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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government
This book brings together the theory and practice of managing public trust. It examines the current state of public trust, including a comprehensive global overview of both the research and practical applications of managing public trust by presenting research from seven countries (Brazil, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey) from three continents. The book is divided into five parts, covering the meaning of trust, types, dimension and the role of trust in management; the organizational challenges in relation to public trust; the impact of social media on the development of public trust; the dynamics of public trust in business; and public trust in different cultural contexts.
The idea of community involvement and empowerment has become central to politics in recent years. Governments, keen to reduce public spending and increase civic involvement, believe active communities are essential for tackling a range of social, economic and political challenges, such as crime, sustainable development and the provision of care. Public Policy in the Community examines the way that community and the ideas associated with it - civil society, social capital, mutuality, networks - have been understood and applied from the 1960s to the present day. Marilyn Taylor examines the issues involved in putting the community at the heart of policy making, and considers the political and social implications of such a practice. Drawing on a wide range of relevant examples from around the world, the book considers the success of existing approaches and the prospects for further developments. Thoroughly updated to reflect advances in research and practice, the new edition of this important text gives a state-of-the-art assessment of the place of community in public policy.
Beginning in 1898, the United States won overseas colonies as the spoils of the Spanish-American War: Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba. Guam and Hawaii were also acquired in that year, and in 1917, the Danish Antilles became the United States Virgin Islands. The racial heritage of the territorial inhabitants paralled that of nonwhite groups in the United States: Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Hispanics, and mixed-race people. The nonwhite race of domestic and overseas colonial people established important links between American domestic racial policies and the racial policies and the racial dimension of American overseas colonies. This book is about these links, as shaped by the prevailing "racial tradition" and social structure in the United States itself. Crucial to examining these links is the little-known role of Booker T. Washington in shaping American overseas colonial policy. It is argued that following colonial acquisition at the turn of the century, the American "racial tradition" was exported to overseas territories, thereby largely determining colonial policy and administrative practices, the nature of social and racial conflict, and the direction and pace of political evolution in the territories.
How Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger pursued their public vow to end the Vietnam War and win the peace has long been entangled in bitter controversy and obscured by political spin. Recent declassifications of archival documents, on both sides of the former Iron and Bamboo Curtains, have at last made it possible to uncover the truth behind Nixon's and Kissinger's management of the war and to better understand the policies and strategies of the Vietnamese, Soviets, and Chinese. Drawing from this treasure trove of formerly secret files, Jeffrey Kimball has excerpted more than 140 print documents and taped White House conversations bearing on Nixon-era strategy. Most of these have never before been published and many provide smoking-gun evidence on such long-standing controversies as the "madman theory" and the "decent-interval" option. They reveal that by 1970 Nixon's and Kissinger's madman and detente strategies had fallen far short of frightening the North Vietnamese into making concessions. By 1971, as Kissinger notes in one Key document, the administration had decided to withdraw the remaining U.S. combat troops while creating "a healthy interval for South Vietnam's fate to unfold." The new evidence uncovers a number of behind-the-scenes ploys--such as Nixon's secret nuclear alert of October 1969--and sheds more light on Nixon's goals in Vietnam and his and Kissinger's strategies of Vietnamization, the "China card," and "triangular diplomacy." The excerpted documents also reveal significant new information about the purposes of the LINEBACKER bombings, Nixon's manipulation of the POW issue, and the conduct of the secret negotiations in Paris--as well as other key topics, events, andissues. All of these are effectively framed by Kimball, whose introductions to each document provide insightful historical context. Building on the ground-breaking arguments of his earlier prize-winning book, "Nixon's Vietnam War, Kimball also offers readers a concise narrative of the evolution of Nixon-era strategy and a critical assessment of historical myths about the war. The story that emerges from both the documents and Kimball's contextual narratives directly contradicts the Nixon-Kissinger version of events. In fact, they did "not pursue a consistent strategy from beginning to end and did "not win a peace with honor.
