastructure and railway systems as part of the public domain. By exploring the impact of the railways on the evolution of the national state, Keman and Woldendorp reveal the complex interactions between the state, society and the economy, and how these are situated within their historical context. Taking a diachronic empirical approach, they challenge common misinterpretations around the role of the state and argue for a revision and reformulation of its current format and capacities. Drawing together the academic fields of political science, economics and economic history in an innovative way, this book will be of particular interest to scholars and students looking to expand their understanding of the ways these disciplines interlink. It will also be a helpful read for policy-makers working on improving transport infrastructure in different nations.

This Handbook offers a critical analysis of the major theoretical and empirical issues in public policy and public administration in China. Investigating methodological, theoretical, and conceptual themes, it provides an insightful reflection on how China is governed.   Taking a multidisciplinary approach, expert international contributors explore the complex challenges and facets of public administration, inwards and outwards civil service issues, and policy configurations and implementations in China. Chapters provide in-depth analyses of government capacity-building and policy making, local bureaucracy, anti-corruption regimes, civil service evaluation, and the effectiveness of the public sector. This comparative study uniquely tests Western theories of public policy and administration in a non-Western country, evaluating and dimensionalizing the relevance of such perspectives. Through the examination of key areas of research, the Handbook also illuminates the present state of research and teaching on public administration in China and establishes a broad framework for future studies of the field.   Offering a detailed discussion of the characteristics of governance in China, this comprehensive Handbook will be a valuable resource for academics and students of public policy and administration, politics, sociology and Chinese studies. Its focus on management and performance will also be beneficial for public policy makers and analysts.