A definitive guide to the people in power in every part of the world, this book details some 16,000 government ministries, departments, agencies, corporations and their connected bodies from every country in the world. Each chapter contains: notes on the head of state; an outline of the country's legislature and governmental system; a list of ministries, together with principal personnel; government departments and their connected bodies; nationalized industries; and government organizations and affiliated groups arranged by subject heading. Subject headings include - agricultural organizations, banks, the armed forces, trade organizations, development bodies, energy, the media, tourism, telecommunications and judicial bodies. Each entry contains, where appropriate: names and titles of principal officials; full address, telephone, telex and fax numbers; and an outline of each organization's activities. This edition carries constitutional information on countries with federal states, including listings of major state institutions.

This is a description and assessment of Asian parliaments. It looks at the parliaments of India, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia and Nepal and assesses key variables that determine the impact of parliaments.

BOOK OF THE YEAR, The Times, Guardian and Prospect 'Fascinating and instructive... his decency and pragmatism shine through.' The Times 'Candid, valuable and insightful.' Observer Since the EU referendum of 2016, British politics has witnessed a barrage of crises, resignations and general elections. Theresa May's premiership was the most turbulent of all. In her darkest hour, following the disastrous 2017 election, she turned to Gavin Barwell to help restore her battered authority. He would become her chief of staff for the next two years - a period punctuated by Brexit negotiations, domestic tragedy, and intense political drama. In this gripping insider memoir, Barwell reveals what really went on in the corridors of power - and sheds a vital light on May, the most inscrutable of modern prime ministers. He was by her side when she met Donald Trump, heard about the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury, and responded to the Grenfell Tower fire. He was also at the centre of Brexit talks with foreign leaders and MPs from across the house, including Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer. Revealing how government operates during times of crisis, this is the definitive record of a momentous episode in Britain's recent political history.

This volume seeks to explain the political economy of the Abe government and the so-called 'Abenomics' economic policies. The Abe government represents a major turning point in postwar Japanese political economy. In 2019, Abe became the longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. Abe's government stood out not only for its longevity, but also for its policies. Abe came to power promising to reinvigorate Japan's economy under the banner of Abenomics. He pursed a host of structural reforms and industrial promotions to increase Japan's potential growth rate. Abe also achieved important legislative victories in security policy. However, the government also faced significant controversies. The book will hold appeal to scholars and students specializing in the study of Japanese politics, comparative political economy, the politics of contemporary advanced democracies, macroeconomic policy, labor market reforms, corporate governance, gender equality, agricultural reforms, energy and climate change, and East Asian security.

Examines the balance between the market, government and civic sectors and makes comparisons with other postcommunist countries.

Meiji Japan represents a reassessment of the political, economic and social history of Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1911). The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was a pivotal event in Japanese history. Often seen as marking the break between 'pre-modern' and 'modern' Japan, the Restoration has dominated perceptions of Japan's history. This major new collection includes both earlier work written along more traditional lines and later challenges to accepted arguments. Together with a major new introduction by Peter Kornicki and bibliography, the articles presented provide a complex, nuanced and up-to-date reading of Japanese history.
Topics covered include:
* the collapse of the Bakufu and the Meiji Restoration
* economic change
* the politics and ideology of change
* social and cultural changes
* industrialization and consequences
* political and institutional change
* the economy.
Meiji Japan analyses the impact of the West, and of sometimes complacent Western notions of 'modernity', on this critical period in Japanese history. The set provides a comprehensive introduction to the history and historiography of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japan.

How does authority become power? How does power justify itself to achieve its ends? For over two hundred years, the Valois kings relied on a complex mixture of ideologies, ruling a monarchical commonwealth with a coherent theory of shared governance. Forged in the Hundred Years War, this commonwealth built on the defense of the public good (bien public) came undone both practically and theoretically during the Wars of Religion. Just as certain kings sought to expand the royal prerogative, so, too, elites fought to preserve their control over local government. Using town archives from more than twenty cities to complement traditional sources of political theory, The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356-1560 establishes the relationship between seemingly theoretical constructs, like the Salic Law, and the reality of everyday politics.

The problems of global warming and environmental pollution are some of the most difficult challenges this planet faces in the 21st century. Carbon dioxide, often identified as one of the culprits, is an inevitable product of the combustion of fossil fuels, necessary for our modern economies to survive. Thus, The Carbon Dioxide Problem refers to the extremely complex matter of limiting carbon dioxide concentrations to levels that pose little environmental risk without devastating national economies and reducing living standards on the planet.
This timely book offers solutions to the global warming problem that lie in the development of comprehensive energy and environmental policies that emphasize the need to use energy efficiently while looking to develop alternative renewable sources. The experience of Japan is particularly relevant due to that country's great dependence on foreign fuel supplies, which has led it to be at the forefront of developing new energy conservation and antipollution technologies.

In recent years politics has seen an increasing role in economic policymaking for a technocracy of experts. How do politicians feel about this and how do they balance their political and ethical aims with economic expertise? Anna Killick offers an in-depth study of how politicians engage with economists and economic opinion. Based on interviews with politicians from the main parties in France, Germany, Denmark, the UK and USA, the book highlights the role economic opinion plays in politics and the tension that can arise between democracy and technocracy. Deferring to the experts is shown to be neither viable nor desirable, and that we should trust politicians to take the lead role in solving economic problems.

In the past decade Europe has seen much change, and at the same time the importance of the regional perspectives has significantly increased. Regional Development Agencies in Europe brings together experiences of Regional and Development Agencies throughout Europe to provide material for the first major comparative study of bottom-up regional policy across the continent. Using an analytical framework developed by editors, the contributors evaluate the long term potential and limitations of the RDAs in terms of promoting regional and economic development. Institutional and other preconditions for successful regional polices are identified, and combined with a broad analytical and geographical coverage that includes Eastern Europe, a clearer picture of the relevance of the RDAs emerges.

Neoclassical realism is an important new approach to international relations. Focusing on the interaction of the international system and the internal dynamics of states, neoclassical realism seeks to explain the grand strategies of individual states as opposed to recurrent patterns of international outcomes. This book offers the first systematic survey of the neoclassical realist approach. The editors lead a group of senior and emerging scholars in presenting a variety of neoclassical realist approaches to states' grand strategies. They examine the central role of the "state" and seek to explain why, how, and under what conditions the internal characteristics of states intervene between their leaders' assessments of international threats and opportunities, and the actual diplomatic, military, and foreign economic policies those leaders are likely to pursue.

Hand-Off details the Bush administration's national security and foreign policy as described at the time in then-classified Transition Memoranda prepared by the National Security Council experts who advised President Bush. Thirty of these Transition Memoranda, newly declassified and here made public for the first time, provide a detailed, comprehensive, and first-hand look at the foreign policy the Bush administration turned over to President Obama. In a postscript to each memorandum, these same experts now in hindsight take a remarkably self- critical look at that Bush foreign policy legacy after more than a dozen years of watching subsequent administrations attempt to deal with the same vexing agenda of threats and opportunities-- China, Russia, Iran, the Middle East, terrorism, proliferation, cyber, pandemics, and climate change--an agenda that still dominates America's national security and foreign policy. Hand-Off will be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, policy analysts, and general readers seeking to understand afresh the Bush administration's foreign policy, particularly in view of the records of the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.

This book examines all facets of corruption -- the incidence, monetary value. the kinds of goods exchanged, the perpetrators and their strategies -- in China since 1949. Challenging the popular wisdom which attributes corruption to a lack of resources, a high concentration of power, and the absence of an institutionalized criminal justice system. Julia Kwong suggests a more complex relationship between corruption and the political economy by exploring the irony of how ideology and organizational structures under socialism can at once restrain and encourage corruption. She turns to the changing political economy under socialism to explain the parabolic evolution of corruption. Under classical socialism (1949-1976, when corruption declined), the egalitarianism and anti-materialistic orientation tempered the drive for materialistic gains and deterred corruption: and the concentration of power at the top restricted the opportunities for the lower levels to abuse power. Under market socialism (1976-1989, when corruption increased again), preoccupation with making profit and with material comfort undermined the commitment to honest governance.

This book examines all facets of corruption -- the incidence, monetary value. the kinds of goods exchanged, the perpetrators and their strategies -- in China since 1949. Challenging the popular wisdom which attributes corruption to a lack of resources, a high concentration of power, and the absence of an institutionalized criminal justice system. Julia Kwong suggests a more complex relationship between corruption and the political economy by exploring the irony of how ideology and organizational structures under socialism can at once restrain and encourage corruption. She turns to the changing political economy under socialism to explain the parabolic evolution of corruption. Under classical socialism (1949-1976, when corruption declined), the egalitarianism and anti-materialistic orientation tempered the drive for materialistic gains and deterred corruption: and the concentration of power at the top restricted the opportunities for the lower levels to abuse power. Under market socialism (1976-1989, when corruption increased again), preoccupation with making profit and with material comfort undermined the commitment to honest governance.

Traditional comparative studies of parliaments have focused on constitutional and organizational characteristics of parliaments, or differences in the historical contexts, in which legislative assemblies have developed. The motivations of individual Members of Parliament have been neglected.
This volume provides empirical work on legislative role orientations and behaviour in six West European parliaments: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. All contributions present a wealth of empirical findings on parliamentarians' role orientations in different institutional contexts.

This book uses Sweden as a test case to analyze how parliament and elected representatives function in a representative democracy. Despite the status of Scandinavian countries as perhaps the world's most egalitarian societies, the book argues that the best summary characterization of Swedish representative democracy is an elitist system run from above. The book also argues that an individualist representational model is relevant to the Swedish setting and most likely, to other settings as well. Representative democracy is not just party-based democracy - not even in a country with strong and disciplined parties. The book takes a broad approach to the study of political representation. It integrates into a single analytical framework concepts and theories from neighbouring traditions such as legislative behaviour, opinion formation and interest organizations. The study is based on a comprehensive set of data, including three surveys of the Members of the Swedish Parliament, corresponding voter surveys and content analysis of mass media and parliamentary records.

As seen on Tucker Carlson Tonight! USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestseller! The inside story of the laptop that exposed the president's dirtiest secret. When a drug-addled Hunter Biden abandoned his waterlogged computer at a Mac repair shop in Delaware in the spring of 2019, just six days before his father announced his candidacy for the United States presidency, it became the ticking time bomb in the shadows of Joe Biden's campaign. The dirty secrets contained in Hunter's laptop almost derailed his father's presidential campaign and ignited one of the greatest media coverups in American history. This is the unvarnished story of what's really inside the laptop and what China knows about the Bidens, by the New York Post journalist who brought it into the open. It exposes the coordinated censorship operation by Big Tech, the media establishment, and former intelligence operatives to stifle the New York Post's coverage, in a chilling exercise of raw political power three weeks before the 2020 election. A treasure trove of corporate documents, emails, text messages, photographs, and voice recordings, spanning a decade, the laptop provided the first evidence that President Joe Biden was involved in his son's ventures in China, Ukraine, and beyond, despite his repeated denials. This intimate insight into Hunter's dissolute lifestyle shows he was incapable of holding down a job, let alone being paid tens of millions of dollars in high-powered international business deals by foreign interests, unless he had something else of value to sell-which of course he did. He was the son of the vice president who would go on to become the leader of the free world.

British Islam and English Law presents a novel argument about the nature and place of groups in society. The encounter with Islam has led English law to tread a line between two theoretical models, liberal individualism and multiculturalism, competing for dominance over the law of organised religion. This philosophical rivalry has generated a set of seemingly intractable conflicts between individual and community, religion and state, nation and culture. This book resurrects the long-buried theory of classical pluralism to address and resolve these tensions. Applying this to five understudied institutions that give structure and form to British Islam - banks, charities, schools, elections, clans - it outlines and justifies the reforms that would optimise the relationship between law and religion. Unflinching and unorthodox, this book places law and theory in context, employs innovative methods such as nudge theory and applied history, and provides detailed answers to hard questions about British Islam.

British Islam and English Law presents a novel argument about the nature and place of groups in society. The encounter with Islam has led English law to tread a line between two theoretical models, liberal individualism and multiculturalism, competing for dominance over the law of organised religion. This philosophical rivalry has generated a set of seemingly intractable conflicts between individual and community, religion and state, nation and culture. This book resurrects the long-buried theory of classical pluralism to address and resolve these tensions. Applying this to five understudied institutions that give structure and form to British Islam - banks, charities, schools, elections, clans - it outlines and justifies the reforms that would optimise the relationship between law and religion. Unflinching and unorthodox, this book places law and theory in context, employs innovative methods such as nudge theory and applied history, and provides detailed answers to hard questions about British Islam.

A revealing look at the constitutional issues that confronted and shaped each presidency from Woodrow Wilson through Donald J. Trump Drawing from the monumental publication The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History in 2016, the nation's foremost experts in the American presidency and the US Constitution tell the intertwined stories of how the last eighteen American presidents have interfaced with the Constitution and thus defined the most powerful office in human history. This volume leads off with Woodrow Wilson, the president who led the nation through World War I, and ends with Donald J. Trump, who ushered the US into uncharted political and legal territory. In between, the country was confronted with international wars, the civil rights movement, 9/11, and the advent of the internet, all of which presented unique and pressing constitutional issues. The last one hundred years reveals the awesome powers of the American presidency in domestic and foreign affairs, illustrating how they have stood up to modern and novel legal challenges. The Presidents and the Constitution is for anyone interested in a captivating and illuminating account of one of the most compelling subjects in our American democracy.