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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which
commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out
and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and
impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes
high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using
print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in
1983.
This book is a unique, single-volume treatment offering original
source material on the life, accomplishments, disappointments, and
lasting legacy of one of American history's most celebrated social
reformers-Cesar Chavez. Two decades after Cesar Chavez's death,
this timely book chronicles the drive for a union of one of
American society's most exploited groups-farm workers. Encyclopedia
of Cesar Chavez is a valuable one-volume source based on the most
recent research and available documentation. Historian Roger Bruns
documents how Chavez and his United Farm Workers (UFW), against
formidable odds, organized farm laborers into a force that for the
first time successfully took on the might of California's
agribusiness interests to achieve greater wages and better working
conditions. Set against the backdrop of the 1960s, a time of
assassinations, war protests, civil rights battles, and reform
efforts for poor and minority citizens, the approximately 100
entries in this encyclopedia provide a glimpse into the events,
organizations, men and women, and recurring themes that impacted
the life of Cesar Chavez. It also contains a section of primary
documentation-useful not only to enhance the understanding of this
social and political movement, but also as source material for
students. Presents a unique narrative of the events in the life of
Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement, as well as original documents
and entries on people and events Provides a valuable source of
information for tracing attitudes, legislation, and progressive
reform efforts in the last half-century, especially in light of the
current heated debate over immigration Demonstrates how a
determined organizer applied various methods and tactics to
accomplish what seemed at the onset of the movement to be a
quixotic venture-a relevant lesson for those strategizing to
achieve social justice today
By relying on private enterprise more than any other developed
nation, American health care has all the appearances of free-market
in action. And for more than a hundred years, attempts to reform
this system (including President Obama's Affordable Care Act) have
been met with opposition from parties warning against the stifling
effect of government intervention. What these warnings about
federal overreach overlook is the fact that the federal government
has long been an indispensible player in guiding and supporting the
current US health care system. Its role is so pervasive and of such
longstanding importance that it is easy to overlook, but it
actually created American health care as we know it today. Seminal
public programs stand behind every segment of America's massive and
hugely profitable health care industry. This is not to deny the
instrumental roles of private entrepreneurship and innovation, but
rather to describe the foundation on which they rest. The
industry's underlying driving force is a massive partnership
between the public and private spheres. The partnership is complex,
and its effects are not always ideal. But for better or worse, it
shapes every aspect of what we in the United States know as health
care. Mother of Invention traces the government's role in building
four key health care sectors into the financial powerhouses they
are today: pharmaceuticals, hospitals, the medical profession, and
private insurance. It traces their history, surveys their growth,
and highlights some of their greatest success stories, which
together reveal the indispensible role of public initiatives in
contemporary private health care. Only by understanding what
actually drives our system can we appreciate possibilities for
meaningful reform or comprehend the true context - historically and
politically - of the Obama plan.
Why has China's authoritarian government under Xi Jinping retained
popular support without political reforms? Drawing on Chinese
social media data, in this book Titus C. Chen argues that China's
digital propaganda and information control techniques--the
monopolistic exercise of market authoritarianism--have empowered
the Xi administration to manipulate public discourse and shape
public opinion via social media. Chen argues that these techniques
forge a sense of community and unite the general public under the
Chinese government, thereby legitimating autocratic rule. By
enhancing our understanding of China's digital ideological
statecraft, the book makes a major contribution to the fields of
China Studies and Political Communication.
In this #1" New York Times "bestselling book, Dinesh D'Souza, the
creator of the second highest-grossing political documentary ever,
"2016: Obama's America," lays out Obama's plans through the end of
his second administration and warns us how he will harm the
country.
America as we know it--wealthy, powerful, assertive--is not what
Obama wants. He wants a smaller America, a poorer America, an
America unable to exert its will, an America happy to be one power
among many, an America in decline so that other nations might
rise--all in the name of global fairness. To Obama, the hated "1
percent" isn't just wealthy Americas; it is America itself. In
Obama's view, America needs to be taken down a notch.
That is the startling conclusion of bestselling author Dinesh
D'Souza in "Obama's America." Building on his previous "New York
Times" bestseller "The Roots of Obama's Rage"--which Newt Gingrich
called "stunning...the most profound insight I have read in the
last six years"--D'Souza shows how Obama's goal to downsize America
is in plain sight but ignored by everyone.
D'Souza lays out what Obama plans to do in a second
administration--a makeover of America so drastic that the "shining
city on a hill" will become a shantytown in a rather dangerous
global village. Arresting in its presentation and sobering in its
conclusions, "Obama's America" is essential reading for those who
want to change America's course before it's too late.
