Why do some ethno-national groups live peacefully with the states that govern them, whereas others develop into serious threats to state authority? Through a comparative historical analysis, this book compares the evolution of Kurdish mobilization in Turkey with the Berber mobilization in Morocco by looking at the different nation-building strategies of the respective states. Using a variety of sources, including archival documents, interviews, and memoirs, Senem Aslan emphasizes the varying levels of willingness and the varying capabilities of the Turkish and Moroccan states to intrude into their citizens' lives. She argues that complex interactions at the ground level - where states have demanded changes in everyday behavior, such as how to dress, what language to speak, what names to give children, and more mundane practices - account for the nature of emerging state-minority relations. By taking the local and informal interactions between state officials and citizens seriously, this study calls attention to the actual implementation of state policies and the often unintended consequences of these policies.

Why do some countries appear to be far more centralized than others? In some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are delivered by national and other non-local bodies. Moreover national government oversees the operation of local government with varying degrees of stringency. In addition, local politicians in some countries seem to have greater influence over their national counterparts than those in others. The answer to this question can be found in the distinctive patterns of development experienced in southern and northern Europe. Differences in national-local relations also have direct implications for patterns of policy-making at the local level. This book examines the legal and political bases of relationships between national and local government in Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Spain, and assesses the causes and consequences of differences in such relationships.

This book discusses the issues of inequality and marginalization in India. The first section of the book contextualizes sociological traditions for the scrutiny of subaltern discourse on discrimination. The chapters in the section explore self-identity, 'margins' in sociological traditions, subalternity and exclusion, citizenship issues of de-notified tribes, the role of religion for scheduled tribe Dalits and Ambedkar's ideas on tribes. The second section deals with the political economy of higher education, health and employment. The efforts of BR Ambedkar and the consequences of those efforts, his critique of education policies during British time and its alteration for independent India have been meticulously dealt with. The third section illustrates an application of theoretical understanding through narratives of labour bondage in Varanasi, sanitation workers in Mumbai and rickshaw pullers in Delhi. The last section establishes that unequal access to resources is a consequence of discrimination and marginalization induced by social identities. The book argues for equitable access to resources and opportunities to ensure health equity. The audience for this publication includes academics, researchers, health professionals, policymakers engaged with discrimination, exclusion, marginalization and inequity in health.

El libro proporciona un análisis bien informado y equilibrado con las razones que respaldan la transformación radical que ha experimentado la relación UE-Cuba en el siglo XXI, incluyendo los cambios realizados en Cuba desde el año 2008.

This book provides readers with accessible and thought-provoking commentary, teamed with newspaper accounts and personal anecdotes. The book is amply embellished with photographs, newspaper clippings and excerpts from municipal resolutions. In 1905 the local governments of BC realised a long-held goal of building an organisation to provide a unified voice for local governments -- the Union of British Columbia Municipalities. UBCM, which continues to serve as the voice for local governments, commemorates their achievements in this book. It is compiled, researched and written by a team at UBCM, chiefly Yale graduate and planner Harmony Folz, along with former CBC writer and broadcaster Wendy Bancroft.

This volume covers a wide spectrum of governance issues relating to small states in a global context. While different definitions of governance are given in the chapters, most authors associate governance with the setting and implementation of policies aimed at managing a country or territory, and with the related institutional structures and interventions by political actors. Generally, good governance is associated with concepts such as policy effectiveness, accountability, transparency, control of corruption, encouragement of citizens' voice and gender equality-factors which are, in turn, linked with democracy. What emerges from the book is that the societies of small states are being re-shaped by various forces outside their control, including the globalization process and climate change, rendering their governance ever more complex. These problems are not solely faced by small states, but small country size tends to lead to a higher degree of exposure to external factors. The chapters are grouped into four sections broadly covering political, environmental, social and economic governance. Governance is influenced by many, often intertwined, factors; the division of the book into four parts therefore does not detract from the fact that governance is multifaceted, and such division was based on the primary focus of each particular study and its main disciplinary background. The expert authors have, moreover, used a variety of approaches in the studies, the subject of small states being well suited to scholarly work from different disciplines using qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches to arrive at useful conclusions.

This book presents the changing roles of urban governments and how local governments struggle to gain administrative, fiscal, and political power to combat current urban challenges in Kazakhstan. Focusing on the cities and regions selected by the national government of Kazakhstan to be the drivers of national economic development, the author analyses the impact of decentralization on the role of local governments. The book examines the practical experiences of city and regional governments with an emphasis on urban planning, public investment in national projects, and management of urban transport. Due to the complexity and irregular distribution of political reforms at different levels of local government in Kazakhstan, three separate studies are presented, each looking at a specific aspect of decentralization reform and local government function related to physical urban development and distribution of public investment. The author argues that, if the national government of Kazakhstan wants to concentrate economic resources in urban agglomerations, it is not enough to assume that local governments are ready to play the role of efficient planners and managers of urban development. A useful analysis illustrating cities and urban conglomerations as engines of growth in economic development, this book will be of interest to academics studying Central Asian Studies, in particular political and economic development, Development Studies, and Urban Studies.

