This book examines how the severe economic downturn following the 2007-2008 financial crisis affected the structural integration and quality of life of urban migrants in Europe and North America. It compares the experiences of migrants from Poland, Romania, Serbia, Pakistan, and Ghana in five similar, secondary global cities of Hamburg (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Chicago (USA), Toronto (Ontario, Canada), and Montreal (Quebec, Canada) over the period of 2000-2015. The work uses statistical analysis to gauge changes in residential segregation and structural integration (such as unemployment, poverty, and social assistance rates). It then provides qualitative analyses of individual city neighborhoods where the target migrant groups have settled, exploring each community's unique evolution and the ambivalent impact that local policy responses have had on their quality of life. With this study, researchers, instructors, students, and policymakers with an interest in migration, urban development, and global cities will be far more knowledgeable of both the potential and limits of policy efforts.

Since the 1970s early exit from work has become a major challenge in modern welfare states. Governments, employers, and unions alike once thought of early retirement as a peaceful solution to the economic problems of mass unemployment and industrial restructuring. Today governments and international organizations advocate the postponement of retirement and an increase in activity among older workers. Comparing the USA, eight European countries, and Japan, this book demonstrates significant cross-national differences in early retirement across countries and over time. The study evaluates the impact of major variations in welfare regimes, production systems, and labor relations. It stresses the importance of the 'pull factor' of extensive welfare state provisions, particularly in Continental Europe; the 'push factor' of labor shedding strategies by firms, particularly in Anglo-American market economies; and the role of employers and worker representatives in negotiating retirement policies, particularly in coordinated market economies. Over the last three decades, early retirement has become a popular social policy and employment practice in the workplace, adding to the fiscal crises and employment problems of today's welfare states. Attempts to reverse early retirement policies have led to major reform debates. Unilateral government policies to cut back on social benefits have not had the expected employment results due to resistance from employers, workers, and their organizations. Successful reforms require the cooperation of both sides. This study provides comprehensive empirical analysis and a balanced approach to studying both the pull and the push factors affecting early exit from work needed to understand the development of early retirement regimes.

This book investigates how political parties from 12 European countries used Facebook to inform, interact with and mobilise voters at the 2019 European Parliament election. Following a joint theoretical framework and method, the results of a content analysis of more than 14,000 Facebook posts are presented. Country specific chapters are followed by analyses of European parties' Facebook campaigning, the spread of populism and the use of Facebook ads by the parties. The final chapter compares all countries showing that campaigns are more strongly shaped by the national than by the European political context. Facebook is used for campaigning as usual; parties inform and persuade but neglect the platform's mobilisation and particularly interactive affordances.

Democracy has provided opportunities for political representation and accountability, but it has also created incentives for creating and maintaining clientelistic networks. Why has clientelism consolidated with the introduction of democracy? Drawing on network analysis, Mobilizing Poor Voters answers this question by describing and explaining the emergence, maintenance, and disappearance of political, partisan, and social networks in Argentina. Combining qualitative and quantitative data gathered during twenty-four months of field research in eight municipalities in Argentina, Mobilizing Poor Voters shows that when party leaders distribute political promotions to party candidates based only on the number of voters they mobilize, party leaders incentivize the use of clientelistic strategies among candidates competing to mobilize voters in poor neighborhoods. The logic of perverse incentives examined in this book explains why candidates who use clientelism succeed in getting elected and re-elected over time, contributing to the consolidation of political machines at the local level.

Why do some developing countries have more efficient health systems and better health outcomes? Contrary to existing theory that posits the superiority of proportional representation (PR) rules on public-goods provision, this book argues that electoral rules function differently given the underlying ethnic structure. In countries with low ethnic salience, PR has the same positive effect as in past theories. In countries with high ethnic salience, the geographic distribution of ethnic groups further matters: where they are intermixed, PR rules are worse for health outcomes; where they are isolated, neither rule is superior. The theory is supported through a combination of careful analysis of electoral reform in individual country cases with numerous well-designed cross-country comparisons. The case studies include Thailand, Mauritius, Malaysia, Botswana, Burma and Indonesia. The theory has broad implications for electoral rule design and suggests a middle ground in the debate between the Consociational and Centripetal schools of thought.