Ilan Stavans has amassed a collection of cutting-edge articles that
inform readers about how Latinos navigate both the mainstream
medical arena and culturally specific healing traditions. This work
highlights the myriad problems Latinos face in becoming fully
acculturated consumers of health care. Its series of chapters by
expert contributors bridges the communication gap between
mainstream medical professionals who need to understand the Latino
worldview and Latinos that need to adapt to the puzzling complexity
of providers and insurers that make up the American health care
system. Backed by research using quantitative methods and other
techniques, Health Care's seven chapters cover topics ranging from
infant care to teenage dating and sexual mores to prescription
medication use by older adults. Much of the coverage focuses on
problems of access and the ways in which Latinos move between
mainstream health care, and the world of traditional remedies
provided by botanicas (shops specializing in herbs and other
healing items) and curanderos (folk healers). Includes seven
chapters on the major issues concerning Latino access to quality
health care in the United States 18 contributors-noted scholars
providing their insights under the editorial direction of Ilan
Stavans
How do we incorporate analytical thinking into public policy
decisions? Stuart Shapiro confronts this issue in Analysis and
Public Policy by looking at various types of analysis, and
discussing how they are used in regulatory policy-making in the US.
By looking at the successes and failures of incorporating
cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, and environmental impact
assessment, he draws broader lessons on its use, focusing on the
interactions between analysis and political factors, legal
structures and bureaucratic organizations as possible areas for
reform.Utilizing empirical and qualitative research, Shapiro
analyzes four different forms of analysis: cost-benefit analysis,
risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, and impact
analysis. After interviewing nearly fifty individuals who have
served in high levels of government, and who have made countless
regulatory policy decisions in their careers, Shapiro argues that
advocates must become less ambitious and should craft requirements
for simpler and clearer analysis. Such analysis, particularly if
informed by public participation, can do a great deal to improve
government decisions. As this book details the relationship between
analysis and institutional factors such as politics, bureaucracy,
and law, it is appropriate for a variety of readers, such as
scholars of policy, students, scholars of regulation, and
congressional and state legislative staff looking to create new
analytical requirements.
Given the dramatic changes that have taken place in global politics
in recent years (especially following September 11, 2001), it is
time to examine a series of critical issues confronting the global
political economy. One of the most important of these issues is
terrorism and its relationship with weak states. This book examines
the weak state-terrorism nexus with particular emphasis on Africa.
Specifically, it provides an in-depth analysis of state weakness,
poverty, and the opportunities offered by the latter for the
breeding of terrorism and terrorists. It also looks at the part
played by radical Islam in transnational terrorism in Africa.
Emerging from this study is recognition of a need for the
international system to analyze a wide range of issues that
contribute to the weakening of African states.
With a population of 1.2 billion and nearly two decades of
spectacular growth, China promises to become one of the world's
largest economic powers and consumer markets in the next century. A
salient feature of the contemporary Chinese economy is the
significance of state intervention toward business in the form of
'preferential policies'. Thanks to these policies, a firm's
location, ownership type and area of business largely determine
whether it should receive privileges of disadvantages in the
regulated business environment. The fast changing preferential
policies have had great influence on a wide range of economic
activities, including foreign direct investment. The extent,
complexity and variety of these policies are bewildering to both
investors and academics who study the Chinese economy.State
Intervention and Business in China is a systematic study of China's
preferential economic policies. Dr Lu and Dr Tang present these
policies in three categories, namely, the investor-oriented, the
region-oriented, and the industry-oriented policies. The authors
give a clear account of policies including: preferential tax rates,
state bank loans, trade protection and subsidies, and licensing
schemes. The book provides the in-depth political economy analyses
that reveal the sources and functions of these policies. By
offering empirical observations on the impact of state intervention
on regional development and economic structures, this book sheds
new light on the prospects for China's economic policy making.
State Intervention and Business in China will be indispensably for
scholars and specialists who are interested in contemporary Chinese
economy and society. It is also a valuable guide for doing business
in China.
Since the mid-1990s European welfare states have undergone a major
transformation. Relative to the post-war years, today they put less
emphasis on income protection and more on the promotion of labour
market participation. This book investigates this transformation by
focusing on two fields of social policy: active labour market
policy and childcare. Throughout Europe, governments have invested
massively in these two areas. The result, a more active welfare
state, seems a rather solid achievement, likely to survive the
turbulent post-crisis years. Why? Case studies of policy
trajectories in seven European countries and advanced statistical
analysis of spending figures suggest that the shift towards an
active social policy is only in part a response to a changed
economic environment. Political competition, and particularly the
extent to which active social policy can be used for credit
claiming purposes, help us understand the peculiar cross-national
pattern of social policy reorientation. This book, by trying to
understand the shift towards an active welfare state, provides also
an update of political science theories of social policy making.
The global financial crisis had a dramatic short-term effect on
federal relations and, as the twelve case studies in this
illuminating book show, set in place a new set of socio-political
factors that are shaping the longer-run process of institutional
change in federal systems. The Future of Federalism illustrates how
an understanding of these complex dynamics is crucial to the
development of policies needed for effective and sustainable
federal governance in the 21st century. The book finds that growing
fiscal pressures are interacting with domestic political variables
to produce country specific federal dynamics. Arguably the first
detailed study of the medium term impact of the financial crisis
and its aftermath on federal governance, this volume highlights how
growing budget pressures are contributing to increased
centralisation in many federations, while in others national
governments are devolving power to appease regional grievances and
preserve the federal union. Contributions from leading federalism
and public finance scholars test recent theoretical explanations of
change in federal systems against the experiences of a diverse
cross-section of federal jurisdictions. The case studies include
both established federations and 'federalizing' jurisdictions, such
as the UK and China, and highlights the complex dynamics which
shape the evolution of federal governance Comprehensive and
interdisciplinary, this timely book will appeal to students and
scholars - from political science, economics and law - studying
federalism, governance studies and comparative political economy.
It is essential reading for public officials and policy makers
interested in intergovernmental relations, public finance and
budgeting and tax policy. Contributors include: J.R. Afonso, D.M.
Brown, C. Colino, T.J. Conlan, L. de Mello, E. del Pino, R.
Eccleston, R. Hortle, R. Jha, R. Krever, S. Lee, R. Mabugu, E.
Massetti, P. Mellor, J. Schnellenbach, N. Soguel, C. Wong
What is the nature of representation? Why do some legislators
pursue their own policy agendas while others only vote according to
the wishes of a majority in their district? In The Movers and the
Shirkers, Eric M. Uslaner sheds new light on these intriguing
questions. Uslaner demonstrates that current notions of
representation are too narrow and that members of Congress pursue
their own policy agendas as well as represent their constituents'
interests. Uslaner explains that most senators do not choose
between their ideal policies or their constituency preferences
because voters usually elect public officials who are in tune with
their beliefs. Moreover, because the constituency is a complex
group, some of whom are more critical to a legislator than others,
the legislator is able to form alliances with those who support his
or her policy preferences. In short, the author argues that
politics is both local and ideological. This work illuminates one
of the central issues of representative democracy and will appeal
to those who study or follow legislative politics as well as those
interested in democratic theory.
E-government has evolved from basic information provisioning to
more integrated service offerings enabling citizen-centric
services. The Handbook of Research on ICT-Enabled Transformational
Government: A Global Perspective provides comprehensive coverage
and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends, and
technologies within transformation stage e-government
(t-government) implementation. A significant reference source
within the technological and governmental fields, this Handbook of
Research offers theoretical and empirical studies that communicate
new insights into t-government for both researchers and
practitioners interested in the subject.
Much has been written about policy efforts to achieve 'Health in
All Policies': an ambitious attempt to improve population health
and reduce health inequalities by ensuring multiple policy areas
are more attuned to their health impacts. However, most accounts
focus on technical challenges, such as implementing impact
assessments. In contrast, and focusing on the European Union, this
book argues that 'Health in All Policies' is essentially a
political project shaped by institutional power, competing ideas,
and discourses. We can only really understand the failure to
realise its ambition through political analysis.
Environmental Policy in Europe focuses on the creation of
environmental policy, how new legislation is formed and the
influence brought to bear by industrial interest groups. By
addressing the nature of this consultation process between
interested parties and public authorities, the authors show why
public policy in the European Union is so different in practice
from the prescriptions of academic scholarship. European
environmental legislation results from a process of consultation
and negotiation which is extensively explored in this volume by a
distinguished group of authors. Focusing on such issues as
pesticide registration, combustion emissions, the European waste
management industry, recycling regulations and eco-auditing, they
offer unique insights into the development of public policy. While
the analysis focuses on the actual behaviour of firms and public
authorities, the authors also discuss the involvement of firms
within the regulation devising process - to determine whether their
behaviour distorts the public interest - and the strategic use by
firms of the regulatory process by firms leading to restrictions of
competition. Scholars, students and policymakers will welcome
Environmental Policy in Europe for seeking to enlarge the
traditional perspective of environmental economics on public policy
while integrating the recent advances of both the economics of
regulation and industrial economics.
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