This book analyses efforts of Bangladeshi government and NGOs to strengthen local governance, and identifies the challenges posed by collaboration with NGOs. Presenting a dominantly qualitative study, the analysis explores whether engagement between the Sharique project to strengthen local governance and the Union Parishads has translated into success. In doing so, it argues that evidence points to a positive impact on institutionalising good governance and fiscal autonomy through widening participation in planning and decision-making, reinforcing accountability of functionaries and enhancing tax collection. Furthermore, this book demonstrates that the collaboration has aided the process of development of social capital between officials of councils and NGOs, as well as amongst the community members, encouraging future partnership governance. However, with the phasing out of the project as a propelling force, it also shows that the results fall short of being sustainable and, as such, that statuary support, unequivocal political commitment, and incentivising engagements are required to stabilise outcomes. Bridging a gap in the Development Studies literature, this book presents new findings on the collaboration of NGOs at the local level. It will be of interest to academics working in the field of South Asian Studies, Development Studies, and Asian Politics.

Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. Escalating climate disasters like storms, floods, and dry spells lead to disruptions, social conflicts, and unrest. This book elucidates the reality of climate adaptation related challenges and needs in vulnerable territories. It considers cities, land use, anticipatory governance, and the role of civil society, as well as early warning systems and nature-based solutions. The research also highlights major obstacles such as funding, knowledge gaps, trade-offs, social justice, and multi-stakeholder cooperation. The book is unique in that it unites a variety of perspectives and examples from different regions to develop a thorough and nuanced perspective on potential climate change solutions and the barriers to behavioral change at all levels of climate-related decision making.

* This book is comprehensive in nature, challenging in concept, written in the context of the current and future situation faced by public services and informed by relevant academic research findings where available. * Grounded in practical experience in public services policy and implementation. * Incorporates consideration of practices in other countries. * The authors have extensive experience of academic research, policy development and publications, coupled with extensive direct experience of public services, at a senior level, in the areas that they write about.

* This book is comprehensive in nature, challenging in concept, written in the context of the current and future situation faced by public services and informed by relevant academic research findings where available. * Grounded in practical experience in public services policy and implementation. * Incorporates consideration of practices in other countries. * The authors have extensive experience of academic research, policy development and publications, coupled with extensive direct experience of public services, at a senior level, in the areas that they write about.

How far can government be reinvented? What is the impact of globalization on the delivery of government services around the world? This comparative book debates new managerial and policy paradigms, with a sophisticated analysis of the potential effects of the marketizing of government services. Case studies explore The US Government's National Performance Review, the relocation of Britain's Inland Revenue IT services with a US multi-national, the impact of the Europeanization of government in the EU, the implausibility of reinventing government, and the applicability of new theories of analysis.

The purpose of the book is to elaborate a planning theory which departs from the plethora of theories which reflect the conditions of developed countries of the North-West. The empirical material of this effort is derived from a country, Greece, which sits on the edge between North-West and South-East, at the corner of Europe. No doubt, there is extensive international literature on planning theory in general from a bewildering variety of viewpoints. The interested professional or student of urban and regional planning is certainly aware of the dizzying flood of books, articles and research reports on planning theory and of their never-ending borrowing of obscure concepts from more respectable scientific disciplines, from mathematics to philosophy and from physics to economics, human geography and sociology. He or she probably observed that there is a growing interest in theoretical approaches from the viewpoint of the so-called "Global South". The author of the present book has for many decades faced the impasse of attempting to transplant theories founded on the experience of the North-West to countries with a totally different historical, political, social and geographical background. He learned that the reality that planners face is unpredictable, patchy, and responsive to social processes, frequently of a very pedestrian nature. Planning strives to deal with private interests which planners are keen to envelop in a single "public interest", which is extremely hard to define. The behaviour of the average citizen, far from being that of the neoclassical model of the homo economicus, is that of an individual, a kind of homo individualis, who interacts with the state and the public administration within a complex web of mutual dependence and negotiation. The state and its administrative apparatus, i.e., the key-determinants and fixers of urban and regional planning policy, bargain with this individual, offer inducements, exemptions, derogations and privileges, deviate unhesitatingly from their grand policy pronouncements, but still defend the rationality and comprehensiveness of the planning system they have legislated and operationalized. It is by and large a successful modus vivendi, but only thanks to a constant practice of compromise. Hence, the term compromise planning, which the author coined as an alternative to all the existing theoretical forms of planning. This is the sort of planning, and of the accompanying theory, with which he deals in this book. It is the outcome of experience and knowledge accumulated in a long personal journey of academic teaching in England and Greece, research, and professional involvement.

