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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government
International migration has become a major domestic political issue in many countries and a major topic of international debate. Thus far, most of the attention has centered on the plight of refugees or on ways to curb the flow of illegal immigrants. As more and more migrants cross interstate boundaries, however, governments are realizing that immigration and asylum problems cannot be separated from broader socio-economic and political issues; nor can they be resolved by countries acting unilaterally. Even with this understanding, attempts to develop multilateral strategies to ease international tensions arising from uncontrolled migration will be complicated by economic disparities, regional political tensions, and mounting population and ecological pressures. Internal migration, particularly in terms of forced resettlement and urbanization, also gives rise to a myriad of problems relating to aspects of security. The increase in other major population movements, such as tourism and business travel, also has implications for security. Until recently, the question "what is security?" was rarely asked in the context of these developments. This was because there was a perceived consensus on what the nature of security was. The nature of security was held to mean national, political, and military security. Thus security was virtually synonymous with "defense." The theoretical claim of this volume is that these developments are necessitating a redefinition of security. This volume provides major theoretical analyses of these trends as well as in-depth case studies that explore specific developments of major concern to scholars and other researchers involved with international relations, migration, and development issues.
No modern U.S. president inherited a stronger, safer international position than Bill Clinton. In 1992, the Cold War was over, and the nation was at peace and focused on domestic issues. Despite this temporary tranquility, Clinton would soon be faced with a barrage of crises, including flare-ups of unrest in the Middle East, ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia, uneasy relations with Japan and China, persistent trouble in the Persian Gulf, the dissolution of the USSR, and disastrous situations in Somalia and Haiti. In this comprehensive and balanced examination of Clinton's foreign policy--the first such book to cover all the global focal points of his administration to date--William G. Hyland brilliantly shows the effects of combining this confusion with Clinton's unique personality characteristics. His first term was marked, in the author's analysis, by murky policy, unrealistic goals, and the mishandling of several crises. By the end of that term he learned some hard lessons, was able to alter his pattern of response, and reversed himself on some major aspects of foreign policy--all to benefit, in the author's view, the country and the world as a whole.
Shinoda provides an analytical framework for examining the role of the prime minister in Japan's political decision making. He shows that two dimensions of fraction within the government and the ruling party--interagency rivalry and intraparty factions--confront the prime minister whenever a major policy issue needs to be resolved. Despite these obstacles, Shinoda shows that the prime minister can be effective. First, Shinoda identifies the sources of power available to Japanese prime ministers--some from legal authorities and others from informal sources. Because prime ministers must rely on informal sources of power to effectively utilize institutional sources of power, their effectiveness varies depending on their background, experience, political skills, and personality. Shinoda identifies six major informal sources of power: power base within the ruling party, control over the bureaucracy, ties with the opposition parties, public support, business support, and international reputation. The national leader's leadership style can be defined depending on which sources of power they utilize in the policy process. He presents both successful and unsuccessful case studies--Hashimoto's administrative reform, Takeshita's tax reform, and Nakasone's administrative reform-- illustrate how different prime ministers have succeeded or failed in applying their political resources. After examining these three case studies, Shinoda uncovers four types of leadership among Japanese prime ministers. A major analytical resource for scholars and students of Japanese politics and political economy and comparative politics.
It seems that only a short time ago, numerous academics and practitioners in the field were somewhat blinded by the successes of the dot-com developments in the private sector, and some of them enthusiastically claimed that public administration was to be revolutionized. But that did not happen, and also the dot-com soap bubble burst. This suggests that there is much yet to be learned about innovation in public administration, especially about innovations at the cornerstones of technological and institutional transformations. New and more fully developed formulations of theory into practice are needed. The goal of the editors of this book is to contribute to some aspects of the understanding of e-government. In order to understand electronic government, one has to scrutinize the various environments and contexts in which e-government is developed and implemented. As such, it builds upon the biological and environmental lines of reasoning that have been suggested by authors like Bonnie Nardi and Vicky O'Day, and Thomas Davenport and Laurence Prusak.