This book draws on the voices of sex workers and their clients to critically assess the criminalization of prostitution in favour of decriminalization. It does so by contrasting their voices with the claims made by prohibitionists: those advocating the prohibition of prostitution or, at least, the prohibition of the purchase of sexual services, and notes scholarly research that gives context to those accounts and claims. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular issue which is given currency in academic and public debates on sex work. The first part of each chapter reviews the state of research and publicly-aired contentions and the second part compares sex workers' voices with claims from prohibitionists. It highlights the gap between what many sex workers have to say about themselves and what theorizing prohibitionists say about all prostitution. It argues that there is often a striking contrast in attitude, perspective, interpretation and valuation. This books speaks primarily to prohibitionist thinking and sex work stereotyping and, secondarily, to the debate on decriminalization of sex work.
This book discusses egalitarianism in Scandinavian countries through historically oriented and empirically based studies on social and political change. The chapters engage with issues related to social class, political conflict, the emergence of the welfare state, public policy, and conceptualizations of equality. Throughout, the contributors discuss and sometimes challenge existing notions of the social and cultural complexity of Scandinavia. For example, how does egalitarianism in these nations differ from other contemporary manifestations of egalitarianism? Is it meaningful to continue to nurture the idea of Scandinavian exceptionalism in an age of economic crises and globalization? The book also proposes that egalitarianism is not merely a relationship between specific, influential enlightenment ideas and patterns of policy, but an aspect of social organization characterized by specific forms of political tension, mobilization, and conflict resolution-as well as emerging cultural values such as individual autonomy.
This book is based on a comparative study from 2018, of four different approaches to education, according to 2,500 Australians' experiences of them, on a range of topics. It shows that whilst the critical approach has strong research-based support across the board, sometimes a liberal, conservative or post-modern approach may have some merit for certain outcomes. This is a book about challenging our biases and calling on ourselves to aim higher for education, than what our own pre-conceived ideas might allow. What and who is valued in education, and the social roles and identity messages learned, differ wildly from school to school. Education is most impacted by the orientation of education dominant in that context - whether conservative, liberal, critical or post-modern. These terms are often used with little practical data on the real-life schooling they entail. Who learns what in which approach? Who learns best with which approach, on which topic and why? This book provides this previously missing information. It offers holistic, detailed descriptions of conservative, liberal, critical and post-modern approaches to education broadly. It provides statistics and stories from real students on how the four approaches work practically in schools in relation to: age, gender, sexuality, social class, race, news-media, popular culture and technology. Chapters offer background information to the four perspectives, data from student participants, tutorial questions and activities, and suggestions for further reading.
This classic text -- thoroughly revised to take into account the
effects of unification -- explores the relationship between state
policy and social change in modern German history. Particular
emphasis is placed on the Wilhelmine Empire (pre-1918), the Weimar
Republic (1918-1933) and West Germany since 1945.
This collection examines the political themes and strategies utilized by candidate Bush in 1988 and President Bush in 1992, as told by the actual players as well as presidential and political scholars. Also considered are the role of the Vice President, the Cabinet, relations with Congress and the Supreme Court, the presidency and the media, and the role of the First Lady. This volume focuses on the political world inside the Bush White House. Domestic political actors and institutions such as the vice president, chief of staff, Congress, and the Supreme Court all interact to create a president's political world. In George Bush's inaugural speech he spoke of the keys to success, saying these ideas are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment. These themes are seen by many of the writers in the collection as characterizing the political world of George Bush. Equal consideration is given to the political themes and strategies utilized by candidate Bush in 1988 and President Bush in 1992. Also considered are the role of the Vice President, the Cabinet, relations with Congress and the Supreme Court, the presidency and the media, and the role of the First Lady. Essential reading for scholars and other researchers of the Bush presidency and American history of the late 1980s.
This book assesses the global significance of China's decade-long campaign to reduce poverty. After showing how the country's unique approach to poverty alleviation brought about unparalleled progress toward achieving both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the authors shed light on how China's experience can help other countries around the globe as they try to permanently rid humanity of the scourge of poverty under ever more challenging social, economic and environmental conditions.
This collected volume of essays offers glimpses of the future of university education. While universities consider the spirit of theoretical exchange and intellectual pursuit to be a defining trait of their identity, this book argues that this heritage is disappearing under the influence of the short-term demands of societies and markets. Universities used to be sites of dissent, civil courage and societal conscience, but have now instead become little more than pseudo-businesses, rendering them incapable of remaining critical or independent. However, with more people going to university every year, there is a strong resistance to the notion that the university as a collegial and critical institution is dead, among academics as well as the broader public. With contributions from scholars across the world, this edited collection explores the ramifications of marketization on universities, and provides glimpses of what higher education will look like in the future. It will be of great interest to teachers and students in higher education, as well as policy makers and those interested in the current and future state of higher education.
This book studies the emergence of the regulatory state in Europe and its impact on democratic governance in Scandinavia. On the basis of comparative studies on various government structures in Scandinavia and the EU, the author analyses the repercussions of the change from government to dominant non-parliamentary democratic governance. In addition, readers will be introduced to the organizational and institutional changes and developments caused by economic and welfare state reforms. A cutting-edge resource, the book will appeal to students and scholars of political science and political economics, while also offering an engaging read for civil servants and policymakers.
In the six years since the second edition of the bestselling Oryx information guide, "Using Government Information Sources, " was published, a lot has changed in the searching process. Much government information is now found exclusively on the Internet and there are many more print resources available. The new third edition, by Jean L. Sears and Marlyn K. Moody, is the extensively revised edition of this popular and useful title. Designed for beginning as well as experienced researchers, this resource will guide users to the best government information sources both print and electronic. Each chapter is grouped into four search strategy categories: the subject search, the agency search, the statistical search, and special techniques. New to this edition is a chapter on Housing and Construction Statistics.
WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE Paul Kennedy's international bestseller is a sweeping account of five hundred years of fluctuating economic muscle and military might. Kennedy's masterwork begins in the year 1500, at a time of various great centres of power including Minh China, the Ottomans, the rising Mughal state, the nations of Europe. But it was the latter which, through competition, economic growth and better military organisation, came to dominate the globe - until challenged later by Japan, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Now China, boosted by its own economic prowess, rises to the fore. Throughout this brilliant work, Kennedy persuasively demonstrates the interdependence of economic and military power, showing how an imbalance between the two has historically led to spectacular political disaster. Erudite and brilliantly original, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the politics of power.
Through an examination of the relationship between ethics and international coercion, The Sword of Justice compares the actual practice of the United States to the standards established by the just war framework. Historical cases are considered-from nuclear deterrence, conventional war and humanitarian intervention to covert action, economic sanctions and coercive diplomacy-analyzed from the perspective of the just war tradition to provide practical tools to improve the moral content of policy decisions. An enduring feature of the international system is the use or threat of force. The most systematic critique of this practice is found in the just war tradition, begun by Augustine and further elaborated by Aquinas. This book explores the relationship between ethics and international coercion by presenting historical case studies in which the United States has taken such measures to achieve their goals, and by comparing the actual practice of the United States to the standards established by the just war framework. Based on the comparison, a number of concrete recommendations are made about specific measures that could strengthen the moral content of policy decisions, and at the same time meet tests of political feasibility in the American system of government.
Globalization, the return to a multi-party system of government, and the policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank have led to near revolutionary labor relations in Ghana. As Panford shows, these new social and economic forces have unleashed new and even contradictory labor policies and practices which are having profound social, political, and economic consequences. Panford examines how the Ghana Constitution of 1992 led for the first time to new workers' rights, including the right to affiliate with any local, national, or international union. In response to globalization and policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank, the Ghana government sought to resist worker demands for improved working and living conditions. The situation was worsened by the privatization of state-owned businesses and severe cuts in public employment. In this environment of tense labor relations, government hostility, and weak employment, Panford traces the ways workers are revitalizing unions and developing new sources of jobs and finances. These include relatively aggressive systematic organization of women, senior staff, and the informal/agricultural sector. One of the most important initiatives of the unions is the creation of a workers' trust to establish and finance worker-owned enterprises. The evidence presented by Panford indicates the failure of IMF and World Bank policies, and he calls for new and viable policy alternatives with emphasis on enhancing Ghana's global competitiveness and meeting genuine development needs. A thoughtful analysis that will be of interest to scholars and researchers involved with development and international economics, labor relations in the developing worldand the increased involvement of international financial institutions.
This book discusses the socioeconomic effects of Right-to-Work (RTW) laws on state populations. RTW laws forbid requiring union membership even at union-represented worksites. The core of the 22 long-term RTW states was the Confederacy, cultural descendants of rigidly hierarchical agrarian feudal England. RTW laws buttress hierarchy and power imbalance which unions minimize at the worksite and by encouraging higher educational attainment, social mobility, and individual empowerment through group validation. Contrary to claims of RTW proponents, RTW and non-RTW states do not differ significantly in unemployment rates. RTW states have higher poverty rates, lower median household incomes, and lower educational attainment on average and median than non-RTW states. RTW states on average and median have lower life expectancy, higher obesity prevalence, and higher rates of all-cause mortality, early mortality from chronic conditions, child mortality, and risk behaviors than non-RTW states. The higher mortality rates result in startlingly higher annual numbers of years of life lost before age 75. Stroke mortality at age 55-64 in RTW states results in nearly 10,000 years annually lost in excess of what it would be if the mortality rate were that of non-RTW states. A review of respected publications describes the physiological mechanisms and epidemiology of accelerated aging due to socioeconomic stress. Unions challenge hierarchy directly at work-sites and indirectly through encouraging college education, social mobility, and community and political engagement. How startling that feudal hierarchy lives in 21st century America, shaping vast differences between states in macro- and micro-economics, educational attainment, innovation, life expectancy, obesity prevalence, chronic disease mortality, infant and child mortality, risk behaviors, and other public health markers! Readers will gain insight about the coming clash between feudal individualism and adaptive collectivism, and, in the last chapter, on ways to win the clash by "missionary" work for collectivism.
The book examines a new concern in water quality policy, namely aquatic micropollutants. Micropollutants are chemicals detected in small concentrations in waterbodies today, originating from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or detergents, among others. Since the regulation of micropollutants is a fairly new issue, it has been largely neglected in social sciences. However, the search for appropriate solutions is of high political relevance at both the national and international levels, with many open questions arising that concern the most adequate governance structures and steering mechanisms. Solutions suitable for classical, macro-pollutants, such as nutrients, do not necessarily apply to micropollutants because of the diversity of compounds and sources, and for technical, financial, and societal reasons. The book addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the steering mechanisms at hand and their prospect for problem solving. In this regard, the research provides a systematic depiction and comparison of policy designs in place for the reduction of micropollutants in the Rhine basin. Moreover, the study yields insights into the governance structures in place, into actors' responsibilities and constellations, and policy processes regarding micropollutants. The study is furthermore embedded into broader theoretical questions of policy research. More precisely, this research is a contribution to policy analysis that aims to achieve more optimal policy results by providing for a better understanding of the nature of policy designs and the social mechanisms behind the choice of them. Despite the intrinsic aim of policy analysis at contributing to more optimal policy outcomes, there remains a lack of research regarding analytical tools that enable an ex-ante assessment of policy designs' problem-solving abilities. To explore such a research path, this book proposes a novel index of policy comprehensiveness for quantifying the prospective performance of policy designs in alleviating an underlying policy issue, e.g. reducing pollutants in waters. Furthermore, the book uncovers the social mechanisms behind policymaking and turns to the question: In which social settings is it possible to achieve a comprehensive policy design? Compared to purely micro-level explanations, the advantage of the network approach is that it goes beyond the mere aggregation of policy actors' attributes by taking into consideration actors' interdependencies. In order to take the network approach seriously, the study systematically links the structure of a policy network with comprehensive policy designs. Network concepts, such as coalition structure, interconnectedness, and belief similarity, are employed from policy change research here in order to explore the link between structural network characteristics and comprehensive policy design. By studying how network structures affect policy design, the book critically examines the explanatory value of the network approach.