Representation in Congress provides a theory of dyadic policy representation intended to account for when belief sharing, delegate, responsible party, trustee, and 'party elite led' models of representational linkage arise on specific policy issues. The book also presents empirical tests of most of the fundamental predictions for when such alternative models appear, and it presents tests of novel implications of the theory about other aspects of legislative behavior. Some of the latter tests resolve contradictory findings in the relevant, existing literature - such as whether and how electoral marginality affects representation, whether roll call vote extremism affects the re-election of incumbents, and what in fact is the representational behavior of switched seat legislators. All of the empirical tests provide evidence for the theory. Indeed, the full set of empirical tests provides evidence for the causal effects anticipated by the theory and much of the causal process behind those effects.

Paying close attention to its domestic roots, this textbook provides a valuable introduction to the construction and application of US foreign policy in the modern era. Accessibly written and including helpful illustrative material, a glossary and guide to further reading, it is organised around four broad themes: * the ideologies of US foreign policy; * the institutions of US foreign policy making; * the actors who influence and shape the content of US foreign policy; * the policy goals and ideas that motivate US foreign policy. Drawing from analyses of the broader history of US foreign policy throughout the post-Second World War period, the book encourages readers to think about how these ideas, institutions and goals have been at work in the foreign policy of recent presidential administrations, including those of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

This book explores the institution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a policy instrument. It argues that after the Cold War the European Union started challenging the unilateral policies of the United States by promoting new norms and institutions, such as the ICC. This development flies in the face of traditional explanations for cooperation, which would theorize institutionalization as the result of hegemonic preponderance, rational calculations or common identities. The book explains the dynamics behind the emergence of the ICC with a novel theoretical concept of normative binding. Normative binding is a strategy that provides middle powers with the means to tie down the unilateral policies of powerful actors that prefer not to cooperate. The idea is to promote new multilateral norms and deposit them in institutions, which have the potential to become binding even on unilateralist actors, if the majority of states adhere to them.

This book discusses history of mental construction of the border between India and Bangladesh. It investigates how and when a border was constructed between the people, and discusses how the mental construction preceded the physical construction. It also examines the perils faced by those forced to leave their homes as a result of the partition of India in 1947. Globally throughout history, the absence of borders made the movement of people from one place to another easier. The construction of borders and sovereign de-limitation of territory restricted or even prevented seamless migration. The situation becomes more complex near borders that were previously open to the movement of people. One such border is between India and Bangladesh, where, in August 1947, suddenly people were told that the places they used to visit on a daily basis were now a part of a different sovereign country. This book argues that borders construct the identity of an individual or a group. Those who cross to the other side of border, for whatever reason, are identified and categorized by the state and the people. Sometimes these migrants face violence from the locals because they are considered a threat to the local working class. The book also explains how, after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, everyday encounter between people from India and Bangladesh have further embedded a feeling of us versus them. In 2015, India and Bangladesh agreed to implement the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA). This book assesses whether the implementation of this agreement will have impacts on border-related problems like mobility, migration, and tensions. It is a valuable resource for policymakers, journalists, researchers and students.

This book offers a comparative perspective on the new wave of revolutions in the MENA region. Recently, a new wave of revolutions has swept the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, comparable in some respects to the events of the Arab Spring. Revolutionary events have significantly changed the political regimes in Sudan, Algeria and Mali, while Lebanon and Iraq have also witnessed serious revolutionary episodes. Further, a new quality of protests has manifested in Iran, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. Presenting a variety of country studies, this book identifies similarities and differences between the events of the Arab Spring and the current upheavals in the MENA region and examines their causes and world-system context. It also analyzes the motivating forces, goals and organizational forms of the protesters and other actors involved, as well as the political and economic consequences of these revolutionary events. Moreover, it seeks to understand why some countries that were actively involved in the Arab Spring have remained largely unaffected by these developments. The book appeals to scholars of political science with a focus on comparative politics, Middle Eastern politics and political sociology.

This book examines the waves of protest that broke out in the 2010s as the collective actions of self-organized publics. Drawing on theories of publics/counter-publics and developing an analytical framework that allows the comparison of different country cases, this volume explores the transformation from spontaneous demonstrations, driven by civic outrage against injustice to more institutionalized forms of protest. Presenting comparative research and case studies on e.g. the Portuguese Generation in Trouble, the Arab Spring in Northern Africa, or Occupy Wall Street in the USA, the authors explore how protest publics emerge and evolve in very different ways - from creating many small citizen groups focused on particular projects to more articulated political agendas for both state and society. These protest publics have provoked and legitimized concrete socio-political changes, altering the balance of power in specific political spaces, and in some cases generating profound moments of instability that can lead both to revolutions and to peaceful transformations of political institutions. The authors argue that this recent wave of protests is driven by a new type of social actor: self-organized publics. In some cases these protest publics can lead to democratic reform and redistributive policies, while in others they can produce destabilization, ethnic and nationalist populism, and authoritarianism. This book will help readers to better understand how seemingly spontaneous public events and protests evolve into meaningful, well-structured collective action and come to shape political processes in diverse regions of the globe.