This volume addresses renewable energy communities, and in particular renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops), in the context of the revised EU Renewables Directive. It provides a comprehensive account of the history and development of the renewable energy community movement in over six different countries of continental Europe. It addresses their visions, strategy, organisation, agency, and more particularly the challenges they encounter. This is of particular importance to gain more understanding into how renewable energy communities fare in domestic energy markets where they are confronted with regime institutions, structures and incumbents' agency that tend to favour maintaining of the status quo while blocking attempts to empower and institutionalise renewable energy communities as market entrants having a disruptive, radical green and localist agenda. This volume will be an invaluable reference for academics and practitioners with an interest in social innovation in sustainable transitions, the role of community energy in energy markets, their agency, as well as an outlook to the impact that the EU Renewables Directive may have to change national legislation and policy frameworks to create a level playing field that is essentially more fair and beneficial to renewable energy communities.
The second edition of this acclaimed book offers a critical analysis of the transition from institutional to community care for people with mental health problems. Despite the almost complete abandonment of the old Victorian asylum system, the powerful cultural legacy of segregation remains potent in modern thought. Rogers and Pilgrim analyse the impact of new policies introduced by the Labour government since it came to power in 1997, identifying both the processes and causes of policy change and assessing its value in the context of longer term debates about madness and distress.
In the mid-1980s Mikhail Gorbachev's political and economic reforms promised a relaxation of tensions between the U.S.S.R. and the United States without disturbing the basic balance of power in Europe established after the Second World War. Then came the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the vast democratic revolution that swept the Soviet empire, creating a power vacuum east of Berlin. Could such an upheaval have been a natural and logical extension of the course of reform that Gorbachev began plotting in 1985? Gorbachev's Revolution argues persuasively that the end of Communism was never the goal of the Soviet leader but rather the unintended result of an intense and many-faceted struggle for power. Anthony D'Agostino demonstrates that the pervasive image of stable in-system reform in fact ignored evidence from history. Succession struggles in the U.S.S.R. were generally wars of ideas in which the victors got their way by challenging their opponents' interpretations of the past. Through political memoirs, newspaper accounts, and historical documents, Gorbachev's Revolution demonstrates once again that revolutionaries change the world not only according to their own designs but also according to the world's designs on them.
This book examines childhood in four Caribbean SIDS (Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti and St. Lucia). Through the analysis of primary and secondary data, the author reveals that children in Caribbean SIDS experience an endangered childhood. The intrinsic characteristics of SIDs, including susceptibility to climate change, and high levels of poverty, indebtedness and inequality, Henry-Lee argues, increase the vulnerability of children. Furthermore, duty bearers are not adequately investing in children, private and public spaces are not child-friendly, and children's rights are violated daily. Endangered and Transformative Childhood in Caribbean Small Island Developing States shows that children are therefore at risk of being left behind in the fulfilment of the UN2030 Agenda and that the Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) lacks enforceable sanctions. Unless a radical transformation of childhood takes place, the prosperity and viability of Caribbean SIDS will remain elusive for generations to come. Students, scholars and policy-makers with an interest in childhood studies, children's rights, and social policy will find this book a valuable read.
The book reveals how the 'social value of art' may have one meaning for a policy maker, another for a museum and still yet another for an artist - and it is therefore in the interaction between these agents that we learn the most about the importance of rhetoric and interpretation. As a trajectory in art history, socially engaged art has a long and established history. However, in recent years-or since 'the social turn' that occurred in the 1990s-the rhetoric surrounding the social value of art has been assimilated by cultural policy makers and museums. Interdisciplinary in its approach, and bringing together contributions from artists, curators and academics, the volume explores rhetoric, social value and the arts within different social, political and cultural contexts.
