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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > General
The state and its institutions are crucial for economic development: for better and for worse. This insight informs this important, up-to-date and authoritative survey of new trends in growth economics and the widely divergent economic performance of developing countries - for example, between Latin America and South-east Asia - which seemed to be similarly placed just a generation ago. The decisive role of the political dimension in economic growth seems clear but there are many challenges to be met in getting an analytical handle on the precise determinants and in testing empirically for this. This is the challenge taken up by the international team of contributors.
While newly liberated American blacks were relatively free to participate in the nation's political life during the decade following the Civil War, with the end of Reconstruction and the withdrawal of federal protection, constitutional guarantees quickly were curtailed. In this analysis of the beginnings of black political development, Beatty examines the aftermath of Reconstruction through the eyes of a people who found their rights, liberties, and hopes stalemated in a "revolution gone backward."
In recent years, the Supreme Court appears to have taken a greater interest in "business" issues. Does this reflect a change in the Court's orientation, or is it the natural outcome of the appellate process? Is the Court "pro-business"? If so, in what ways do the Court's decisions support business interests and what does that mean for the law and the American public? Business and the Roberts Court provides the first critical analysis of the Court's business-related jurisprudence. In this volume, prominent academics examine the Roberts Court's handling of business-related cases, through a series of empirical and doctrinal analyses. Issues covered include securities law, antitrust, labor law, preemption, and environmental law, among others. Business law and regulatory cases touch on many important legal doctrines and can have far-reaching effects. Understanding the bases upon which the Supreme Court decides business-related cases is of tremendous importance to practitioners and academics. It can also further greater understanding of one of the nation's most important government institutions. These issues are of interest to academics, but also of practical importance to Supreme Court and business practitioners.
An important new study that assesses comparatively the future of Islamic fundamentalism in three key countries: Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. Islamism has witnessed an upsurge and new-found zealotry and stridency in the post-Gulf War period, but its real fortunes have fallen far short of expectations, according to Mahmud Faksh. Indeed, as outlined in this work, it is now being stymied on many fronts. The book focuses on the limits of Islamic fundamentalism as a system of thought, as well as a force for changing the established order. And it shows that the threat of an Islamic avalanche--despite assorted high-profile, militant activities--is overstated, unrealistic, and lacking in credibility.
Once torn by ideological conflicts and the dominance of command economies, Southern Africa is now moving towards economic liberalization and openness. In general, the ascendancy of "market economies" is acknowledged by its governments, albeit with different degrees of enthusiasm. Theoretically rich and empirically engaging, this timely book offers a critical insight into the ensuing debate on regionalism and the process of regionalization in region.
This volume is a timely survey of the changes that have been occurring in South African politics and society since the unbanning of the exile liberation movements in 1990. It brings together a collection of seasoned scholars who examine the debates over changes in such areas as the economy, the state, the legal system, the position of women and foreign relations. The volume explores the forces pushing for radical change in South African society as well as those resisting it and is particularly notable for bringing a political science perspective to bear on such issues as the restructuring of government and the constitution.
This book is concerned with the contexts, nature and quality of the participation of young people in European democratic life. The authors understand democracy broadly as both institutional politics and civic cultures, and a wide range of methods are used to analyse and assess youth participation and attitudes.
First published in 1961, this reissue is based upon the proceedings of a working party conference held at Exeter in September 1959 and deals with the experiences of older federations, the constraints of the traditional social order, the stark economic needs of the contemporary economic situation, and the political ambitions of the newly-independent countries.
Filled with new insights and fresh interpretations, this is the richest study yet published on the presidency of James Monroe, the last Revolutionary War hero to ascend to that august office. Noble Cunningham's history of the fifth presidency (1817-25) shows a young nation beset by growing pains and led by a cautious politician who had neither the learning nor the intellect of Jefferson or Madison, but whose actions strengthened both the United States and the presidency itself. Cunningham makes clear that the mislabelled "era of good feelings" had more than its share of crises, including those resulting from revolutions in Latin America, Spanish possession of Florida, the depression of 1819, and the controversy over slavery in Missouri. Monroe, he shows, successfully defused these potentially explosive situations, most notably by negotiating the 1820 Missouri Compromise and announcing in 1823 what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, a document that still guides American policy in the western hemisphere. Cunningham effectively places these actions within the context of Monroe's life and times and sheds new light on the inner workings of his cabinet and his relations with Congress. In addition, he features the prominent roles of two future presidents: John Quincy Adams as secretary of state and Andrew Jackson as the controversial general whose actions in the Seminole War created a headache for the administration. Though substantially informed by previous scholarship, Cunningham writes largely from the abundant primary source materials of the era to provide an illuminating new look at a president and a nation on the brink of greatness.
China's economic and social progress toward modernization is one of the defining features of the last quarter of the 20th century. The emergence of China coincides with another development of equally important international implications--the revolution in information and telecommunication technology. But how compatible are the new China and the information age? The Chinese government intends to embrace market-oriented economic development while maintaining centralized control over politics, culture, and public discourse. The contradictions and tensions of this goal are especially acute in telecommunication and information technology markets, where the rest of the world is moving rapidly toward liberalization and globalization. Will China's economic reforms allow it to join the information revolution, or will its unique political structure keep it insulated from the main currents of global economic development? This volume is the first detailed examination of how China's reform process is playing out in the realm of information and telecommunications.