This edited volume offers an understanding of how the international community, as a collection of significant actors including major states and intergovernmental institutions, has responded to the important political and social development of the Arab Spring. Contributors analyze the response by international organizations (UN, EU, NATO), big powers (US, Russia, China, UK), regional powers (Turkey, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia) and small powers (Kuwait, Qatar). The book thus makes a sound contribution to the existing literature on the Arab Spring in form of foreign policy analysis and provides an overview of the current shape and outlook of global politics.

While Western modern political thought has been a story of inclusion, it has also been one of continued exclusion and new forms of political oppression and silencing. This is why political theory is so necessary today. Political thought is diverse. From liberal theories laying out ideal democratic institutions, to critical analyses of postcolonial settler states, to conceptual analyses of the nature of freedom, there are very different approaches, topics and aims within the tradition of Western political theory. What binds these diverse forms of thinking together? How do how do they help us to understand political institutions, life, behaviour and events? How do they help us to make decisions in the complex world of politics? This book, significantly revised and reconceptualized, introduces you to the modern discipline of political theory in the Western tradition, tackling its key debates, concepts, problems and traditions: - What is the nature of political concepts? What problems do they pose to thinkers and political actors? - How have modern political thinkers usually approached thinking about politics? How has this been problematized in contemporary debates? - Has modern politics fundamentally ignored economically impoverished groups, women, indigenous peoples, racialized groups and the natural environment? - How have ideas like freedom, equality, sovereignty and the state been conceptualized in the modern tradition? What tensions has this given rise to? Delving into topics as diverse as Maoism, postcolonialism and white supremacy, boxed features give you room to explore and expand in political theorising: -Focusing on the texts: helps you deal with difficult texts and arguments -Tradition: introduces you to major approaches to political theory -Thinker: allows you to understand the contributions of major figures in political thought -Thinking globally: gives insight into how political theory is adapting to global interconnectedness -Beyond the West: makes you reflect on what can be learnt from non-Western approaches. Spanning the development of Western political thought, from Thucydides through to John Rawls and beyond, with a focus on Modern and contemporary debates, this is an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on political thought and political philosophy.

European and American experts systematically compare U.S. and EU strategies to promote democracy around the world -- from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, to Latin America, the former Soviet bloc, and Southeast Asia. In doing so, the authors debunk the pernicious myth that there exists a transatlantic divide over democracy promotion.

Bargaining between states in the international system is governed by rules which shape and constrain their bargaining behavior. However, these rules can be changed. When, why, and how do states bargain differently? Drawing on original qualitative and quantitative evidence, this book demonstrates how the rules of the game influence the cooperative or coercive nature of the strategies adopted by all states in a negotiation. These effects influence each state's incentives regarding whether to play by the rules or to change them. Examining these incentives, as well as the conditions under which states can act on them, McKibben explains the wide variation in states' bargaining strategies. Several bargaining interactions are analyzed, including decision-making in the European Union, multilateral trade negotiations, climate change negotiations, and negotiations over the future status of Kosovo. This book provides a rich understanding of the nuances of states' behavior in international bargaining processes.

This book is about how opinion polls are reported in the media. Opinions polls are not reported in the media as unfiltered numbers, and some opinion polls are not reported at all. This volume demonstrates how opinion polls travel through several stages that eventually turn boring numbers into biased news in the media. The framework offered in this book helps to understand how some polls end up in the news coverage, and which systemic biases abound in the news media reports of opinion polls. In the end, a change narrative will be prominent in the reporting of opinion polls which contributes to what the general public sees and shares. The findings cover journalists, politicians, experts and the public, and how they all share a strong preference for change.

This book provides a comprehensive explanation of human well-being outcomes by analyzing the role of domestic and international political factors. The well-being outcomes under study are the building blocks of development, and play a crucial developmental role in the lives of citizens, states, and the global community. The project introduces cases from Brazil, Japan, China, and Iraq, and proposes to answer some of the pressing questions that scholars and policy-makers alike have pondered over for years. Why are there large disparities between countries in the quality of life people lead? What factors account for the general well-being of mankind? How do we improve human lives?