Is the world entering a period of breakdown or breakthrough? As Suter makes clear, globalization is reducing the role of national governments, but it is not yet clear what will follow the current world order. He explains the process of globalization and uses the technique of scenario planning to examine alternative forms of global order and disorder. The current world order is ending. The old order has been based on nation-states, or countries, with centralized national governments. As Keith Suter makes clear, the process of globalization, which is now the most important factor in world politics, is undermining that world order and leading to world disorder. Globalization is the process of the erosion of the nation-state as the basic unit of world politics, the declining power of national governments, and the reduced significance of national boundaries. Global change is running ahead of governments' abilities to manage it. Economics is only a part of that process. Suter also deals with other vital concerns: war, crime, environment, and health. Therefore, while Suter examines the growth and impact of transnational corporations, he also takes in many other matters that comprise globalization. The process of globalization is not reversible. Therefore, there has to be a search for a new order rather than vain efforts to patch up the system of the nation-states. Suter concludes by exploring alternatives to the current world order using the technique of scenario planning. A provocative analysis that will be of interest to scholars, students, researchers, and the general public concerned with international relations, law, and economic issues.
Part of ABC-CLIO's groundbreaking About State Government set, this volume is the first comprehensive resource to focus exclusively on judicial politics at the state level, covering all 50 states and demonstrating the profound influence state courts have on American life. The Judicial Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics reveals the workings of a network of courts that generate tremendous legal activity and yet have not previously been the focus of a comprehensive, in-depth reference. Beginning with the origins of American law, this volume examines the many different types of state court cases, legal decision-making processes, court administration procedures and personnel, and political issues such as judicial selection and funding. A concluding section summarizes the structure and mechanisms of the court systems of each of the 50 states. Filling a major reference need, the titles in ABC-CLIO's About State Government set offer comprehensive coverage of contemporary American politics at the state level. Each of the three volumes focuses on a specific governmental branch, providing both general information and comparative details of how that branch operates in each state. Written by scholars in the study of law and politics-all experts on the structure, function, and societal impact of state courts Provides numerous tables and graphs to help readers comprehend the complexities of each state's court system
This book explores policy, legal, and practice implications regarding the emerging field of disaster justice, using case studies of floods, bushfires, heatwaves, and earthquakes in Australia and Southern and South-east Asia. It reveals geographic locational and social disadvantage and structural inequities that lead to increased risk and vulnerability to disaster, and which impact ability to recover post-disaster. Written by multidisciplinary disaster researchers, the book addresses all stages of the disaster management cycle, demonstrating or recommending just approaches to preparation, response and recovery. It notably reveals how procedural, distributional and interactional aspects of justice enhance resilience, and offers a cutting edge analysis of disaster justice for managers, policy makers, researchers in justice, climate change or emergency management.
The development of the policy analysis field has had at least two quite different trajectories. One started in the US, emphasizing the policy formulation stage, while the other developed largely in Europe, highlighting the implementation process. This volume indicates how the two paths have intersected. The thirteen chapters offer new insights to both groups and draw on a broad span of literatures to explore this topic, with contributions from nearly forty individuals across the globe. Its discussion of tools of policy formulation, as well as the analysis of actors, capacities, venues and effects, sets the structure for a future agenda.' - Beryl Radin, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, US'In this important collection, Andrew Jordan and John Turnpenny have thrown new light on an important and neglected topic: the tools needed to make more effective policies. Policymakers themselves have become ever more engaged in using these new analytical techniques and the service that this book performs is to foster a better understanding of them, showing the role of the broader political environment. The editors and contributing authors to this well-written and engaging book really have done an excellent job.' - Peter John, University College London, UK Policy analysts are accustomed to thinking in terms of tools and instruments. Yet an authoritative examination of the tools which have been developed to formulate new policies is missing. This book is the first of its kind to distinguish the defining characteristics of the main policy formulation tools, and offer a fresh way of understanding how, why and by whom they