Saionji Kinmochi was an aristocrat, a scholar and a progressive liberal politician who twice occupied the highest political office in the nation and who, during three decades, as adviser to three Emperors, coordinated and directed Japanese politics. His long life encompassed the emergence of the modern Japanese state, the establishment of the constitution, the integration of Japan into the inter-war, international community and the creation, and subsequent erosion of the democratic process. The story of his twilight years chronicles the conflicts between the goals of liberalism and internationalism which dominated Japanese politics in the 1920s and the right-wing militarism which held sway in the years leading to the Pacific War. He was a central figure in the turbulent, formative period of Japan's political ideology.
This book is a study of the political development of the many factions that surfaced in Mexico from the achievement of independence in 1821 to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's last government in 1853-55. Paying particular attention to the writings of the main thinkers of the period and the ways in which they inspired or were betrayed by their respective factions, this volume concentrates on the evolution of the different factions (traditionalists, moderates, radicals, and "santanistas"), who sustained their beliefs at one point or another. It follows a chronological approach and puts significant emphasis to the way the hopes of the 1820s degenerated into the despair of the 1840s, and how these in turn affected the evolution of the different factions' political proposals. Political proposals and ideologies were important in independent Mexico; it was an age of proposals. Various constitutional projects were proposed, discussed, attempted, or dismissed. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of how the generalized liberal principles of early republican Mexico became fractured into numerous conflicting political proposals and movements. In response to the ever-changing political landscape of the new nation, the emergent Mexican political class was prevented from achieving the ever-evasive constitutional order, unity, progress, and stability all dreamed of experiencing when General Agustin de Iturbide marched into Mexico City on September 27, 1821. Appendices with a glossary, chronologies, and description of major personalities are included.
Few would have imagined the developments and the extent of reforms that occurred under Spanish Prime Minister Jos? Luis Rodr?guez Zapatero between 2004 and 2008. Under Zapatero, Spain rapidly withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq, held a very public political debate on the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, passed very progressive social legislation that included gay marriage and adoption as well as a sweeping gender equality act, and expanded autonomy in six of Spain's 17 regions. It has become quite common to refer to some or all of these developments as a ?second transition? that alters or revisits policies, institutional arrangements and political strategies that were established during Spain's transition to democracy. This book analyzes the patterns of continuity and change and provides a nuanced, critical evaluation of the concept of a ?second transition?. Three broad questions are addressed. First, to what degree do the developments under Zapatero's Socialist government represent a departure from prior patterns of Spanish politics? Second, what accounts for the continuities and departures? Finally, the project begins to assess the implications of these developments. Are there lasting effects, for example, on political participation, electoral alignments, interparty and inter-regional relations more broadly? This book was published as a special issue of South European Society & Politics.
This book is a seminal contribution to decision making theory through its study of management decision making in six Beijing state enterprises during the period 1985 to 1989, when the government adopted decentralization as the key to reforming state industries. Through interviews, document surveys and analysis, the author provides a unique insight into not only the changes, but also the complex relations among managers, the Communist Party organization and planning authorities. Readers will gain a richer understanding of Chinese management issues and society.
How does gubernatorial and legislative influence over state spending vary across the American states? This is the question that Governors, Legislators, and Budgets sets out to answer. Clynch and Lauth offer case studies from all areas of the country. Demographically, they range from very rural to heavily urban. They also show a wide diversity in their center of power. Some have their power strongly resting with the governor. Other states show domination by the legislature, and still others paint a picture of evenly dispersed power. This volume provides the contextual richness needed to understand the executive-legislative interaction which occurs during the recurring budgeting process. Chapters two to four focus on strong executive states with gubernatorial domination, approaching the executive centered process envisioned by reformers. The next four chapters concentrate on a variety of states in which the legislature retains the ability to effectively challenge the executive. The remaining chapters examine states with legislative influence and those with unusual arrangements. A closing essay by Clynch and Lauth completes the volume.
Based on oral histories with African American activists and community leaders, Life and Death in the Delta explores the civil rights movement in several Mississippi communities in the context of the region's history of white supremacy, racial oppression, and African American cultural vitality. Terrorism, black poverty, and economic exploitation produced a condition of collective trauma and social suffering for thousands of black Deltans in the Twentieth Century. This work reveals the impact of that oppression, and of African American traditions of community service and leadership in the lives of women and men who became activists. The result is a sweeping history, told through the voices of ordinary people, of how the civil rights movement operated on a local level: the circumstances that made it thrive, the problems it faced, and the dangers participants encountered on a daily basis.
