A unique study on the impact of public expenditure allocations in achieving income equality goals in Malaysia.

This important new book is an indispensable guide to the development and implementation of environmental policy. It presents authoritative analyses and state-of-the-art summaries which will be essential both to scholars and practitioners trying to keep abreast of the most recent developments in this fast changing field.The book sheds new light on two areas of environmental policy - liability law and enforcement - which are experiencing dramatic change. It shows how economic analysis can provide useful and meaningful insights about subjects such as criminal penalties, private enforcement, liability for oil spills, tort remedies, and lender liability which have hitherto only been considered by lawyers. Drawing on the latest advances in both economics and law, it critically assesses how the most recent innovations in liability law and enforcement are actually working in practice.

Crafted from a research project that lasted for three years, this book examines the impacts of China's universal two-child policy under the lens of education and focuses specifically on early childhood. This book not only provides number projection, but also the prediction and judgment of the supply and demand of service resources in early childhood education. It attempts to reveal the attitudes and views of families and stakeholders on the universal two-child policy and present the public's policy requirements for the quality of early childhood education. In addition, it analyses possible problems and challenges in current kindergarten layouts and resources allocation. Lastly, it aims to provide references and bases for formulating the plan that adapts to changes of Chinese preschoolers, supply guarantee of future early childhood education and the construction of public service system. Offering rich insights into the current and future status of education in China, this text will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers of sociology, early childhood education, contemporary China studies, East Asian educational practices and policy.

This book makes an enquiry into policies surrounding old age and telecare. It contextualises telecare within the wider history of health and social care in England to build the case that there are grand narratives of old age embedded in policies. Divided into four sections, the book covers: * Connecting old age with telecare * A general review of old age and telecare * A critical enquiry into discourses and the identity of old age * Conclusions and future directions. The author highlights the manifestation of old age discourses in care policies, how they have been perpetuated yet also transformed in the context of telecare, and what this means about older people. The book will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of gerontology, sociology, old age studies, philosophy, social policy, health and social care policy, information systems, and critical theoreticians

City Integration and Tourism Development in the Greater Bay Area, China explores the tourism development related issues of city integration in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). This book starts with a general introduction to the background of the Greater Bay Area in China. Chapter 2 is a historical review, focusing on tourism development in GBA. Chapter 3 introduces the concept of city integration and the profile of GBA. Chapter 4 discusses the effect of city integration on tourism development. Chapter 5 describes the trends of city integration and tourism. Lastly, Chapter 6 is a case study with recommendations for city destination management. This book is a valuable resource for social science researchers and those in related fields, such as city planners and tourism officers. This book is recommend reading for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate students of urban tourism, tourism economics, and tourism management.

In contemporary Japan, 85% of children in alternative care remain housed in large welfare institutions, as opposed to family-based foster care. This publication examines how Japan has been isolated from global discourse on alternative care, urging a shift in social work and alternative care policies. As the first ethnographic account from inside child guidance centres, it makes a key contribution towards understanding the closed world of Japan's social services; including the decision-making processes by which a child is removed from the family and placed into care. In addition, regional variation in policy implementation for alternative care is outlined, with reference to detailed case studies and a discussion around organisational cultures of the child guidance centres. Where foster care is constructed as anything other than professional, it is often seen as a threat to the child's family-bond with their natal parent and therefore not used. Child Guidance Centres in Japan destabilises this construction of the family-bond as singular and discrete, highlighting new practices in alternative care. Child Guidance Centres in Japan: Alternative Care and the Family will be a vital resource for students, scholars of social work and Japanese studies, as well as practitioners and lobbyists involved in alternative care.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's inside account of the crises, choices and challenges she faced during her four years as America's 67th Secretary of State, and how those experiences drive her view of the future.