are selected, as well as the effects they produce in practice. The editors bring together thirteen specially commissioned chapters that, for the first time, explore the tools and their features in a comparable fashion, including: scenarios, indicators, computerized models, cost-benefit and multi-criteria analysis. They develop a novel analytical framework for understanding the form and function of the main tools, which encompasses definitions of key terms, a typology and relevant theoretical explanations. This book will appeal to postgraduate students, scholars and researchers of policy analysis, public policy, decision making and public management. It will also encourage developers and practitioners of policy formulation tools to reflect critically on their work. Contributors: C. Adelle, G. Atkinson, S. Bartke, D. Benson, C. Boswell, T. Bournaris, D. Christopherson, E. Cuppen, B. Evans, C. Fleming, C.D. Gamper, M. Hisschemoller, M. Howlett, A.J. Jordan, P. Kautto, H. Kuittinen, L.E. Larsen, M. Lehtonen, R. Maas, W. Mcdowall, A. Migone, C. Moulogianni, M. Perez-Soba, T. Rayner, E. Rodrigues, S.-R. Saarela, G. Spinardi, B. Sterk, S.L. Tan, P.Taylor, C. Turcanu, J. Turnpenny, P. Upham, M. Van Ittersum, S. Warghade, S. Weiland, A. Wellstead, S. Yearley
A comprehensive assessment of how economic policy is made in Britain at the start of the 21st century and of how the content of taxation, spending, monetary and regulatory policy has evolved since 1945. All of this is set in the context of the impact of globalization and the European Union on the autonomy of domestic policy and an assessment of the debates about British economic performance and British decline.
The book investigates the relationship between ecosystem services (ES) and spatial planning, and explores potential means of integrating the two concepts to support the decision-making process. In addition, it presents case studies demonstrating the outcomes, limitations, opportunities and further new developments in ES assessment/mapping for planning support. Then it describes the "Restart from Ecosystem Services" (RES) methodology, which is aimed at integrating ES into the planning process using an ecological balance, and at promoting new planning parameters for the transformation areas. RES ensures the inclusion of ES in planning processes using the incremental measures of limiting, mitigating and compensating soil sealing and land take process promoting operational strategies in applying it. The implementation of RES is associated with strategic environmental assessment and provides valuable support in the definition of strategies across the entire planning process, especially for the evaluation of alternative scenarios.
Gibbs and Bankhead examine the history and current situation in California as it struggles to deal with the ethnic and racial change that will make it the first American state to have a non-white majority in the first decade of the 21st century. From shock and denial, to bargaining to change the outcome, they analyze the impact in California and what this may mean for the rest of the country. They begin by tracing the major historical, social, economic and political events of the past 50 years that laid the foundation for the impetus of such ethnically and racially divisive initiatives as the efforts to strengthen anti-crime measures, remove illegal immigrants, limit affirmative action measures, and eliminate bilingual education. Each of these ballot propositions is examined, detailing the pro and con arguments of their advocates and opponents, their major financial contributors, campaign strategies, ethnic voting patterns, implications of implementation, and their impact on people of color. Gibbs and Bankhead then look at parallels from a national and international perspective. They conclude with a discussion of the values that should guide public policy debates in a multiethnic, multicultural society, and they propose specific policy alternatives to address the issues of crime prevention and control, illegal immigration, affirmative action, and bilingual education. A thoughtful analysis that will be of value to concerned citizens as well as policy makers, scholars, and students of contemporary American issues.
Good governance, that is, effective government based on non-arbitrary decision-making, is central to a country's successful development or transition to a market-oriented economy. This Manual explores the critical relationship between law making and development. It aims to equip legislative drafters with the conceptual tools and specific techniques they need to draft laws likely to bring about the institutional transformation necessary for good governance. Designed as a practical aid for practitioners in the developing and transitional worlds, this work demonstrates how, within constitutional and other limits, a drafter should structure a bill, provides instruction in drafting amendments and subordinate legislation, and describes the skills required to write the clear, unambiguous and readily-interpreted provisions required to achieve a bill's policy objectives. It provides a model for a research report that, based on facts and logic, will justify the bill's detailed provisions and demonstrate that the responsible agency will implement them effectively. The final section focuses on drafting laws to facilitate government decision-making in accordance with the rule of law. In particular, it suggests devices for drafting defensively against corruption, thus providing the legislative environment essential for successful transition and development.