This major new study examines the nature of Chinese power and its impact on the international order. Drawing on an extensive range of Chinese-language debates and discussions, the book explains the roles of different actors and interests in Chinese international interactions, and how they influence the nature of Chinese strategies for global change. It also gives a unique perspective on how assessments of the consequences of China's rise are formed, and how and why these understandings change. Providing an important challenge to scholars and policy makers who seek to engage with China, the book demonstrates just how far starting assumptions can influence the questions asked, evidence sought and conclusions reached.

This book examines political, social, and economic interactions in highly interconnected areas, stretching from Europe to Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia, labelled as Trans-Europe. The first part of the book focuses on the interests of several leading actors in Trans-Europe. The second part deals with the actions of national actors trying to compete with the EU influence in their shared neighbourhood. The third part studies cross-border issues, such as economic dynamics, migration flows and energy markets in the Trans-European space.

This book analyzes how increases in international trade, finance, and production have altered voter decisions, political party positions, and the types of public issues that parties focus on in postindustrial democracies. Although many studies interrogate whether internationalization matters in regard to policy outcomes and how globalization relates to mass protest, few examine globalization and mass politics more generally. This book argues that by reducing the room in which to maneuver in policy making, globalization reduces the importance of economic-based issues while increasing the electoral importance of non-economic issues. The argument is tested on original and existing data sources.

Too often, scholarship on Anglo-American political relations has focused on mutual social and economic interests between Britain and the United States as the basis for cooperation. Breaking new ground, Anglo-American Relations and the Transmission of Ideas instead explores how ideas, on either side of the Atlantic have mutually influenced each other. In those transnational interactions, there forms a shared tradition of political ideas, facilitating "a common cast of mind" that has served as the basis for transatlantic relations and socio-political values for decades.

***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** BOOK OF THE YEAR IN GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST & NEW STATESMAN 'Excellent and provocative... a passionate, timely book.' Sunday Times 'A fine new book... thoughtful, deeply reported and impeccably even-handed.' The Times Emerging from a collection of city states 150 years ago, no other country has had as turbulent a history as Germany or enjoyed so much prosperity in such a short time frame. Today, as much of the world succumbs to authoritarianism and democracy is undermined from its heart, Germany stands as a bulwark for decency and stability. Mixing personal journey and anecdote with compelling empirical evidence, this is a critical and entertaining exploration of the country many in the West still love to hate. Raising important questions for our post-Brexit landscape, Kampfner asks why, despite its faults, Germany has become a model for others to emulate, while Britain fails to tackle contemporary challenges. Part memoir, part history, part travelogue, Why the Germans Do It Better is a rich and witty portrait of an eternally fascinating country.

This book explores new forms of popular organisation that emerged from strikes in India and Brazil between 2011 and 2014. Based on four case studies, the author traces the alliances and relations that strikers developed during their mobilisations with other popular actors such as students, indigenous peoples, and people displaced by dam projects. The study locates the mass strikes in Brazil's construction industry and India's automobile industry in a global conjuncture of protest movements, and develops a new theory of strikes that can take account of the manifold ways in which labour unrest is embedded in local communities and regional networks. "Joerg Nowak has written an ambitious, wide-ranging and very important book. Based on extensive empirical research in Brazil and India and a thorough analysis of the secondary literature, Nowak reveals that numerous labour conflicts develop in the absence of trade unions, but with the support of kinship networks, local communities, social movements and other types of associations. This impressive work may well become a major building block for a new interpretation of global workers' struggles." -Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands "Nowak's book meticulously details the trajectory of strikes and its resultant new forms of organisations in India and Brazil. The central focus of this analytically rich and thought provoking book is to search for a new political alternative model of organising workers. A very good deed indeed!" -Nandita Mondal, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India "Joerg Nowak analyses with critical sense forms of popular organization that often remain invisible. It is an indispensable book for all those who are looking for more effective analytical resources to better understand the present situation and the future promises of the workers' movements." -Roberto Veras de Oliveira, Federal University of Paraiba, Brazil "In this timely and important study, Nowak convincingly challenges the dominant Eurocentric approach to labour conflict and calls for a new theory of strikes. He stresses the need to engage in a wider perspective that includes social reproduction, neighbourhood mobilisations, and the specific traditions of struggles in the Global South." -Edward Webster, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa