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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > General
Governance is not a topic that easily lends itself to neat and precise definitions. Although concepts and practices of governance are profoundly under-specified, they are frequently associated with three dimensions: how and why governments are structured, what processes they employ in governing, and what results they are able to accomplish in serving their societies. As scholars continue to marvel over what theories and models are utilized in the design and implementation of activities and policies of governance, popular views boldly affirm that better governance is the Third World's best hope to remedy their political and economic woes. The articles in this book represent a wide range of scholarly interests that extend from the abstract and conceptual to the specific and applied. The articles by Baaklini, Elsenhans, and Hyden mainly are in the category of conceptual analysis. The rest of the contributions by Mavimba and Chackerian (Zimbabwe), Jabbra and Jabbra (Lebanon), Jain (India), and Nelsen (China) deal with important national experiences.
This study examines the evolution and political consequences of the 2009 British MPs' expenses scandal. Despite claims of a revolution in British politics, we show how the expenses scandal had a limited, short-term impact.
Cramer provides a window into the world of radical environmentalism and the political process. He examines how deep ecology evolved, how its ideas influence our lives, and how it impacts our laws. The book begins with an overview of deep ecology and traces its history in American political thought. Cramer then looks at the tactics employed by radical environmentalists and the relationship formed between activists and their political counterparts. He explains the difference between what deep ecology ultimately wants and what it strives for on a daily basis. Federal environmental legislation and congressional testimony are analyzed for trends, and media coverage of radical environmentalism is also examined. Cramer provides the first comprehensive look at the impact of deep ecology and radical environmentalism on American environmental politics and law. This book will be invaluable to scholars and researchers of contemporary American politics and law, environmental studies, and the media.
Through comparative analysis this book examines and explains the official rhetoric of agency reform across consensus and adversarial political cultures. It traces the trajectory of talk about agency reform in The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia and identifies the national styles of speaking that mediated the agency idea.
This book offers a comprehensive political biography of Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe, (1915-1990), a central figure in Nigerian political history for more than forty years. Starting in 1936 as a protege of Nnamdi Azikiwe, then Nigeria's most renowned nationalist, Mbadiwe himself by the 1950s became a frontline nationalist. And next to Tafawa Balewa from the North who became Prime Minster in 1957, he was the most important figure in the Nigerian Federal Government between 1952 and Nigeria's first military coup in 1966. During this time he held a succession of important Cabinet positions and was Parliamentary Leader of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), which was in a ruling alliance with the Northern People's Congress (NPC). In contrast, his older prominent political contemporaries, Azikiwe of the Eastern Region, Igbo Leader of the NCNC; Obafemi Awolowo of the Western Region, Yoruba Leader of the Action Group (AG); and Ahmadu Bello of the Northern Region, Fulani Leader of the NPC, all carved out their political careers totally or largely at the regional level. Throughout his political career Mbadiwe's focus was always at the national level. Truly, it has been stated that Mbadiwe was one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian State. Nonetheless, Mbadiwe's ambition for himself to lead Nigeria and for his nation to set it on the path to greatness faced insuperable difficulties. In a country of widespread poverty, high illiteracy, and a grossly underdeveloped private sector, there were fierce ethnic and regional conflicts for the control of governments and resources, leading to massive corruption and serious instability. This in turn led to prolonged military rule twenty years in Mbadiwe's lifetime which was often more corrupt and repressive than civilian rule, and was bitterly deprecated by Mbadiwe.
This text examines the debates and developments about House of Lords reform since 1911, and notes that disagreements have occurred within, as well as between, the main political parties and governments throughout this time. It draws attention to how various proposals for reform have raised a wider range of constitutional and political problems.
Murray seeks to demonstrate how Eastern philosophy can contribute to the development of Western public administration theory and practice. She views the end of the 20th century as an epoch-making time in which the limitations of modern thought need to be examined. Murray shares the belief held by many public administration scholars that a reconceptualization of the field is in order. She contributes to that end by focusing on individual administrators and the problems they face as they continuously struggle to balance political exigencies and governmental processes in a society that simply does not understand. As caretakers of the public trust, administrators deserve a profession that provides a philosophy of administration designed to guide them in the maturation process that is essential to self-development. Murray has chosen ideas and characters from the East as a guide to development of a philosophy of administration for individuals committed to public service. Coupled with certain Western teachings, particularly Jungian analytical psychology, this book inquires into the elevation of human thought and action. Murray challenges public administrators to aspire to their profession as to a higher calling. This will be of particular interest to scholars and researchers in public administration, and to administrators as well.
The integration of the Central and Eastern European transition countries into the European Union is one of the most exciting economic policy issues of today. The book provides a detailed analysis of the economic effects which EU integration has on accession countries. It shows that these countries have already managed to fully remove the anti-trade bias with the EU that existed before the fall of the iron curtain. Benefits from further integration into the EU could result in particular from the fact that full membership in the European Community will increase the credibility of government policy in accession countries. The study explores in depth how these credibility effects can be quantified. The author develops a novel approach to model the transformation process within a dynamic computable general equilibrium framework. Furthermore, he estimates the potential income and welfare effects of EU integration for Poland, the largest transition country with EU candidate status.