Recognizing that the quality of governance is a crucial factor in the overall development of a country, experts on government ethics and law enforcement examine the principles that need to be applied to create more effective and efficient governments. While focusing on the approaches adopted by the City of New York, case studies from around the world are also given. As the essays make clear, it is difficult to over estimate the importance of authorities to set proper ethical standards and regulations while operating on the basis of transparency, predictability, and accountability. An important resource for scholars, researchers, and policy makers involved with public administration issues.
Mr. Beat Connects the Supreme Court History Right to You!Mr. Beat’s The Power of Our Supreme Court is the Supreme Court book of decisions that affect the everyday lives of Americans everywhere. The real democracy of America unveiled. What does the supreme court do? Sure, people care when the court makes a big ruling, but most don’t pay attention to the court’s day-to-day decisions. In this law book, Mr. Beat takes you on a journey through our Supreme Court system, what it is, who is in it and how they got to be there while foreshadowing how it shapes our very future. A tour of the most influential cases in history. Inspired by Mr. Beat’s court series, The Power of Our Supreme Court walks through many Supreme Court history cases from landmark cases to the more obscure. Matt Beat explains how each case affects us to this day in a way that is engaging, applicable, and easy to understand, even for beginners. Inside, you’ll find: Detailed explanations of the Supreme Court, how it works, and how it affects you A Supreme Court cases book perfect for anyone interested in social science, political science, activism, or law Interesting visuals, charts, and graphs to help contextualize and breakdown the historical significance of big and small cases If you like courtroom books, legal books for lawyers, or books on politics for beginners like How Civil Wars Start, The Color of Law, or The Flip Side of History, you’ll love Mr. Beat’s The Power of Our Supreme Court.
Over the last decade, socially responsible investments (SRIs) have become paramount to both professionals and academics. In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-8, practitioners have become much more involved in new financial models that integrate returns and positive social and environmental impacts. The authors argue that previous irresponsible financial models are anachronistic, and propose a new relationship between stakeholder and shareholder. Starting from the mainstreaming of SRI, this book recovers the social function of banks and the innovative role of crowdfunding and venture capital models. The book offers a unified perspective for firm and funder, making it a timely and invaluable read for scholars and practitioners interested in sustainable development and social impact finance.
This book is open access under a CC BY license. This book explores if and how Russian policies towards the Far East region of the country - and East Asia more broadly - have changed since the onset of the Ukraine crisis and Russia's annexation of Crimea. Following the 2014 annexation and the subsequent enactment of a sanctions regime against the country, the Kremlin has emphasized the eastern vector in its external relations. But to what extent has Russia's 'pivot to the East' intensified or changed in nature - domestically and internationally - since the onset of the current crisis in relations with the West? Rather than taking the declared 'pivot' as a fact and exploring the consequences of it, the contributors to this volume explore whether a pivot has indeed happened or if what we see today is the continuation of longer-duration trends, concerns and ambitions.
This study of Cold War politics explores the attitudes of William Stuart Symington, a consummate Cold Warrior and Democratic senator from Missouri. The book focuses on his transition from being an avid supporter of the military and the CIA to his dovish position on the Vietnam War, as he questioned all foreign commitments, as well as military and CIA budgets. His ideas influenced presidential administrations ranging from Truman's to Nixon's. He exposed covert activity associated with the Vietnam War and worked to restore the constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Symington held several appointive positions within the Truman administration where he was instrumental in the unification of the armed services: he served as the first Secretary of the Air Force, a post responsible for the conduct of the Berlin Blockade. As a senator, he was a strong voice for the military, and he openly criticized President Eisenhower for his defense policies and meager budgets. A vociferous advocate of the big bomber and ICBMs, he helped establish the missile gap myth, providing the Democratic Party with a key issue in the 1960 presidential race. This well-documented study highlights the importance of and the interplay among significant personalities, circumstances, and public policy at a key point in our nation's history. |
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