The term "intergovernmental relations" refers to the way in which the different spheres of a government hierarchy relate to each other. This concept is of vital importance where there is a division of power at both administrative and legal levels among different spheres of government. Intergovernmental relations in South Africa examines the South African government's quest to enhance effective and efficient service delivery to the people. Case studies are included in all chapters to provide a hands-on approach to relate theory to practice. This book discusses four distinct approaches to the subject: the constitutional/legal approach, the democratic approach, the financial approach and the normative/operational approach. It culminates in a delineation of practical steps for the promotion of well-grounded intergovernmental relations, sustainable capacity building and trustworthy political accountability. The book also focuses on intergovernmental relations network and cooperative governance in South Africa as well as governmental relations in the BRICS countries. Intergovernmental relations in South Africa is suitable not only for academics but also for practitioners in the fields of public administration and management, political sciences, social sciences, law and other related disciplines.

This book examines how Africa can secure a 'just transition' to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies.

This new edition has been extensively updated to reflect developments in Georgia politics and government since 2007 - a decade that has seen three presidential election cycles, two midterm elections, and a census. Updates reflect not only changes in how Georgia is governed but also the economic and social trends helping to drive those changes. These include the continued growth and dispersal of Hispanic and Asian populations; the decline, by a variety of measures, of rural areas; and the moderating effect of probusiness government factions on social conservative agendas. This edition maintains the book's comparative approach, which examines the state from three revealing perspectives. This allows readers to determine the extent to which Georgia is similar to its peers on such topics as the length and features of the constitution, the organization of the state government, and the nature of policies. All this allows students and scholars to have a better understanding of the political and economic dynamics of Georgia and the relationship of those dynamics to national political and economic developments. The result is a thorough, up-to-date resource on Georgia's dynamic political system.

This book is a unique contribution to the understanding of the reality of government and governance in the European Union (EU). It illustrates the EU's multi-level system and within it the activities of agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation which all involve co-operation between public administrations from the sub-national, national, supranational and international levels. The book portrays how co-operation amongst administrations in Europe has become the backbone of the EU's unique system of government and governance. Many forms of co-operation have led to a truly integrated administration, which has developed in an evolutionary fashion and operates in large parts beyond the formally constituted rules of the treaties. EU Administrative Governance unites studies analysing policy phases and the most important policy areas from all three pillars of the EU. It outlines some of the main challenges which arise from the close integration of national and European administrations and explores implications for accountability and legitimacy of Europe's increasingly integrated administration. This unique contribution to the contemporary understanding of structures underlying European government and the exercise of governance will be of great interest to scholars in the fields of administrative law, EU law and administrative sciences.

Nearly one hundred thousand newly enfranchised blacks voted against race-baiting Eugene Talmadge in Georgia's 1946 Democratic primary. His opponent won the popular vote by a majority of sixteen thousand. Talmadge was elected anyway, thanks to the malapportioning county unit system, but died before he could be inaugurated, whereupon the General Assembly chose his son Herman to take his place. For the next sixty-three days, Georgia waited in shock for the state supreme court to decide whether Herman or the lieutenant governor-elect would be seated. What had happened to so suddenly reverse four years of progressive reform under retiring governor Ellis Arnall? To find out, Calvin Kytle and James A. Mackay sat through the tumultuous 1947 assembly, then toured Georgia's 159 counties asking politicians, public officials, editors, businessmen, farmers, factory workers, civic leaders, lobbyists, academicians, and preachers the question "Who runs Georgia?" Among those interviewed were editor Ralph McGill, novelist Lillian Smith, defeated gubernatorial candidate James V. Carmichael, powerbroker Roy Harris, pollwatcher Ira Butt, and more than a hundred others--men and women, black and white, heroes and rogues--of all stripes and stations. The result, as Dan T. Carter says in his foreword, captures "the substance and texture of political life in the American South" during an era that historians have heretofore neglected--those years of tension between the end of the New Deal and the explosive start of the civil rights movement. What's more, Who Runs Georgia? has much to tell us about campaign finance and the political influence of Big Money, as relevant for the nation today as it was then for the state.

The democratic system is understood and accepted as the fairest form of government in Western countries. Nevertheless, citizens tend to critique their democratically elected rulers. Mathematical Approaches to Understanding Democracy: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source that provides an analysis on the global political systems and provides insight on how to optimize government capabilities, citizen engagement, and educational systems. Using statistical concepts, it proposes algorithmic solutions to detect problems and provide improvement on democratic and non-democratic societies. Featuring research on topics such as political negligence, voter knowledge, political corruption, and democratic training, this book is ideally designed for governmental officials, policymakers, educators, statisticians, academicians, and researchers.

Alternately lauded as a democratic success story and decried as a flawed democracy, Indonesia deserves serious consideration by anyone concerned with the global state of democracy. Yet, more than ten years after the collapse of the authoritarian Suharto regime, we still know little about how the key institutions of Indonesian democracy actually function. This book, written by leading democracy experts and scholars of Indonesia, presents a sorely needed study of the inner workings of Indonesia's political system, and its interactions with society. Combining careful case studies with an eye to the big picture, it is an indispensable guide to democratic Indonesia, its achievements, shortcomings and continuing challenges.

This book is a collection of texts on one of China's boldest social experiments in recent years: the rural reconstruction project in Bishan. The Bishan Project (2011-2016) was a rural reconstruction project in a small village Bishan, Anhui Province, China. The writings describe and criticize the social problems caused by China's over-loading urbanization process and starts a a contemporary agrarianism and agritopianism discourse to resist the modernism and developmentalism doctrine which dominated China for more than a century, answering a global desire for the theory and action of the alternative social solution for today's environmental and political crises.This practical utopian commune project ran for 6 years and caused a national debate on rural issues in China, when it was invited to be exhibited and presented abroad. This collection of writing will be of interest to artists, China scholars, architects, and the cultural community at large.

This book examines urbanization and migration processes in South Asia. By analyzing the socio-economic impacts and infrastructural, environmental and institutional aspects of different conurbations, it highlights conflicts over agricultural land as well as the effects on health, education, poverty and the welfare of children, women and old people. The authors also explore issues of mobility; connectivity and accessibility of public services, and discuss the effective use of new urban-management tools, such as the concept of smart cities and urban spatial monitoring.

Sunni Islam has played an ambivalent role in Turkey's Kurdish conflict-both as a conflict resolution tool and as a tool of resistance. Under the Banner of Islam uses Turkey as a case study to understand how religious, ethnic, and national identities converge in ethnic conflicts between co-religionists. Gulay Turkmen asks a question that informs the way we understand religiously homogeneous ethnic conflicts today: Is it possible for religion to act as a resolution tool in these often-violent conflicts? In search for answers to this question, in Under the Banner of Islam, Turkmen journeys into the inner circles of religious elites from different backgrounds: non-state-appointed local Kurdish meles, state-appointed Kurdish and Turkish imams, heads of religious NGOs, and members of religious orders. Blending interview data with a detailed historical analysis that goes back as far as the nineteenth century, she argues that the strength of Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, the symbiotic relationship between Turkey's religious and political fields, the religious elites' varying conceptualizations of religious and ethnic identities, and the recent political developments in the region (particularly in Syria) all contribute to the complex role religion plays in the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Under the Banner of Islam is a specific story of religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, but it also tracks a broader narrative of how ethnic and religious identities are negotiated when resolving conflicts.