![]() |
![]() |
Your cart is empty |
||
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > General
Fully updated and expanded, the second edition of this still compact text on British politics expertly analyses the major changes in British political life, placing them revealingly within the context of the evolution of British society from absolute monarchy to representative democracy. The author considers each of the major components of British politics in digestible chapters, such as the Monarchy and the House of Lords, the Commons, voting behaviour, parties and pressure groups, the prime minister and cabinet, devolution, local government, and foreign policy. The book includes two new chapters on the EU referendum and Brexit, and the extraordinary December 2019 election, as well as coverage of events such as the coronavirus pandemic, and the respective travails of the increasingly split two major political parties. This readable and comprehensive introduction will be of key interest to A-level students, undergraduates and those new to the study of British politics.
In this book, Amos Kiewe explores the story of the 1824 Presidential election, when the House of Representatives elected the president after no candidate won outright the majority of the Electoral College. Though most in the nation assumed that Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote and the plurality of the Electoral College, would be elected the presidency by the House, Kiewe demonstrates how maneuvering, vote trading, and special favors dictated a different outcome. Through inspecting speeches, statements, private letters, and published accounts, Kiewe simultaneously intersects rhetoric, history, and politics as variables that help to tell the story of the 1824 presidential election. Scholars of communication, political science, and history will find this book of particular interest.
In Search of Federal Enforcement is a call to investigate the history of federal oversight to secure and preserve black Americans' voting rights over a ninety-five-year interregnum. This book satiates the reader's harboring curiosity as to why the national government was culpably negligent in protecting the exercise of the franchise for black Americans until the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As Holloway explains, much of this problem stemmed from Southern Democrats operating in tandem with the power of private actors to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment. This mutual-advantage partnership codified disfranchisement, safeguarded the interests of recalcitrant Southern states and localities, and defended local systems of privilege. In the pages of this timely study, Holloway lays bare the abject failure of the national government and critically evaluates how the Southern status quo stimulated chaos at the national level. Despite market paradigms, In Search of Federal Enforcement confronts this historical conundrum and offers keen observations about voting manipulations and electoral abuse by both incumbents and private actors.
American political parties have long existed in a gray area of constitutional law because of their uncertain status. Parties in this country are neither fully public nor fully private entities. This constitutional ambiguity has meant that political parties are considered private organizations for some purposes and public ones for others. This "public-private entity" problem has arisen in many different legal contexts over the years. However, given their case-by-case method of judicial review, courts have typically dealt with only very discrete parts of this larger problem. This work is an endeavor to describe and analyze the constitutional status of political parties in this country by synthesizing the best judicial and scholarly thinking on the subject. In the final chapter, I draw on these ideas to propose my own scheme for how political parties might be best accommodated in a democracy.
The institution of the prime minister in France remains understudied. There are many personalized accounts of the work of individual prime ministers and their relations with presidents and government ministers. However, there has been no rigorous attempt to analyse the prime minister's overall influence in the decision-making process. This study aims to examine the contemporary role of the prime minister in the French political system. By so doing, the book provides a systematic analysis of the prime minister's influence over the policy-making process from 1981-1991. There is also new evidence on the student demonstrations of 1986. Robert Elgie has published articles for journals such as "Governance", "West European Politics" and "Modern and Contemporary France".
The contemporary state is not only the main force behind environmental change, but the reactions to environmental problems have played a crucial role in the modernisation of the state apparatus, especially because of its mediatory role. The Political Ecology of the State is the first book to critically assess the philosophical basis of environmental statehood and regulation, addressing the emergence and evolution of environmental regulation from the early twentieth century to the more recent phase of ecological modernisation and the neoliberalisation of nature. The state is understood as the result of permanent socionatural interactions and multiple forms of contestation, from a critical politico-ecological approach. This book examines the tension between pro- and anti-commons tendencies that have permeated the organisation and failures of the environmental responses put forward by the state. It provides a reinterpretation of the achievements and failures of mainstream environmental policies and regulation, and offers a review of the main philosophical influences behind different periods of environmental statehood and regulation. It sets out an agenda for going beyond conventional state regulation and grassroots dealings with the state, and as such redefines the environmental apparatus of the state.
This annotated bibliography assists the reader in locating information about the United States Federal Trade Commission. The book is divided into four chapters, each reflecting the major functions and regulatory responsibilities of the FTC.
The book uses an original language-based bilayer theory to throw
light on the secretive structure of power in the Japanese Diet, its
national parliament, and relates its findings to Japanese
parliamentary democracy in historical perspective. In so doing, the
book answers questions about the latent policymaking process of
Japanese politics that resulted in a reduction of social alienation
and disorganization while Japan industrialized. Industrialization
significantly reduced poverty and increased the size of the middle
class, enabling the nation to move towards democracy. The reader
will see why socialists were so quixotically dogmatic toward
conservatives to the point of absurdity during the Cold War period.
Yet, they were able to form a coalition government following the
end of Cold War era.
Labour migration has become one of the hot topics in Europe, especially since 2000 with the shift from restriction to managed migration. This book provides an authoritative account of policy change over labour migration in Europe during this new era of governance. It has important implications for debates about the contemporary governance of labour migration in Europe, and questions about the impact of an emergent EU migration regime in the context of a globalising labour market. The key findings offer a deeper understanding of the linkages between those engaged in policymaking and the kinds of communities that produce usable knowledge. It will therefore be essential reading for academics, practitioners and students of migration and national policy processes in the EU. It will be an invaluable resource for individuals and organisations active in the immigration policy community, including policymakers themselves, but also the wider network of NGOs, think tanks and interest groups. -- .
This book analyzes the food revolution that has occurred in Russia since the late 1980s, documenting the transformation in systems of production, supply, distribution, and consumption. It examines the dominant actors in the food system; explores how the state regulates food; considers changes in patterns of food trade interactions with other states; and discusses how all this and changing habits of consumption have impacted consumers. It contrasts the grim food situation of 1980s and 1990s with the much better food situation that prevails at present and sets the food revolution in the context of the wider consumer revolution, which has affected fashion, consumer electronics, and other sectors of the economy.
This revised and updated third edition provides readers with a comprehensive description and analysis of the German political system, and of the political behaviour within the context of that system. It surveys the historical development of German politics, including the background, processes and political consequences of reunification, and recent changes to the electoral system, party system and recent Bundestag and Land elections. This authoritative yet accessible textbook presents certain specialised topics, such as the career of Angela Merkel and the Eurozone crisis, in separate sections within the relevant chapters, and provides tables for key information including election results, the membership of trade unions and lists of presidents and chancellors. The appendices include a review of significant constitutional court cases, a survey of the more important political features of each of the sixteen Lander, and the Bundestag election campaigns since 1949. Each chapter also offers suggestions for further reading. This new edition of German politics today offers a sound foundation for undergraduate courses focused on, or involving, study of the German political system. -- .
From EDC to CFSP provides a detailed overview of the various attempts to incorporate a security and defense role in the European integration process. The book considers why attempts to include it have been elusive, and assesses what progress has been made to this end since 1945. The assessment includes topics such as the enlargement of NATO, the EU's Amsterdam Treaty, and the role of the revived Western European Union, as well as the role of the main actors, including the United States.
An enduring question for most nations has been how to best represent their citizens and their needs. This is a complex issue as there is no universally accepted definition of good representation. Representation and Institutional Design addresses the issues of institutions and representation by examining how variation in institutional design can affect many aspects of how legislators represent their constituents. It does so by examining the relationships between legislative design (electoral laws, term limits, professionalism, and district size and magnitude) and many aspects of representation (symbolic, service, and policy representation, as well as legislators' incentives to represent). A key finding is that each aspect of professionalism has a unique set of effects on representation. Legislators with staff have closer relationship with their constituents than others. Legislators with other legislative resources engage in more symbolic and service representation but not policy representation. And legislators in institutions with greater capacity were similar to others in their representative style. Findings also indicate that term limits weaken relationships between legislators and constituents and electoral laws, and district size and magnitude have some but limited effects. This is an important study not only because of the importance of representation but also because of the dearth of research on how institutional design affects representation in state legislatures.
This book presents a comprehensive view of the state of the Russian economy under President Putin. It considers the extent of Russia's integration in the world economy, where Russia's exports of oil and gas are a key factor, discusses Russia's internal challenges, including changing demographics, declining government revenue, the need to counter over-reliance on the oil and gas sector and the consequences of high military spending, and assesses the prospects for economic reform, highlighting especially the power struggles between different vested interests. Overall, the book provides a basis for understanding what has been going on in the Russian economy under President Putin and what the future may look like given the external environment, internal challenges and reform processes.
Inter and Intra Governmental Arrangements for Productivity - An Agency Approach focuses on public productivity. It addresses long standing and current questions on government productivity. Its scope and coverage range from theory to very specific applications. First of all it demonstrates the applicability of a theoretical framework to concrete issues in the public sector: the Principal Agent (PA) theory or the Agency theory. Secondly, it demonstrates the different perspectives of this theoretical framework as seen by researchers and practitioners from various countries. The volume is based upon the revised seminar papers from a conference that was held at the University of Twente. Two trends obvious in this world are its increasing global character and the need for increasingly efficient and effective organizations. Inter and intra governmental organizations need to learn to effectively and efficiently work together in complex web like relationships. This study forms a major step in that direction. It consolidates several current economic concepts that are highly visible and specifically applies them to various levels and functions of government. It emphasizes that PA theory is a powerful conceptual framework because of the economic focus on transactions between principals and agents. The issues of information asymmetry, across government constituents, political/diplomatic considerations, and the narrow focus of PA problems will be described. Attention is also given to the issues of citizen demands, internal markets, franchising, competitive procurement and contracting in'. The study concentrates on academic thinking about the applicability of PA concepts to administrative theory building. As such it makes a current, valid contribution to the knowledge and practice of public administration world-wide.
Jim Bishop's trademark suspenseful, hour-by-hour storytelling style drives this account of an unforgettable day in American history. Culled from interviews with more than three hundred individuals, his retelling tracks all the major and minor characters of that day--JFK, Oswald, Ruby, LBJ, Jackie, and others--illuminating a human drama that many readers believe they know well. At once moving and terrifying, and filled with vivid detail, it delivers the haunting feeling of being there as the day's events unfolded in both Dallas and Washington. As gripping as fiction but with a journalist's exacting detail, The Day Kennedy Was Shot captures the action, mystery, and drama that unfolded on November 22, 1963.
In the Post-Cold War era, US nuclear foreign policies towards India witnessed a major turnaround as a demand for 'cap, reduce, eliminate' under the Clinton administration was replaced by the implementation of the historic 'civil nuclear deal' in 2008 by Bush, a policy which continued under Obama's administration. This book addresses the change in US nuclear foreign policy by focusing on three core categories of identity, inequality, and great power narratives. Building upon the theoretical paradigm of critical constructivism, the concept of the 'state' is problematised by focusing on identity-related questions arguing that the 'state' becomes a constructed entity standing as valid only within relations of identity and difference. Focusing on postcolonial principles, Pate argues that imperialism as an organising principle of identity/difference enables us to understand how difference was maintained in unequal terms through US nuclear foreign policy. This manifested in five great power narratives constructed around peace and justice; India-Pakistan deterrence; democracy; economic progress; and scientific development. Identities of 'race', 'political economy', and 'gender', in terms of 'radical otherness' and 'otherness' were recurrently utilised through these narratives to maintain a difference enabling the respective administrations to maintain 'US' identity as a progressive and developed western nation, intrinsically justifying the US role as an arbiter of the global nuclear order. A useful work for scholars researching identity construction and US foreign and security policies, US-India bilateral nuclear relations, South Asian nuclear politics, critical security, and postcolonial studies.
Public policy makers and managers in public administration operate under a unique set of circumstances that differ significantly from those in the private sector. Collaboration through networks is a feature of both sectors, but in the private sector it is often characterized by partnerships and alliances meant to benefit a particular company or industry, whereas collaboration through networks in the public sector involve disparate organizations working toward a common goal and not merely to enhance the performance of one among them. Therefore, much of the work that has been published in the business management literature on collaboration through networks does not apply wholesale, without revisions, to the public sector. Mandell and her contributors fill that gap by bringing together academic and practitioner perspectives into a coherent, holistic examination of the operative processes in public-sector networks and network structures. Networks and network structures by definition imply interactions among many organizations, individuals, or interest groups. The definition is broadened here to include collaborative efforts that take place within different countries as well as those that cross national borders. Going beyond the usual emphasis on the opportunities and promises of collaboration through networks, Mandell and her contributors take a hard look at such pitfalls and constraints as those involving power conflicts between individual and organizational commitments, the dichotomy between the need for flexibility and the need for rules and procedures, the difference between the needs and expectations of a national public and a local public, and accountability issues that arise from the need to satisfy outside regulators as well as the goals of the network. In addition to these unique contributions to the literature on networks and network structures, Mandell addresses the important but often overlooked behavioral (micro) issues--e.g., motivation, change, and communication--that tend to be drowned out by the overriding emphasis in the literature on structural (macro) issues. Reflects the latest thinking in the field and explores up-to-the-minute innovations currently being developed.
The first detailed study of Estonian politics during the 1930s, this book examines the Estonian Veterans' League which won a majority in a referendum for its constitutional amendment creating a strong presidency. The Veterans appeared set to triumph in the 1934 elections, but were thwarted by the establishment of an authoritarian regime. By using formerly unobtainable archival records, this study fills a considerable gap in the literature on the Baltic states and should be appealing to those interested in fascism.
Many tales from the Jazz Age reek of crime and corruption. But perhaps the era's greatest political fiasco-one that resulted in a nationwide scandal, a public reckoning at the department of justice, the rise of J. Edgar Hoover, and an Oscar-winning film-has long been lost to the annals of history. In Crooked, Nathan Masters restores this story of murderers, con artists, secret lovers, spies, bootleggers, and corrupt politicians to its full, page-turning glory. Newly elected to the Senate on a promise to root out corruption, Burton "Boxcar Burt" Wheeler sets his sights on exposing Harry Daugherty, President Warren G. Harding's attorney general and the pup-pet master behind the nascent FBI. The famously corrupt Daugherty is known for doing whatever it takes to keep his boss in power, whether it be taking kickbacks from bootleggers or bribes for drilling rights. But when his constant companion and trusted fixer, Jess Smith, is found dead of a gunshot wound in the apartment the two men shared, Daugherty is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, exposing the rot consuming the Harding administration to a shocked public. Determined to uncover the truth in the ensuing investigation, Wheeler takes the prosecutorial reins and subpoenas a rogue's gallery of witnesses-ex-cons, bootleggers, disgraced government officials-all seek-ing to expose the attorney general's treachery and solve the riddle of Jess Smith's suspicious death. But with the muckraking senator hot on his trail, Daugherty turns to his greatest weapon, the budding Bureau of Investigation, whose eager second-in-command, J. Edgar Hoover, sees opportunity amidst the chaos. Packed with political intrigue, salacious scandal, and no shortage of lessons for our modern era of political discord, Nathan Masters's thrilling historical narrative shows how this intricate web of inconceivable crookedness set the stage for the next century of American political scandals.
History has shown that diplomacy is one of the best ways to protect the United States and the American people. The State Department uses diplomacy with other nations to successfully deal with many challenges that cross national boundaries and affect us here in the United States, including: *Terrorism; *The threat of weapons of mass destruction; *HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; *Illegal drug trafficking and crime; *Humanitarian needs of migrants and refugees; and *Environmental degradation. Americans at home and abroad face threats to their physical and economic well-being. The State Department protects our nation, its people, and our prosperity. Understanding the Department of State looks at the main current issues it faces around the globe from relations with Russia and China to the civil war in Iraq and the growing threat from the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. The book also has brief biographies of all the Secretaries of State from Thomas Jefferson, the first to hold the position in 1790, to John Kerry, the current incumbent. The book also contains: *A detailed history of the role of the State Department over the last 250 years and how it shaped both the United States and the rest of the world. *A list and bios of all U.S. Secretaries of State *A list of the major global issues which are the State Department's current focus of attention. About the Series: The Cabinet Series looks at the major departments in the Federal Government explaining why they were created and the responsibilities of each agency and how they conduct their daily business at home and abroad. It helps to explain what federal agencies do and how they affect the lives of citizens.
This study examines how presidents shape the way people think about political issues. In addition, it explores the limits that political ideology places on presidential action. Tracing the interplay between political philosophy, policymaking, and party politics from Franklin Roosevelt to George Bush, the work looks beyond the typical focus on personality and political tactics to the underlying ideological significance of presidential philosophies and actions. It develops new concepts that lend historical and comparative perspective to current debates about the role of government in American society, and it presents a new way of seeing and interpreting the presidency. Dennis Florig finds that presidential ideologies matter--but not in the way they seem to matter. Ideologies both illuminate and obscure political realities. And while presidential ideologies have had huge impacts on the way both ordinary citizens and policymakers understand the political world, they have also served to mystify the forces that drive decisionmaking, sometimes masking the real face of political power. This important new study will be of interest to scholars in American history, government, and politics.
In developing Legislative Term Limits, the editor has included material that has explicit and testable models about the expected consequences of term limits that reflect Public Choice perspectives. This book contains the best efforts of economists and political scientists to predict the consequences of legislative term limits. |
![]() ![]() You may like...
Recent Advances in Game Theory and…
Leon A. Petrosyan, Vladimir V. Mazalov
Hardcover
Game Theory and Networks - New…
Surajit Borkotokey, Rajnish Kumar, …
Hardcover
R4,255
Discovery Miles 42 550
Multilevel Strategic Interaction Game…
Eitan Altman, Konstantin Avrachenkov, …
Hardcover
R3,160
Discovery Miles 31 600
|