This is the first theoretical book on Chinese Cultural Soft Power. It focuses on the inner logical relations between Chinese cultural soft power and the realization of the China Dream, while also offering detailed explanations of the scope of and essential questions concerning Chinese cultural soft power. The book is divided into six parts, which, taken together, concisely yet thoroughly examine the theoretical roots of soft power and the current status of China's soft power as illustrated in concrete cases. On this basis, the author subsequently draws a cautious overall conclusion on the development of China's soft power.
The demise of the Cold War continues to pose new challenges to the international system. Central to these challenges is the extent of German and Japanese security commitments within their regions and to the global maintenance of peace and stability. It is important to know whether two of the world's acknowledged economic powers will play significant stabilizing roles. If they choose not to, what are the reasons and what can be done to convince them that their military might and political leadership are critical? Certainly in the first decade since the end of the Cold War, Germany and Japan did not fulfill the roles that their allies and many realist scholars expected they would. Haar seeks to explain German and Japanese reticence to assume their anticipated roles. In order to undertake this task she evaluates, various models of foreign policy. In the future, Haar asserts, Japanese and German foreign policy are likely to remain torn, with both practicing a have-it-all-ways policy. If their allies, the United States in particular, continue to insist that they bear more of the burdens of world security, then their foreign policy must be better understood. This is a provocative analysis that will be of particular interest to scholars, researchers, and policy makers involved with German and Japanese foreign policy analysis.
Processes of change, stagnation and development in the countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council are analyzed in this book. The contributors show impact of oil revenues on population change and social development and on redefining the socio-economic role of the state. Oil could open venues for industrialization and development. However, lack of population policies, problems of human resources development, the rather slow change in gender relations and in political systems and heavy spending on militarization, it is argued, could impede development endeavour.
This book explores the discourse of regulatory crisis in the UK and examines why, despite the increasing contestation of the principles underpinning the regulatory state, its institutions and practices continue to be firmly embedded within the governance of the British state. It considers its implications for our understanding of the contemporary nature of the British state, and to the study of regulation which is no longer confined to the domain of low politics, populated by technocrats, but is scrutinised by elected politicians, and the subject of the front pages rather than the financial pages. The author sets the British regulatory tradition in a wider context, both spatially, in terms of the challenges presented by Europeanisation, and temporally, critically analysing the process of crisis construction in the narratives of neoliberalism and participatory democracy in the contemporary era.
A staggering number of post-World War II White House and agency records pertaining to national security are stored in repositories nationwide, but researchers often find it impossible to locate and access these records. This book provides considerable detail on the quantity, nature, and public accessibility of the records at the National Archives, Federal records centers, the agencies themselves, presidential libraries, and smaller repositories. The author also discusses the critical importance of federal records management policies, classification and declassification policies, and the need for improved compliance with these policies. The public has never had a comprehensive guide to assist in identifying, locating, and gaining access to agency and White House national security records. The author tells the reader where national security-related records are located, which ones are accessible to the public, and which ones are not. He also discusses the vital role of federal records management policies in determining the ultimate disposition of records and where the records are stored. In addition, he sets forth the policies governing the classification and declassification of records and the reasons the vast majority of records are still inaccessible to the public. Both beginning and experienced researchers will find this work to be of great assistance. |
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