Hemp helped not only to define economic development in southern and border-states, it also played a crucial role in agricultural production in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as industrial development in the North-east. From the founding of the nation, the manufacture of American hemp helped monetize the US economy. US hemp producers also established a range modern labor practices, including the identification and training of skilled labor, the use of seasonal workers, and ultimately, the creation of a sliding scale of wages. This book chronicles this history, as well as the contemporary controversy obstructing the production of both industrial hemp and medical marijuana. The analysis concludes with a survey of current industrial hemp projects, including several promising adaptations - as a potential medicine, a bio-fuel, and most promisingly, a reliable source of clean computing fabrication.

This open access book examines the role of pilot and demonstration projects as crucial devices for conducting innovation in the context of the energy transition. Bridging literature from sustainability transitions and Science and Technology Studies (STS), it argues that such projects play a crucial role, not only in shaping future energy and mobility systems, but in transforming societies more broadly. Pilot projects constitute socio-technical configurations where imagined future realities are materialized. With this as a backdrop, the book explores pilot projects as political entities, focusing on questions of how they gain their legitimacy, which resources are mobilized in their production, and how they can serve as sites of public participation and the production of energy citizenship. The book argues that such projects too often have a narrow technology focus, and that this is a missed opportunity. The book concludes by critically discussing the potential roles of research and innovation policy in transforming how such projects are configured and conducted.

Behavioural public policies, or nudges, have become increasingly popular in recent years, with governments keen to use light-touch interventions to improve the success of their public policies. In this unique book, Peter John explores nudges, their successes and limitations, and sets out a bold manifesto for the future of behavioural public policy. This book traces the beginnings of nudge in behavioural economics and tracks the adoption of its core ideas by policy-makers, providing examples of successful applications. By considering the question ?how far to nudge??, John reviews why it is crucial for governments to address citizen behaviours, and reviews the criticisms of nudge and its ethical limitations. Looking to its future, this book proposes the adoption of a radical version of nudge, nudge plus, involving increased feedback and more engagement with citizens. How Far to Nudge? will be a vital text for students of behavioural public policy and policy analysis, as well as for anyone looking for an introduction to nudge policy and an explanation for its growth in popularity.

Policy knowledge derived from data, information, and evidence is a powerful tool for contributing to policy discussions and debates, and for understanding and improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of government action. For decades, politicians, advocates, reformers, and researchers have simultaneously espoused this value, while also paradoxically lamenting the lack of impact of policy knowledge on decision making, and the failure of related reforms. This text explores this paradox, identifying the reliance on a proverb of using policy knowledge to supplant politics as a primary culprit for these perceived failures. The evidence in this book suggests that any consideration of the role of policy knowledge in decision making must be considered alongside, rather than in place of, considerations of the ideologies, interests, and institutional factors that shape political decisions. This contextually rich approach offers practical insights to understand the role of policy knowledge, and to better leverage it to support good governance decisions.

In an unanticipated flurry of atomic weapons testing--a total of 10 tests over 20 days in 1998--India and Pakistan announced to the world their emergence as full-fledged nuclear powers. How, Nizamani asks, did nuclear escalation come to dominate the agendas of both nations? In a comparative analysis, Nizamani reveals the political underpinnings of nuclear weapons development, arguing that Indian and Pakistani nuclearization is linked to processes of national formation.

Working within the Critical Security Studies framework, Nizamani traces the development of nuclear discourses in India and Pakistan from early nationhood to the present. Nizamani defers conclusive identification of real or objective national threats, and instead examines the historical specificities and internal tensions of the dominant Indian and Pakistani security discourses. Additionally, Nizamani provides an overview of anti-nuclear dissent in South Asia.

Australia is less secure than it has ever been, and the greatest threat comes from our elected government. Political leaders increasingly promote secrecy, ignorance and fear to introduce new laws that undermine individual liberties and safety. It is a criminal offence to receive or publish a wide range of information unrelated to national security. Our defence weapons are so dependent on US technical support that Australia couldn't defend itself without US involvement. And comprehensive databases on citizens' digital fingerprints and facial recognition characteristics are being amassed by the Commonwealth. Conspiracy? Paranoia? Read Secret: The Making of Australia's Security State and you decide. Fresh archival material and revealing details of conversations between former CIA, US State Department and Australian officials will make you reconsider the world around you.

