Using a mix of quantitative methods and case study research, this book critically assesses the impact of party governments in different institutional settings on welfare state generosity and labour market reforms. Its key findings contradict earlier established views on the impact of leftist governments on welfare state policies. Specifically, left-wing governments are pursuing clientelistic policies when facing high institutional constraints and austerity and turn out to cater towards the core workforce rather than designing policies for the full range of labour market participants.

Modern Germany explores life, society, and history in this comprehensive thematic encyclopedia, spanning such topics as geography, pop culture, the media, and gender. Germany and its capital, Berlin, were the fulcrum of geopolitics in the twentieth century. After the Second World War, Germany was a divided nation. Many German citizens were born and educated and continued to work in eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic). This title in the Understanding Modern Nations series seeks to explain contemporary life and traditional culture through thematic encyclopedic entries. Themes in the book cover geography; history; politics and government; economy; religion and thought; social classes and ethnicity; gender, marriage, and sexuality; education; language; etiquette; literature and drama; art and architecture; music and dance; food; leisure and sports; and media and pop culture. Within each theme, short topical entries cover a wide array of key concepts and ideas, from LGBTQ issues in Germany to linguistic dialects to the ever-famous Oktoberfest. Geared specifically toward high school and undergraduate German students, readers interested in history and travel will find this book accessible and engaging. Provides examples of how the post-war division of Germany continues to play a role in German society Discusses German politics as well as the nation's role in the European Union Contains contemporary, first-person accounts of everyday life in Germany in a "Day in the Life" appendix Illuminates the text through photos that illustrate key topics Provides fun facts and anecdotal information in sidebars, helping to engage readers

This collection is the multifaceted result of an effort to learn from those who have been educated in an American law school and who then returned to their home countries to apply the lessons of that experience in nations experiencing social, economic, governmental, and legal transition. Written by an international group of scholars and practitioners, this work provides a unique insight into the ways in which legal education impacts the legal system in the recipient's home country, addressing such topics as efforts to influence the current style of legal education in a country and the resistance faced from entrenched senior faculty and the use of U.S. legal education methods in government and private legal practice. This book will be of significant interest not only to legal educators in the United States and internationally, and to administrators of legal education policy and reform, but also to scholars seeking a more in-depth understanding of the connections between legal education and socio-political change.

This collection of articles takes a long look at the dynamics of regionalism in Eastern Asia and shows how although the past limits the future, its hold on our possibilities for peaceful coexistence is not as strong as we think. What makes this volume unique is that Taiwanese scholars are brought together with Malaysian scholars to discuss a subject that is vital to the future of both East and Southeast Asians. Japan's diplomatic history as well as the heritage of its conquest of Eastern Asia is examined alongside China's cultural geography, paradigmatic dynamics, and intra-regional economics. Ties between East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the influence of American military power and European integration are also thoroughly dealt with. The end result is that the reader is offered multidisciplinary perspectives on present and future regional trends.

Reissued with a new introduction by the author, The Paraguayan War is an engrossing and comprehensive account of the origins and early campaigns of the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America. One of the first significant investigations of the Paraguayan War available in English, it investigates the complexities of South American nationalism, military development, and political intrigue.A 2003 CHOICE Academic Title of the Year, The Paraguayan War sets the stage for The Road to Armageddon, Thomas L. Whigham's exploration of the effects of this devastating conflict on individuals, Paraguayan society, and the continent as a whole. Together, these books fill an important gap in our understanding of Latin American history.

East Germans had passed their threshold of frustration about the gloom, restraint, and shortages in their country, and they had tired of looking at the television pictures of the thriving countryside and material plenty beyond their borders. East Germans demonstrated peacefully until--almost unexpectedly-the Berlin Wall burst open and they crossed the moat. From the other side, West Germans rushed to greet them with an enthusiastic, euphoric, unifying embrace. After the unification of East and West Germany had been accomplished, the differences between the two Germanies confronted the citizens.

In the year 2000, the two Germanies will have been joined under one political umbrella for a decade. In their own words, members of three generations of West and East Germans, from all walks of life, present their personal perceptions and their perspectives on the decade. Antecedents and sequelae to unification, East-West relations, adjustment and adaptation, conditions and expectations at work, women in the society, youth, and current political attitudes are examined. East and West German interviewees weave many themes around a given topic. Kahn's commentary and explication provide a sociopsychological frame for this important piece of oral history. Lay readers interested in the human side of current events and those who are curious about the effects of rapid cultural change will find the work fascinating, as will scholars, students, and researchers of modern Germany.

Did the election of Barack Obama to be President of the United States signal real progress in bridging America's longstanding racial divide? In this profound study of systemic racism, Molefi Kete Asante, one of our leading scholars of African American history and culture, discusses the greatest source of frustration and anger among African Americans in recent decades: what he calls "the wall of ignorance" that attempts to hide the long history of racial injustice from public consciousness. This is most evident in each race's differing perspectives on racial matters. Though most whites view racism as a thing of the past, a social problem largely solved by the civil rights movement, blacks continue to experience racism in many areas of social life: encounters with the police; the practice of red lining in housing; difficulties in getting bank loans, mortgages, and insurance policies; and glaring disparities in health care, educational opportunities, unemployment levels, and incarceration rates. Though such problems are not expressions of the overt racism of legal segregation and lynch mobs--what most whites probably think of when they hear the word "racism"--their negative effect on black Americans is almost as pernicious. Such daily experiences create a lingering feeling of resentment that percolates in a slow boil till some event triggers an outburst of rage.
Asante argues that America cannot long continue as a cohesive society under these conditions. As we embark upon new leadership under America's first African American president, he urges more public focus on redressing the wrongs of the past and their continuing legacy. Above all, he thinks that Americans must seriously consider some system of reparations to deal with both past and present injustices, an apology, and our own truth-and-reconciliation committee that addresses both the history of slavery and present-day racism. Only in this way, he feels, can we ever hope to heal the racial divide that never seems to be erased. This is a powerful, deeply perceptive analysis of a crucial social problem by one of America's leading thinkers on race.

C.J. Edmonds published articles in orientalist journals and co-authored with Taufiq Wahby " A Kurdish-English dictionary" (Oxford, 1966). He published his memoirs of Iraq, Kurds, Turks, and Arabs: politics, travel and research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925 (London - New York, 1957), but his Persian memoirs remained unpublished. It tells how, after studying oriental languages in Cambridge, he became Consular Officer in Bushire, participated in British campaigns in Mesopotamia during First World War. As a Political Officer in Luristan Edmonds was in charge of the oil fields security and was sent to Northern Persia after the war, a direct witness of the Jangal upheaval and the 1921 coup d Etat.

This volume focuses on the manner in which declining citizen involvement affects two key elements of democratic government, elections and political parties. It examines the reasons underlying citizen withdrawal and explores and assesses innovative approaches on both sides of the Atlantic to try to counter these phenomena.

While most people know that Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous book Uncle Tom's Cabin spurred on abolotionist sentiments in the North, not many are aware of the vast abolitionist literature of children's books, poems, short stories, and essays. Many of these volumes were not written by seasoned authors, but by women whose primary roles were as mothers who functioned as domestic abolitionists, and have been lost to the ages. Here, De Rosa recovers a collection of these writings, illustrating the domestic abolitionists' efforts While most people know that Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous book Uncle Tom's Cabin spurred on abolitionist sentiments in the North, not many are aware of the fast abolitionist literature of children's books, poems, short stories, and essays. Many of these volumes were written by domestic women, not seasoned authors, and have been lost to the ages. Here, De Rosa recovers a collection of these writings, illustrating the domestic abolitionists' efforts when cultural imperatives demanded women's silence. These women asserted their anti-slavery sentiments through the voices of victims (slave children and mothers), white mother-historians, and abolitionist children in juvenile literature, one of the few genres available to female authors of the period. This collection restores the voices of these little known authors and shows how their voices helped to influence children and adults of the period. For women struggling to find a voice in the abolitionist movement while maintaining the codes of gender and respectability, writing children's literature was an acceptable strategy to counteract the opposition. By seizing the opportunity to write abolitionist juvenile literature, domestic abolitionists maintained their identities as exemplary mother-educators, preserved their claims to femininity,and simultaneously entered the public arena. By adapting literary strategies popular in nineteenth-century juvenile narratives, domestic novels, and slave narratives to document slavery's violation of religious, economic, and political principles, these women spoke out against and institution that stood in marked contrast to the beliefs they held so dear. This anthology aims to fill the important gap in our understanding of women's literary productions about race and gender and illustrates the limitations of a canon that excludes such voices.

Culture and Customs of Korea is an excellent introduction to the Korean people and their religion, arts and literature, daily life, and customs. It presents the most important experiences that have shaped life in both North and South Korea today. These include the migration of the people from farms in the countryside to crowded city apartments, the effects of rapid industrialization, and the continuing trauma of the country's division. Accessible and highly authoritative, Culture and Customs of Korea will be the ultimate source for students and other interested readers to learn about an important Asian society and the homeland of the many Korean Americans. For centuries, although strongly influenced by the Chinese, Koreans have maintained a unique civilization with their own language, social organization, food, national costume, political institutions, and customs. The disruptions of the 20th century have included a long and difficult period of foreign rule and a devastating civil war. However, Koreans continue to prize their traditional culture, and the younger generations have embraced "Koreanness" with a determination to assert Korea's place in the world. Culture and Customs of Korea artfully depicts the past and present in North and South Korea with chapters on the story of the Korean people, thought and religion, arts and literature, performing arts, daily life and folkways, life in a Korean village, life in urban Korean, and gender, marriage, and the lives of Korean women. A chronology and glossary supplement the text.

Years after 9/11, the Global War on Terror is still not over. The deepening crisis in Iraq has been accompanied by rising violence in Asia, as the bombings in Indonesia show. The 18 specialists and policymakers who have contributed to this book assess how the security scenario in the Asia Pacific has changed in response to these events. The Asia Pacific is rent by communal conflicts that have generated local jihads, which fuel regional and global jihads. This book assesses state responses to terrorism, paying attention to neglected factors such as money laundering, the emerging role of the EU, the growing fear of the US and increasing concern about the way anti-terrorist legislation curtails civil liberties. With the benefit of extensive fieldwork and access to unique sources in many languages, the contributors analyze key features of the local security scenarios. Pakistan's precarious situation is explored here from many angles, including Islamic militancy, the role of the military and the peace process with India. Again, domestic failures support regional and global terror. Regional anti-terrorist collaboration is also hampered by South-east Asia's counter-terrorism dilemmas, setbacks in the Philippine-US security relationship, the Asian arms race, and growing fears of the US National Missile Defence system and how this system will be perceived by China. The history of state sponsored terrorism and millenarian ideology are crucial to these regional scenarios. The latter, in the particular form of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo movement, reminds us that militant Islamists are not uniquely destructive. An important addition to the literature on terrorism and security, this in-depth and comprehensive analysis of a complex and increasingly unstable region will be welcomed by political scientists, scholars, policymakers, and those seeking a better understanding of whether the Global War on Terror has changed the security architecture of the Asia Pacific in a positive way.

Among all the authors on the Hezbollah, you are the deepest and most complex one. I am enjoying reading you a lot and find that finally, serious and long-lasting academic work is being done on the party. Victoria Fontan Associate Professor, University for Peace. Hizbullah's identity construction is an intelligent contribution to the academic debate on the dynamics of change in the political identity of Islamist movements; a process which is far from being concluded. Alagha's reliance on a robust empirical basis and his analysis also of the most recent events make this study a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. Filippo Dionigi London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. International Affairs 87.5 (September 2011): 1262-1264. Alagha offers a nuanced and sophisticated look at how Hizbullah's ideology and political tactics have evolved. His work sheds light on an important, but to Western audiences mysterious and opaque, political force in Lebanon. Daniel Byman Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies and Professor at the School of Foreign Service.

Read Chapter One.

"a]it will alter - or perhaps confirm - your thinking about 'public religion' and how traditional and immigrant congregations address (or don't) member and community needs and attitudes and actions towardslarger social issuesa]an obvious choice for religious andcongregational studies and urban sociology programs. It is alsovaluable reading for any cleric or layperson interested in howcontemporary urban religious collectives are shaped by and help shape the lives of their own members, surrounding communities, and the larger society."
"--Congregations"

"Rich in cultural analysis, thick description, maps, photographs, and anecdotes, this book should be read by scholars, policy makers, religious leaders, and anyone who wishes to better understand one of the most exciting stories on the American urban landscape at the turn of a new century."
"--Robert Michael Franklin, President, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia"

"This book presents the initial results of a team-based ethnographic study aimed at understanding better the richness of religious life in the multiplicity of communities that make up modern Chicago."
--"Journal of Contemporary Religion"

"The highly successful result of a team-based, ethnographic approach to understanding the diversity-racial, ethnic, cultural, economic-of Chicago's religious communities, exploring important questions about religion's public role in the metropolis. A must read for those interested in the religious diversity and pluralism of American society or contemporary urban restructuring."
"--Penny Edgell Becker, Department of Sociology, Cornell University, and Author of Congregations inConflict"

"An interesting example of the challenge immigrants face as they attempt to emulate established American institutions while retaining those elements that allow them to function as cohesive communities of ethnic and religious identity."
"--Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Professor of Islamic History, Georgetown University"

"Reaches across the boundaries of private faith and public action, of traditional turf and challenging new populations, of older generations and restless youth, of growing ethnic/religious groups where there can be no majority, and, as yet, no consensus . . . Uncomfortable but essential reading."
"--Carl S. Dudley, Codirector of Hartford Institute for Religion Research and Professor of Church and Community, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, CT"

"Furnishes a rich and diverse insight into the changing American metropolis. Unlike virtually any other book I have read, it does so by examining how church leaders and members cope with these changes. In the end, we get stories not merely of churches and religious change, but of how a major social institution helps people of diverse faiths and backgrounds survive and succeed in the modern American metropolis."
"--Anthony M. Orum, author of City-Building in America"

American cities are in the midst of fundamental changes. De-industrialization of large, aging cities has been enormously disruptive for urban communities, which are being increasingly fragmented. Though often overlooked, religious organizations are important actors, both culturally and politically in the restructuring metropolis.

Public Religion and Urban Transformation provides a sweeping view of urban religion in response to thesetransformations. Drawing on a massive study of over seventy-five congregations in urban neighborhoods, this volume provides the most comprehensive picture available of urban places of worship-from mosques and gurdwaras to churches and synagogues-within one city.

Revisiting the primary site of research for the early members of the Chicago School of urban sociology, the volume focuses on Chicago, which provides an exceptionally clear lens on the ways in which religious organizations both reflect and contribute to changes in American pluralism.

From the churches of a Mexican American neighborhood and of the Black middle class to communities shared by Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims and the rise of "megachurches," Public Religion and Urban Transformation illuminates the complex interactions among religion, urban structure, and social change at this extraordinary episode in the history of urban America.

This comprehensive book explains that while world politics has entered the post-Cold War era since the late 1980s, the Korean peninsula has not. Diplomatic relations have yet to be established between North Korea, the US and Japan, while conventional military confrontation has persisted. Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme has further increased tensions and the possibility of war has frequently been considered. In this rigorously theoretical work, the author analyses the tension on the peninsula through three very different perspectives: the security dilemma and misperceptions; domestic politics and ideology; and the influence of external actors. Recognizing that existing explanations do not take full account of the multi-dimensional character of Korean security problems, efforts are made in this book to understand how various interrelated factors are at work, and which of them matter most under different conditions. This book provides an invaluable and balanced understanding of the complex nature of post-Cold War security problems on the peninsula. Academics, researchers and post-graduate students interested in issues pertaining to security on the Korean peninsula, and on US policy towards North Korea will find much to engage them within this book, as will those interested in politics and international relations more generally. The in-depth analyses of current issues of interest and their policy implications will also appeal to policymakers.

Can regional mechanisms better institutionalize the increasing complexity of economic and security ties among the countries in Northeast Asia? As the international state system undergoes dramatic changes in both security and economic relations in the wake of the end of the Cold War, the Asian financial crisis, and the attack of 9/11, this question is now at the forefront of the minds of both academics and policymakers. Still, little research has been done to integrate the analysis of security and economic analysis of changes in the region within a broader context that will give us theoretically-informed policy insights. Against this backdrop, this book investigates the origins and evolution of Northeast Asia's new institutional architecture in trade, finance, and security from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.

"Post-NAFTA North America" uniquely combines an institutional examination of NAFTA with a geo-economic and geo-political approach. The author argues that in the post-9/11 era, North America is evolving from a primarily economic space to a strategic 'securitized' one and that NAFTA has been utilized by the US as a regulatory framework for dealing with the pressures of globalization that have emerged in the post-Cold War era.

Focusing on emerging technology regions of the US, Canada and Mexico, the authors provide an analysis of firms' innovative milieus in three contexts: national systems of innovation, knowledge regions and incubation mechanisms. An overview of the evolution of each region over the past quarter century is presented, along with an evaluation of the effectiveness of science parks and technology incubators in various regional and national environments. Though the three countries studied share the same continent and have well-developed trade relations, the significant differences between them in level of development, industrial infrastructure, education, and systems of innovation provide insight into the successes and failures of select knowledge regions. The authors find that areas with a solid industrial base benefit from, but do not necessarily require, formal technology incubation mechanisms to evolve into successful innovation poles. In contrast, remote regions with good research capacity, and those with an average industrial or research base, must develop an entrepreneurial culture and close cooperation between universities, industry and government with formal incubation mechanisms serving as focal points. Scholars of innovation systems, technology policy, entrepreneurship and regional development will find this fascinating study of great interest, as will science and technology policymakers, university officials and regional leaders.

"At Home in the Chinese Diaspora" explores issues of memory and how memories are deployed and negotiated to re-establish a sense of belonging. This volume breaks new ground in analyzing the relationships between migrants' adjustment, assimilation, and remembering home through the focal point of memories. Some chapters focus conceptually on memories as social expressions, a locus of place, cultural capital, and imagination. Others explore the tensions and conflicts in representing and renegotiating memories through the world of literature and cinema.

The Handbook of West European Pension Politics provides scholars, policy-makers and students with a complete overview of the political and policy issues involved in pension policy, and well as case studies of contemporary pension politics (1980 to present) in 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The book is suitable as a text for courses in comparative politics, European Studies, social policy, comparative public policy and public administration. Each chapter is written by an expert on pension politics and is presented in a standardized format with standardized tables and figures that describe: political institutions; government coalitions, parliamentary and electoral majorities; the party system; the pension system; proposed and enacted pension reforms.

An introductory survey of the government's role in America's continuing drive for equality. Today's lingering inequalities, particularly the "American dilemma" of racism, runs throughout U.S. history. Equal Protection provides readers with a historical overview of the controversies over the issue of equality, an understanding of how government-and, particularly, the courts and Congress-has reacted to these controversies, and the role these issues have played in shaping U.S. society. This volume follows the push for equal treatment regardless of age, gender, disabilities, economic status, or sexual orientation. It focuses on legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, and political initiatives and movements such as The Great Society, the ERA, and the War on Poverty. Here are American's interpretations of equal rights, then and now. Includes a section of A-Z entries covering people, laws, events, judicial decisions, statutes, and concepts related to equal protection in the United States Primary source documents include court decisions, executive orders, and legislation that shaped the status of equal protection in our society today