'All of us face hard choices in our lives,' Hillary Rodham Clinton writes at the start of this personal chronicle of years at the centre of world events. 'Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.' In the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, she expected to return to representing New York in the Unites States Senate. To her surprise, her formal rival for the Democratic Party nomination, newly elected President Barack Obama, asked her to serve in his administration as Secretary of State. This memoir is the story of the four extraordinary and historic years that followed, and the hard choices that she and her colleagues confronted.

Secretary Clinton and President Obama had to decide how to repair fractured alliances, wind down two wars and address a global financial crisis. They faced a rising competitor in China, growing threats from Iran and North Korea, and revolutions across the Middle East. Along the way, they grappled with some of the toughest dilemmas of US foreign policy, especially the decision to send Americans into harm's way, from Afghanistan to Libya to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. By the end of her tenure, Secretary Clinton had visited 112 countries, travelled nearly one million miles and gained a truly global perspective on many of the major trends reshaping the landscape of the twenty-first century, from economic inequality to climate change to revolutions in energy, communications and health.

Drawing on conversations with numerous leaders and experts, Secretary Clinton offers her views on what it will take for the United States to compete and thrive in an interdependent world. She makes a passionate case for human rights and the full participation in society of girls, youth and LGBT people. An astute eyewitness to decades of social change, she distinguishes the trendlines from the headlines and describes the progress occurring throughout the world, day after day.

Secretary Clinton's descriptions of diplomatic conversations at the highest levels offer readers a masterclass in international relations, as does her analysis of how we can best use 'smart power' to deliver security and prosperity in a rapidly changing world - one in which America remains the indispensable nation.

The global rise in pandemics, most recently COVID-19, and other health challenges, some of which are due to climate change, have imposed significant challenges on the healthcare systems in economies around the world. Thus, this book deals with an issue that is very timely and relevant, not just in Africa but globally. It critically assesses healthcare reforms in Ghana under the Fourth Republic, since 1993. Although it focuses on Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme of 2003, the book instructively goes beyond this program. The book argues that, although Ghana is a bellwether of healthcare reforms in Africa, its healthcare initiatives are still far from the service haven of healthcare as a human right. Themes that animate the book's argument include the need to translate human rights law, such as the right to health, into practical policies that work for ordinary citizens. Key highlights of the book include an increased accent on health as a human right, emphasis on comparative analysis in healthcare studies, and the formulation of a four-hallmark framework, embedded in economics, law, politics, and human rights, to act as a guide for assessment of healthcare reforms in Africa in particular, and Ghana more specifically. Using Ghana as a case study and analytical window into the world, the book offers a valuable and timely resource for academics, students and policymakers across the disciplines of development and healthcare economics, law, public policy, political science, sociology, and African and Caribbean studies, as well as in various fields in health science.

This book addresses 'the economics of social innovation', a widely neglected topic in regional development. The chapters in this edited volume cover distinct but complementary and related aspects concerning the existing gap between the hitherto unexploited potential of social innovation in relation to socio-economic challenges that regions across Europe and globally face. Research on social innovation has gained momentum over the last decade, spurred notably by the growing interest in social issues related to policy making, public management and entrepreneurship in response to the grand challenges societies in Europe and worldwide face. Accelerated by the normative turn in research and innovation policies towards 'missions', social innovation is nowadays a central element on policy agendas, from the urban and regional level to the national and subnational level of the European Commission and the OECD. However, for social innovations to unfold their full potential a better understanding of underlying mechanisms, processes and impacts is necessary. The first three chapters focus on framework conditions and characteristics of social innovation. The following two chapters emphasise the determinants of social innovation and translocal empowerment. In the last part, attention is devoted to social innovation in specific fields such as health care and greening society, and social innovations' transformative potential. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, European Planning Studies.

Management & Workplace Culture Book of the Year, 2020 Porchlight Business Book Awards A Publishers Weekly Fall 2020 Big Indie Book The dark side of the gig economy (Uber, Airbnb, etc.) and how to make it equitable for the users and workers most exploited. When the "sharing economy" launched a decade ago, proponents claimed that it would transform the experience of work-giving earners flexibility, autonomy, and a decent income. It was touted as a cure for social isolation and rampant ecological degradation. But this novel form of work soon sprouted a dark side: exploited Uber drivers, neighborhoods ruined by Airbnb, racial discrimination, and rising carbon emissions. Several of the most prominent platforms are now faced with existential crises as they prioritize growth over fairness and long-term viability. Nevertheless, the basic model-a peer-to-peer structure augmented by digital tech-holds the potential to meet its original promises. Based on nearly a decade of pioneering research, After the Gig dives into what went wrong with this contemporary reimagining of labor. The book examines multiple types of data from thirteen cases to identify the unique features and potential of sharing platforms that prior research has failed to pinpoint. Juliet B. Schor presents a compelling argument that we can engineer a reboot: through regulatory reforms and cooperative platforms owned and controlled by users, an equitable and truly shared economy is still possible.

At a critical time for the identity and policy direction of the EU, this Handbook examines the dynamics behind the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The Handbook includes chapters from renowned scholars that examine the efficacy and visibility of the EU as a diplomatic, military and civilian actor in a turbulent world. The authors? original contributions address the impact that existing frameworks, structures and procedures have on the effectiveness of the EU as an international actor and consider the legal challenges to the EU's integrated approach to external action. The Research Handbook on the EU?s Common Foreign and Security Policy brings together scholars from different areas of law (EU and international law) and from the political science field. The interdisciplinary approach makes it essential reading for scholars of law, political science and international relations. Policymakers and all those with an interest in the workings of the EU?s legal services will also find this an insightful resource. Contributors include: S. Blockmans, M. Broberg, M.E. Canamares, M. Cremona, A. de Ruijter, E. Denza, H. Dijkstra, S. Duke, C. Eckes, D. Fiott, J. Heliskoski, C. Hillion, A.E. Juncos, U. Khaliq, J. Klabbers, T. Konstadinides, P. Koutrakos, D. Mantzari, S. Marquardt, J. Odermatt, A. Ott, A. Skordas, G. Van Der Loo, P. Van Elsuwege, R.A. Wessel

Putting into context' is a very common phrase - both in the social sciences and beyond. But what exactly do we mean by this, and how do we do it? In this book, leading scholars in public policy and management tackle these issues. They show how ideas of context are central to a range of theories and explanations and use an international range of case studies to exemplify context-based explanation. The book uncovers the complexity that lies behind an apparently simple notion, and offers a variety of approaches to decipher that complexity. Context is indeed a missing link, which enables us to make sense of the vital relationship between the general and the particular. Context in Public Policy and Management will prove insightful to academics, as well as to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in government, public policy, public management, public administration and political science. Contributors: P. Ahonen, E.M. Berman, M. Bevir, J. Birchall, G. Bouckaert, T. Bovaird, D.-y. Chen, T. Christensen, J. Clarke, J. Edelenbos, J. Halligan, C. Hood, E.-H. Klijn, P. Laegreid, J. Lonsdale, G. Nasi, J. Newman, E. Ongaro, S.P. Osborne, B.G. Peters, J. Pierre, C. Pollitt, I. Proeller, Z. Radnor, R.A.W. Rhodes, F. Rugge, V. Sierra, R. Stillman, T. Virtanen, T. Ysa

Pollution, alternative fuels, congestion, intelligent transportation systems, and the shift from construction to maintenance all call for a reconsideration of the existing highway revenue mechanisms, especially the gas tax. David Levinson explores the fundamental theoretical basis of highway finance, in particular the use of tolls, and supports that theory with empirical evidence. The author examines highway finance from the perspective of individual jurisdictions and travellers, and considers their interactions rather than specifying a single optimal solution. Congestion pricing has long been a goal of transportation economists, who believe it will result in a more efficient use of resources. Levinson argues that if the governance were to become more decentralized, and collection costs continue to drop, tolls could return to prominence as the preferred means of financing roads for both local and intercity travel. An approach that creates the local winners necessary to implement road pricing is required before it can be expected to become widespread. Economists, civil engineers, planners, students and policymakers will find this detailed examination of transportation networks enlightening and useful.

This book investigates the population and labour management reforms implemented since the reform and opening up of China in the early 1980s, giving insights into the economic and social implications of these reforms and future prospects for population governance. The study examines three major components of China's population management strategy in terms of its history and implementation: the household registration (Hukou) system, family planning policy, and the labour market system. Grounded in both qualitative and quantitative analysis, key metrics are introduced to better understand the Hukou system on the one hand while exploring the socio-economic issues arising from the policy, including the economic behaviour or residents, fertility, care of older people, entrepreneurship, institutional premiums and gender wage differentials. Based on these investigations, the author advances constructive suggestions to inform policymaking, aiming to deepen market-oriented reform of the economic system and improve social welfare in China. The title will be a good reference for academics, students and policy makers interested in social policy, labour economics and especially China's population and labour policy and Chinese economy and society.

In the most devastating political detective story of the century, two "Washington Post" reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened.
Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing with headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward kept the tale of conspiracy and the trail of dirty tricks coming -- delivering the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate puzzle that brought about Nixon's scandalous downfall. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for "The Washington Post" and toppled the President. This is the book that changed America.

Healthcare continues to be one of the defining political issues in the United States. Though many progressives argue for an overhaul of the current system based on ethical or humanitarian principles, this important book offers an economic rationale for providing healthcare for all. The purpose of Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale is to demonstrate how current runaway healthcare prices can be addressed by implementing the cost-effectiveness of Medicare For All. Written by a former Corporate Director and healthcare consultant, this book illustrates why the current free market model for healthcare is ultimately failing the country by not containing rising healthcare costs, which has a severe economic impact on all Americans, including those covered by employer medical plans. Major factors in that failure such as the lack of transparency, human decision factors, and high administrative costs in the current system are explored. The book demonstrates that implementing Medicare For All, providing comprehensive benefits with no copays, private insurance premiums, deductibles, or other cost-sharing, will not only improve the lives of most Americans, but will be far more cost-effective than the present system. This is an incisive, important contribution to a topic that continues to shape American political discourse and will be of interest to scholars and professionals engaged in this area as well as politicians and the public in general.

The Richer, The Poorer charts the rollercoaster history of both rich and poor and the mechanisms that link wealth and impoverishment. This landmark book shows how, for 200 years, Britain's most powerful elites have enriched themselves at the expense of surging inequality, mass poverty and weakened social resilience. Stewart Lansley reveals how Britain's model of 'extractive capitalism' - with a small elite securing an excessive slice of the economic cake - has created a two-century-long 'high-inequality, high-poverty' cycle, one broken for only a brief period after the Second World War. Why, he asks, are rich and poor citizens judged by very different standards? Why has social progress been so narrowly shared? With growing calls for a fairer post-COVID-19 society, what needs to be done to break Britain's destructive poverty/inequality cycle?

It's easy to be pessimistic about the state of our country these days, but as McCormick explains, if the true test of a great country is its capacity for self-renewal, the United States of America stands apart. Our country has continually defeated grave threats and overcome domestic divisions when the odds have been stacked against us. That's the American story, and we can do it again. Drawing on decades of leadership in business, the military, and government, McCormick issues a call for visionary, servant leadership and outlines a conservative agenda for American renewal that would expand access to the American Dream, ensure U.S. technological supremacy, confront China, and revive the restless, courageous, and indefatigable spirit that dwells within the American heart. This book is a must read for those who care deeply about the future of America. McCormick, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, argues the path forward is treacherous and uncertain. It will undoubtedly test our resilience and place in the world. But if we commit ourselves to renewal, America's best days are yet to come.

This book explores the reasons behind the variation in national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it furthers the policy studies scholarship through an examination of the effects of policy styles on national responses to the pandemic. Despite governments being faced with the same threat, significant variation in national responses, frequently of contradictory nature, has been observed. Implications about responses inform a broader class of crises beyond this specific context. The authors argue that trust in government interacts with policy styles resulting in different responses and that the acute turbulence, uncertainty, and urgency of crises complicate the ability of policymakers to make sense of the problem. Finally, the book posits that unless there is high trust between society and the state, a decentralized response will likely be disastrous and concludes that while national responses to crises aim to save lives, they also serve to project political power and protect the status quo. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of public policy, public administration, political science, sociology, public health, and crisis management/disaster management studies.

An urgent account of the state of our oceans today—and what we must do to protect them   The ocean sustains life on our planet, from absorbing carbon to regulating temperatures, and, as we exhaust the resources to be found on land, it is becoming central to the global market. But today we are facing two urgent challenges at sea: massive environmental destruction and spiraling inequality in the ocean economy.   Chris Armstrong reveals how existing governing institutions are failing to respond to the most pressing problems of our time, arguing that we must do better. Armstrong examines these crises—from the fate of people whose lands will be submerged by sea level rise to the exploitation of people working in fishing to the rights of marine animals—and makes the case for a powerful World Ocean Authority capable of tackling them. A Blue New Deal presents a radical manifesto for putting equality, democracy, and sustainability at the heart of ocean politics.

An incisive look at Hmong religion in the United States, where resettled refugees found creative ways to maintain their traditions, even as Christian organizations deputized by the government were granted an outsized influence on the refugees' new lives. Every year, members of the Hmong Christian Church of God in Minneapolis gather for a cherished Thanksgiving celebration. But this Thanksgiving takes place in the spring, in remembrance of the turbulent days in May 1975 when thousands of Laotians were evacuated for resettlement in the United States. For many Hmong, passage to America was also a spiritual crossing. As they found novel approaches to living, they also embraced Christianity-called kev cai tshiab, "the new way"-as a means of navigating their complex spiritual landscapes. Melissa May Borja explores how this religious change happened and what it has meant for Hmong culture. American resettlement policies unintentionally deprived Hmong of the resources necessary for their time-honored rituals, in part because these practices, blending animism, ancestor worship, and shamanism, challenged many Christian-centric definitions of religion. At the same time, because the government delegated much of the resettlement work to Christian organizations, refugees developed close and dependent relationships with Christian groups. Ultimately the Hmong embraced Christianity on their own terms, adjusting to American spiritual life while finding opportunities to preserve their customs. Follow the New Way illustrates America's wavering commitments to pluralism and secularism, offering a much-needed investigation into the public work done by religious institutions with the blessing of the state. But in the creation of a Christian-inflected Hmong American animism we see the resilience of tradition-how it deepens under transformative conditions.

This book, first published in 1999, analyses the history and major economic features of the Vietnamese reform process. The attempt to establish a post-reunification centrally planned economic system, a collectivised agriculture and a capital-intensive and inward-oriented industrial sector had largely failed, provoking the development of a parallel economy which turned out to be the nucleus of an emerging private sector. The book focuses on the reform of enterprises and the financial sector and gives an overall picture of the reform efforts in the areas of rural development, the social sectors and environmental policy, and assesses the further changes and reforms needed in the country.

Inspired by F.A. Hayek's Individualism and Economic Order, this book, edited by Yong Yoon, stands in contrast to the themes of that work by emphasizing that collective action operates differently from the way the market works. The chapters comprise papers written by James M. Buchanan, both with and without Yoon's co-authorship, after the publication of his Collected Works. In this book, the authors analyze political disorder that is caused by individualism and self-interest in democracy, focusing specifically on the American political commons. Buchanan and Yoon expertly examine a variety of topics within this theme: the public choice approach to political disorder, rigorous economic models, the dysfunction of American fiscal institutions, the psychological aspects of political rules, and Fukuyama's vetocracy as a case of anti-commons. Readers will gain many new insights from Individualism and Political Disorder, and it will prove invaluable for academics and students in an array of areas, such as economics, politics, public policy and public administration, social psychology, and law and economics.