This is the first comprehensive economic history of the Basotho people of Southern Africa (in colonial Basutoland, then Lesotho) and spans from the 1820s to the present day. The book documents what the Basotho have done on their own account, focusing on their systematic exclusion from trade and their political efforts to insert themselves into their country's commerce. Although the colonial and post-colonial periods were unfavourable to the Basotho, they have, before and after colonial rule, launched impressive commercial initiatives of their own, which bring hope for greater development and freedom in their struggle for economic independence.

This study fills a void in the literature of Latin American politics by offering a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the state and its bureaucratic components in the various nations of the region. The author notes at the onset that the complexity of the state apparatus in Latin America--ranging from the entrenched bureaucracy of Brazil to the minimal administrative capabilities of Nicaragua--presents both a challenge and a problem for analysts. His unique contribution here is combining an overview of public bureaucracy in Latin America with a series of country and regional profiles. With this basis for analysis established, Graham focuses on changes in the state, the society, and the economy that have occurred over the past two decades in order to develop a set of new perspectives on Latin American politics and economics. Organized into three sections, the study begins with three chapters that address the centrality of the state, the structural dimensions of the Latin American public sector, and issues in administrative reform. Country profiles of Mexico, Brazil, and Nicaragua and a study of regional variations in development policy make up Part Two. The final section includes comparisons of Latin American nations with selected European nations--an unusual juxtaposition that further enhances the readers understanding of the Latin American experience. Throughout, three themes tie the analysis of the state to its broader context in the surrounding polity, economy, and society: the performance of the state in the provision of basic services; the spatial dimensions of public administration and management; and the extension of state activities throughout society. The author's analytical framework thus entails identifying the structures that condition policy implementation, clarifying the spatial dimensions that shape public policy, and utilizing intergovernmental relations and field administration constructs to establish the centralization/decentralization mix required to reintegrate politics with policy and with organizations in the pursuit of more effective programs.

This two-volume, edited collection lays the groundwork for an international exploration of incarceration and generation, cover a range of geographic, judicial and administrative contexts of incarceration from contributors across a range of subjects. Volume I explores an array of experiences, dynamics, cultures, interventions and impacts of incarceration in specific generations: childhood, youth and emerging adulthood, adulthood and older age. It covers topics such as: the expansion of the penal landscape; deprivation of liberty regarding children, the problem of unaccompanied migrant children; the incarceration of young adults and adults, exploring its impacts within and beyond incarceration and the consequences of imprisoning older populations. Volume II examines intergenerational relations issues within different contexts of incarceration. This collection discusses public policies and the role of the state and the citizen deprived of liberty. It speaks to academics in criminology, sociology, psychology, and law, and to practitioners and policymakers interested in incarceration.

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.

Across all the boroughs, The Long Crisis shows, New Yorkers helped transform their broke and troubled city in the 1970s by taking the responsibilities of city governance into the private sector and market, steering the process of neoliberalism. Newspaper headlines beginning in the mid-1960s blared that New York City, known as the greatest city in the world, was in trouble. They depicted a metropolis overcome by poverty and crime, substandard schools, unmanageable bureaucracy, ballooning budget deficits, deserting businesses, and a vanishing middle class. By the mid-1970s, New York faced a situation perhaps graver than the urban crisis: the city could no longer pay its bills and was tumbling toward bankruptcy. The Long Crisis turns to this turbulent period to explore the origins and implications of the diminished faith in government as capable of solving public problems. Conventional accounts of the shift toward market and private sector governing solutions have focused on the rising influence of conservatives, libertarians, and the business sector. Benjamin Holtzman, however, locates the origins of this transformation in the efforts of city dwellers to preserve liberal commitments of the postwar period. As New York faced an economic crisis that disrupted long-standing assumptions about the services city government could provide, its residents-organized within block associations, non-profits, and professional organizations-embraced an ethos of private volunteerism and, eventually, of partnership with private business in order to save their communities' streets, parks, and housing from neglect. Local liberal and Democratic officials came to see such alliances not as stopgap measures but as legitimate and ultimately permanent features of modern governance. The ascent of market-based policies was driven less by a political assault of pro-market ideologues than by ordinary New Yorkers experimenting with novel ways to maintain robust public services in the face of the city's budget woes. Local people and officials, The Long Crisis argues, built neoliberalism from the ground up, creating a system that would both exacerbate old racial and economic inequalities and produce new ones that continue to shape metropolitan areas today.

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of some of the most critical issues regarding the EU's Energy Union policy. Applied European energy policies face a number of challenges ranging from the geopolitics of energy and energy regulation, to climate change, advancing renewable and gas technologies, and consumer empowerment structures. This book takes a multi-dimensional look into some of these vital issues regarding the European energy sector with a special focus on the effects the Energy Union policy has in two sensitive regional systems, Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Energy, being by definition a multi-disciplinary field, presents a challenge for readers of any specific disciplinary background that need to grasp an overall understanding of the various aspects of this exciting sector. This book's objective is to offer the opportunity for readers to get a quality, hands-on overview of the Energy Union by the professionals and academics that interact with it on a daily basis.

This book examines energy transition issues within the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. The European Union is aiming for an almost complete decarbonization of its energy sector by 2050. However, the path towards a carbon-free economy is full of challenges that must be solved by individual EU members. Across 18 chapters, leading researchers explore challenges related to energy transition and analyse individual EU members from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the region as a whole. To further explore this complex issue, the volume also includes several countries from South East Europe in its analysis. As perspective members, these countries will be important contributors to the EU's mid- and long-term climate and energy goals. The focus on a variety of issues connected to energy transition and systematic analyses of the different CEE countries make it an ideal reference for anyone with a general interest in the region or European energy transition. It will also be a useful resource for students looking for an accessible overview of the field.

Margaret Thatcher unalterably changed the face of Britain. This volume, the first book-length bibliography on Thatcher, will help the researcher to evaluate her impact. The volume opens with a brief biography, which includes coverage of Thatcher's monetary and social market policies, her special relationship with Ronald Reagan, her foreign and domestic policies, and her attitudes toward women and equal opportunity issues. The bibliography, which comprises the bulk of the book, provides a comprehensive guide to works on Thatcher's life and career. Entries are annotated except when a title is self-explanatory. Coverage is devoted primarily to English-language materials. The book includes full indexes. The book will be an important aide for all scholars, researchers, and students concerned with British politics.

This important book challenges conventional development theory by addressing not only technological but also socio-economic factors influencing low agricultural productivity in the developing world. Agricultural productivity has long been regarded as a fundamental factor in influencing economic development, yet relatively little research has examined the causes of stagnated and low agricultural productivity in developing countries. This book goes beyond the traditional discussion of low productivity being primarily determined by technological factors, and addresses the more complex determinants. Special attention is given to the influences of ecology and environmental degradation, the distribution of political power and socio-economic factors, as well as possibilities for biotechnology. The authors have been drawn from an international arena and transcend traditional academic disciplines combining historical, statistical and formal analysis for a better understanding of critical development issues. Economic Development and Agricultural Productivity will be of special interest to development and agricultural economists and policymakers.

The conventional wisdom has it that a balanced budget is the height of economic rationality, that social security should be privatized, and that most adult welfare recipients could and should get jobs. All our social and economic problems, we are told, are due to too much government; if we only left the American free enterprise system alone, the free market would heal all that ails our society and lead to lasting prosperity. Challenging these widespread stereotypes and myths, this book starts with the fundamental theory underlying capitalist ideology, showing that even in theory an unfettered free market cannot deal effectively with the many needs of a modern economy. Our society has many social goals to which the great majority subscribe-goals such as sustained full employment, universal health care, and quality education for all. The free market will not, the author argues, bring us quality education for every American child, affordable universal health care, Social Security for the elderly, assistance for the poor, or protection of the environment. Only an active, participant government can affect positive change in such areas of social concern.

This well-documented and fascinating book tells how, over the centuries, a series of visionaries, scientists, technologists, and politicians fostered the involvement of Italy in space exploration. The lives of these pioneers was often far from easy, yet they persevered. The fruits of their efforts can today be witnessed in Italy's success within the cutting-edge space sector. Italy's history in space started at the end of the fourteenth century and continued with the development of fireworks. Later, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of research into rockets in a more scientific way. After World War II, rocket technology was advanced with the aid of German scientists, and in the 1960s Luigi Broglio, the father of Italian space exploration, designed the San Marco satellite. In 1979 the first Italian Space Plan was launched, but it was the foundation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988 that kick-started a program of exploration in various fields of cosmic research. The outcome was construction of the Vega launcher and collaboration in the International Space Station. Now the Italian space industry stands ready to play an important role in the Gateway orbital station. All of this history, and more, is explored in this riveting book.

Herbert Hoover, as Secretary of Commerce, and Benjamin Strong, as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, played a critical role in the formulation of American monetary policy during the 1920s. Yet little attention has been given to the relationship between them--at first cooperative, then increasingly one of conflict and factionalism--or to the impact of that relationship on policy formulation. This book sheds new light on their roles in policy making and relates those roles to larger conflicts over where policy should be made, how the Federal Reserve System should be structured, and the balance that should be struck between international, national, and regional considerations.

Focusing on the Hoover-Strong relationship from a political rather than a purely economic perspective, the book's scope includes both domestic and international aspects of Federal Reserve policy formulation. New sources have enabled the author to provide both fresh details and a broader interpretation. Elaborating on the belief that the Depression resulted from policies developed during the autumn of 1927, the author contends that the foundation for those policies was laid with America's decision to underwrite the Dawes plan, the decision to underwrite England's return to the gold standard, and the involvement in European monetary stabilization--all issues over which Hoover and Strong disagreed.

The editors and the contributors have produced what can only be described as the definitive guide to the growing field of critical policy studies. It is comprehensive and well written and will be welcomed by all students and practitioners of public policy and policy analysis. No personal or institutional library would be complete without it!' - Wayne Parsons, Cardiff University, UK 'This comprehensive Handbook, with contributions from leading figures in the field, is a valuable source of information on practical and theoretical aspects of critical policy studies, its argumentative and deliberative turn and its methods of analysis which is likely to stimulate further debate on the big issues in the study and analysis of policy.'BR>- Norman Fairclough, Lancaster University, UK 'The field of critical policy studies goes from strength to strength, and this Handbook provides a much-needed review that will be essential reading for scholars, students and practitioners. It is at the same time a critical introduction for those new to the field (including those coming from more conventional approaches to public policy), a comprehensive reference book for people in the field and a guide to emerging issues and challenges in the study of the communicative practice of public policy.' - John Dryzek, University of Canberra, Australia Critical policy studies, as this volume illustrates, challenges conventional approaches to public policy inquiry with its focus on discursive politics, policy argumentation and deliberation, and interpretive modes of analysis. Assembling the voices of established and emerging scholars, the Handbook of Critical Policy Studies fills a major gap in the policy literature. Moving beyond the false neutrality of empiricism and positivism, this Handbook highlights the responsibility of inquirers to take account of social and political context - including present conditions, past trends and prevailing power relationships - to advance inquiry that relies not only on experts but also on citizens in a manner supporting and encouraging democracy. Not only does this call for a reconsideration of the interplay of qualitative and quantitative methods but also for robust attention to the role of values. Accessible to scholars, practitioners and students alike, the book offers a compilation of new critical work that both assesses past developments and appraises emerging issues. Contributors: H. Am, M.R. Banjade, M. Barbehoen, K. Braun, V. Dubois, A. Durnova, L. Elgert, S.A. Ercan, S.S. Fainstein, F. Fischer, S. Griggs, D. Howarth, H. Ingram, B. Jessop, S. Jin Park, W. Lamping, R.P. Lejano, E. Loevbrand, T.W. Luke, R.F. Mendonca, S. Munch, H.R. Ojha, M. Orsini, S.J. Park, S. Paterson, D. Plehwe, T. Saretzki, F. Scala, V.A. Schmidt, A.L. Schneider, K.K. Shrestha, H. Strassheim, J. Stripple, N.-L. Sum, D. Torgerson, H. Wagenaar, D. Yanow