The election of 1980 represented not only a departure from a 44 year-long period of predominantly Democratic presidents, but also a change in the rules of American politics. Anthony Bennett takes us through the last five elections of the twentieth century, from Ronald Reagan's 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' in 1980 to Bill Clinton's 'Bridge to the twenty-first century' in 1996. Beginning with the fundamentals of process and terminology, Bennett devotes a chapter to each election - including the candidates, the conventions, and the campaigns - and then explains why the race turned out as it did. Finally, he explains how the system continued to evolve to its modern day state and how Reagan, Bush and Clinton built their winning coalitions.
Hardy Wickwar takes a global look at public administration from the perspective of one whose lifetime has spanned most continents and most of a century. His volume investigates what governments do to, for, and with people; how governments treat their lands and the resources on, in, around, and above them; and how governments relate to their citizens through the exercise of power, law, and political judgement. Relating public administration to a country's social structure, law, and history, the volume expounds a European model and then analyzes variants in relation to differences in geography and historical setting. Wickwar makes a sharp distinction between continental countries where people accept the state as supremely important and island countries that do not. Taking as a given the fact that governments render services, Wickwar examines the varying ways in which they use their power to serve their people: what governments do themselves and what they leave for other social institutions to accomplish. Because of its clear view of the relationship between the structure of a particular society's thought and of its institutions, without assuming that an American administrative model ought to be emulated worldwide, Power and Service serves as an excellent guidebook for those who operate in various administrative environments internationally. The volume is divided into three major sections: World Picture, Country Model, and Western Variance. Part I begins by elaborating on the idea and ideals of public administration and how they have emerged, establishing bases for comparing public administration in time, space, and phases of modernity. The eight chapters that compose section II scrutinize public order, education and health services, income protection services, and more using a European model as a point of reference. Western Variance assesses both western and world variants, considering variants in both insular and continental settings. The final chapter, Horizon 2001, probes the emerging world of global public administration discourse. By all standards this volume will be essential reading in courses in comparative administration, politics, criminal justice, social service, health administration, international relations, and European history.
This volume provides information about the structures and composition of the higher civil service and its position in the political structure through a comparative analysis of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Denmark and Sweden. The book explores how higher civil service has developed in the light of the massive changes in European societies in the past 30 years. Changes include the size of the top level of the civil service, the growing social diversity of its ranks and well as the tendency to recruit from outside the civil service. The book also examines how wider social changes, such as the democratization of education, the growth of interest groups, and the increasing importance of the European Union impact on the higher levels of bureaucracy producing similar patterns of change throughout Europe.
Radical new technologies are developing in Western societies at ever-increasing rates but contemporary democracies often lack the appropriate organizational forms to confront these developments. "Creative Democracy" discusses the failure of politicians and democratic institutions to cope with modern challenges, and proposes a specific strategy to address these problems in contemporary society. The authors propose new strategies to increase public awareness of, and democratic control over, major technological developments explaining the advantage of democratic discourse and consensus formation over voting, and insisting that scientists must work with politicians to formulate and articulate their alternative futures for major technological developments. Overall, "Creative Democracy" provides a thorough, scholarly and practical analysis in support of democratic dialogue.
Discusses the ambiguous nature of the state in Russia, focusing on
elite networks and their role in policy processes. This book
examines the paradoxical dualism of state institutions and ruling
networks, providing answers as to why some decisions are not
implemented, and why the state exists despite the systemic
inefficiency of its institutions.
Lemco investigates those political, economic, and social conditions that theorists of federalism have associated with the stability or instability of federations. For many years, there have been pervasive arguments that federalism provides the best government possible for a nation of considerable ethnic and regional disparity. Students of federations have suggested that a centralized federal government that protects the national interest, and governments of the constituent units that protect local and regional interests, are the most responsive administrative forms for a society of great diversity. Following a review of the theoretical literature concerning federalism and political stability, data pertaining to political, social, and economic conditions that are reputed to be related to federal political stability are collected and tested. These conditions include the structure of politics, the impact of political freedom, the importance of the party system, and the relevance of ethnically and territorially based cleavages. The associations among economic modernization, social mobilization, relative deprivation, and federal political stability are also investigated. The author concludes with a discussion of the most significant independent variables, the prospects for future research, and a focus on the extent to which federal and unitary structures can protect minority rights effectively. Lemco's provocative study will be of considerable interest to political theoreticians as well as to students of contemporary nationalist movements.
The Nature of Party Government examines relationships between governments and supporting parties on a comparative European basis. The book does so at the level of principles: there is a major conflict between governments, which should govern and parties, which being representative, wish to shape the way governments operate. The book studies relationships empirically as well: it shows that they occur on three plans, appointments, policy-making and patronage and assesses the extent of two-way influences, from parties to governments and from governments to parties.
Volume three of the official history of Canada's Department of External Affairs offers readers an unparalleled look at the evolving structures underpinning Canadian foreign policy from 1968 to 1984. Using untapped archival sources and extensive interviews with top-level officials and ministers, the volume presents a frank "insider's view" of work in the Department, its key personalities, and its role in making Canada's foreign policy. In doing so, the volume presents novel perspectives on Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the country's responses to the era's most important international challenges. These include the October Crisis of 1970, recognition of Communist China, UN peacekeeping, decolonization and the North-South dialogue, the Middle East and the Iran Hostage crisis, and the ever-dangerous Cold War.
This book demonstrates how and why a majority of US artists must now function as producers of their original works, as well as creators. The author shows how, over the span of 20 years, the USA's cultural policy sector radically redefined US artists' practices without cohesively articulating the expectations of artists' new role.
This book explores the relationship between land use planning and ethno-religious segregation. It draws on a range of empirical research and case studies to explore the meaning attached to land in contested places, the challenges these present to planners and the possibilities for accommodating differences over the use and development of territory. The author argues that planners have a significant role in the management of these processes and sets out some ideas about how this might be addressed in local and global settings, including the Balkans and Palestine.
Can a political leader be effective without being tyrannical? Most biographies tend to treat the tyrannical aspect of a great leader's career as a contradiction to be minimized. This book examines both the creative and tyrannical aspects as the anticipated consequences of the exercise of power. Biographical profiles of 52 major world leaders throughout history feature pro/con essays reflecting contemporary views of the creative and tyrannical aspects of their record. Coverage is global, from Indira Gandhi to Fidel Castro, and spans history from the Egyptian king Akhenaton to Mikhail Gorbachev. Among the leaders profiled are Otto von Bismarck, Oliver Cromwell, Charles de Gaulle, Elizabeth I, Ho Chi Minh, Lenin, Louis XIV, Mao Zedong, Napoleon I, Kwame Nkrumah, Juan Peron, and Tito. All biographies are written by subject specialists. This work encourages critical thinking and debate about the exercise of power. Coverage is global, from Indira Gandhi to Fidel Castro, and spans history from the Egyptian king Akhenaton to Mikhail Gorbachev. Among the leaders profiled are Otto von Bismarck, Oliver Cromwell, Charles de Gaulle, Elizabeth I, Ho Chi Minh, Lenin, Louis XIV, Mao Zedong, Napoleon I, Kwame Nkrumah, Juan Peron, and Tito. Each biography begins with full name, dates of the leader's lifetime, offices held, and a general introduction placing the leader in historical context. A full biographical essay follows. The editor then presents two essays, in debate format, contrasting the creative and tyrannical roles of the subject from a contemporary viewpoint. Each biography concludes with suggestions for additional reading about the subject. An important resource tool, students will use Great Leaders, Great Tyrants? for debate and critical examination of periods of world history and the exercise of power.
Less fragmented than the author's earlier work, this book synthesizes Nagel's perspective on the field of policy analysis. As the field's principal organizer and leading promoter, one is indebted to Nagel for his energy, enthusiasm and resourcefulness. This volume is itself imbued with such qualities. It covers vast territory, insistently counters the skeptics, and develops original schema for evaluating the work of the field. Furthermore, as vintage Nagel, the book is highly structured, with many definitions, lists, and prenamed series of ideas. The author provides numerous hypothetical examples of his points, worked out in succinct formulas and terse explanations. Nagel is unswervingly convinced of the correctness of the rationalist perspective, and anchors himself firmly in behavioralist political science while accepting the contributions from other social sciences. Not one to qualify a statement or beat around the bush, the author enunciates many guiding principles and values, such as effectiveness, efficiency and equity. Nagel discusses software options for those interested in conducting analysis with microcomputers. He also gives advice on teaching with computers. Important for graduate students and university libraries. Choice The purpose of this work is twofold. First, it attempts to integrate the basic ideas that relate to policy studies. These include the definition of concepts, the establishment of criteria for judging policy studies research, and the clarification of policy goals. Second, the volume proposes to evaluate the methods of policy evaluation themselves, and to assess the field as a whole. Designed to serve as a definitive analysis of policy studies, this volume covers basic concepts, research criteria, societal goals, and policy alternatives. It also examines analytic methods, optimizing, statistics, quasi-experimentation, behavioralism, multicriteria decision making, evaluation, research, legal analysis, and conflicting critiques of the field. It was written for researchers and instructors of public policy studies, and will also assist public policy specialists and others interested in the application of social science and other fields of knowledge to important public policy issues.
Government agencies have tended to attempt to project favorable public images of themselves as a method of building the public support they need to survive, all the more so in times of increasingly sophisticated communications and decreasingly available financial resources. This study analyzes NASA's efforts to build political support through its public image. Throughout its tumultuous history, the space agency has carefully tailored its use of basic images: nationalism (during the Mercury era), romanticism (during the Apollo era), and pragmatism (during the Shuttle era)--to fit its prevailing political circumstances. This in-depth study will be of keen interest to scholars in political science and political communication.
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