Although there is an abundance of scholarly inquiry into the effects on the Soviet socialist system of the historic reforms under GorbacheV's administration, relatively little attention has been paid to the impact these reforms might have on socialism outside the Soviet Union. This book makes a preliminary assessment of the impact of glasnost, perestroika, and related Soviet reforms on selected socialist countries. The sampling of socialist countries studied are roughly representative of the types of socialist states in existence today. The countries studied include Poland, Czechoslovakia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and North Korea. The contributors to this volume approach their topics from varying perspectives, each singling out and examining different areas in the individual governments where the impact of Soviet reforms is likely to be strongest. The result is a number of varying conclusions regarding the effects of glasnost and perestroika on the socialist community. In some cases, the impact might be intentional and direct, part of a conscious policy adopted by the Soviet Union. In other cases, the impact may be indirect and even unintentional, given the complex and interdependent nature of world politics and economics. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in comparative politics, international relations, and communist studies will find this book a source of stimulating ideas about the rapidly changing face of socialism.
In 1990, Chile emerged from almost 17 years of military rule to become the only Latin American country where a democratic regime coexists with free market policies that actually work. This book explores this paradox, and examines the prospects for future economic growth with income redistribution, under free market rules and democratic politics, by combining history, politics and technical analysis. The author looks at short-term policymaking, the "Chicago boys", education, health, nutrition, infant mortality, the labour market, women, the middle sectors, poverty, housing, privatization, market imperfections, the state, non-government organizations, copper, inflation, external trade, the financial sector, non-traditional exports and the external debt.
Although representation by women, blacks, and Hispanics in state legislatures has increased greatly in recent decades, the significance of these gains has not been systematically evaluated. Albert Nelson's study explores several important questions in this area: Does greater representation in fact result in proportionally greater influence in political parties and policy outcomes? How do party affiliation, gender, and other variables affect the political fortunes of these groups? And what is the impact of party affiliation on their turnover rates in legislatures? Nelson scrutinizes the factors that influence minority and female incorporation into the legislative process, including opportunity and incentives, party affiliation, religion, employment, and cultural elements. He examines differences in legislative representation in the North and South. In addition he assesses party representation according to gender, minority group, and political affiliation and investigates differences in turnover rates between Democrats and Republicans. Nelson explains how these elements translate into practical political results in both legislatures and the power base provided by political parties. The final chapter provides an overview of Nelson's findings and identifies promising areas for continuing research. Based on a statistical analysis of state legislatures in the 1980s, this book will be a useful resource for scholars and students in political science, the social sciences, minorities studies, and women's studies.
In 2007 and 2008, Belgium was once more a privileged observer of the international community's approach to peace and security, serving as non-permanent member at the UN Security Council (UNSC). Participating in this 'global core cabinet' for the fifth time, Belgium would build upon its historical expertise, especially in relation to Central Africa. Yet its role would not be limited to this particular region. The Belgian government aimed to contribute in a substantial way to all major issues, from North Korea to Haiti, taking the role of 'bridge builder.' This volume contains a variety of essays in light of Belgium's 2007-2008 membership of the UNSC, covering issues that were high on the international agenda, as well as more horizontal ones. The contributions, by policy officials and academics, will give a comprehensive overview of these two years and provide insight into the limits and opportunities of a smaller EU Member State in UNSC politics.
The ?Nonconformist conscience? was a major force in late Victorian and Edwardian politics. The well-attended chapels of England and Wales bred a race of Christian politicians who tried to exert a moral influence on public affairs. This book analyses the political impact of the Nonconformists at the peak of their strength when they were near the centre of key debates of the time over such matters as the growth of the British Empire and state provision of social services. They had also launched campaigns of their own to disestablish the Church of England and to secure public control of the nation's schools. Based on extensive original research, this study is the first to examine these themes.
The main theme of this book is the relationship between capital and government in Britain, particularly the practice and organisation of capital in both national and local political processes. The chapters are primarily empirical in focus and deal with such topics as power, policy and the City of London and the role of the CBI in representing capital. Major theoretical themes are also discussed and these include de-industrialisation, corporatism, and the role of government in the development of pressure group habit.
The study of the effects of context--defined here as a geographically bounded social unit--on individuals is a new and rapidly developing field. This unique volume reviews this development both quantitatively and qualitatively, examines how and why individual political behavior can be influenced by various contextual characteristics of the locality in which the individual resides, and proposes a conceptual framework to guide future research. A separate chapter is devoted to exploring methodological problems unique to this field of study. This is the first study to integrate and synthesize the diverse existing research and to provide an overall approach to the field. While the authors' conclusions do not contradict the dominant views in the field, they do challenge prevailing emphases and approaches--stressing the importance of structural and global effects, the utility of an information-flow approach to contextual effects, and new methodological strategies. Even readers without strong statistical backgrounds will find this volume both accessible and informative. The volume first reviews the history of contextual studies, defining contextual analysis, and offering a taxonomy of contextual effects and then reviews relevant literature to integrate, compare, and assess the range of empirical work in the field. Chapter three constructs an overarching approach to the study of context based on the concept of information flow and is followed by a discussion of the methodological difficulties that have made the study of contextual effects a contentious one. The increasingly important area of modeling contextual effects is reviewed next and directions for future research are suggested. The final chapter looks at several understudied areas in contextual effects that could benefit from scholarly attention. Though scholarly, this readable volume is aimed at a broad audience and will be of particular interest to those concerned with political behavior, including political scientists, sociologists, urbanologists, geographers, and social psychologists. |
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