Distance, in its traditional sense, connotates "estrangement" and "division". But in the context of modern political studies, it means a controllable resource that can be manipulated to change the relationship between the government and the public. Drawing on this concept from Western political science, the author explores the law and mechanisms of China's political communication. In this volume, the author introduces a creative theoretical framework of distance, which is a dynamic system comprised of physical and psychological distance, ideal distance and real distance, and natural distance and consequent distance. Psychological distance is the core, because it signifies not only whether there is trust between a government and the public, but also whether the political community can maintain a high degree of harmony, stability, unity, and vitality. Events in the past five years in China are used as cases to illustrate the point. Students and scholars who are interested in political science and political communication, especially Chinese politics, would find this title a useful reference.

Distance, in its traditional sense, connotates "estrangement" and "division". But in the context of modern political studies, it means a controllable resource which can be manipulated to change the relationship between the government and the public. Drawing on this concept from western political science, the author explores the law and mechanisms of China's political communication. In this volume, the author introduces the empirical investigation of the distance between government and the public in China. First, it discusses how the use of online social media, such as Weibo, can be used strategically to mediate the distance of offline communication. Then, it points out that social media can also lead to unlimited expression of general will, to which governments should pay attention. An empirical study on how rural residents of five provinces in China obtain political information is used to illustrate the point. Students and scholars who are interested in political science and political communication, especially Chinese politics, would find this title a useful reference.

In recent times, international society has countered a myriad of 'outlaw' threats at sea, including piracy, terrorism, the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and the threat posed by 'rogue states'. Whilst the US has promoted 'coalitions of the willing' and sought to transform international maritime law in response to these 'outlaws', Japanese governments have developed an innovative maritime security strategy centering on the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). Concerned by Japan's international image as a former imperialist power, Tokyo has relied upon the identity of the JCG as a law enforcement and rescue organization to garner support for its maritime security strategy. Japan's non-military efforts have developed the capacities of states and built institutions in the Southeast Asian region and beyond. The JCG's response to maritime 'outlaws' belies characterizations of Japan as a passive state that does not contribute to international order.

This book analyzes Latin American regional integration with a novel conceptual approach grounded in extensive field research. Using the UNASUR (Union de Naciones Suramericanas) as a case study, the author investigates the process of policy-making in regional public policy fields in South America. The project focuses on intergovernmental structures of regional organizations as an institutional framework for a variety of independent processes in regions. It also challenges the perspective of democratic states as unitary actors and seeks to analyze the factors which favor or obstruct regional processes in different policy-fields. This work will appeal to researchers, graduate students and anyone interested in Latin American politics and policy-making.

Comprising case studies of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, this edited volume explores the key characteristics of democratic governance in Northeast Asia. Each democracy is assessed on the extent to which it enables the flourishing of social capital; prioritizes the interests of all as characterized by freedom from fear and want; and empowers all to participate in the democratic process and governance. With particular focus on the experience of minorities, this volume contends that the acid test of democratic governance is not how well the government represents the interests of the elites, or even the majority, but rather how it cares for the needs of vulnerable groups in society.

This book looks at experience in government restructuring and devolution from a variety of national and international perspectives, both within the European Union and elsewhere, focusing on lessons learned and ways forward.Since the 1980s, there has been a global trend to give more power to local governments. Even in Korea and the United Kingdom, the most centralised countries in the OECD, local government powers have increased, with substantial economic benefits. Within the European Union, the principle of subsidiarity has enshrined the idea of devolution. New member states, particularly in central and eastern Europe, have significantly created new and self-sufficient local and regional governments. However, this process has been complicated. Devolution is not a panacea in its own right, and need not lead to economic growth. While it can encourage savings through collaboration, it can also lead to confused lines of authority and can complicate policy formation and implantation. Devolution can strain local budgets, forcing local governments to rely on their own sources of finance, rather than central government transfers. Suburbanisation, rural depopulation, the growth of some regions, and the decline of others have raised new problems, particularly related to inter-governmental cooperation among local governments and different levels of government. In many cases, an increased number of governments has increased administrative costs.

Examines the sources behind state-local conflict to better understand where critical intergovernmental relationships may be breaking down Offers a framework for understanding possible sources behind state-local conflict, with a recognition that intergovernmental relationships have historical roots, are place-based, and dependent on context Defines the basic institutional structures and offices and addresses the intergovernmental legal environment Explores concrete issues that have become ensnared in intergovernmental conflict via case studies including environmental (plastic bags, climate change), social and constitutional (confederate statues, transgender bathrooms), and economic (living wage, affordable housing) to name a few Identifies solutions and policy tools that build upon the strengths of state and local governments, mitigate conflicts, and improve the quality of life for citizens

In defence of councillors is an unashamed defence of local representative democracy and of those elected to serve as councillors from the often ill-informed, ill-judged and inaccurate criticism made by the media, government and public, of councillors' personal, political and professional roles. By using qualitative research from a number of related projects, the book examines the roles, functions and responsibilities of councillors and the expectations placed upon them by citizens, communities and government. It also examines the impact council membership has on other facets of the councillor's life. The book examines how councillors develop strategies to overcome the constraints and restrictions on their office so as to be able to govern their communities, balance their political and public life and democratise and hold to account a vast array of unelected bodies that spend public money and develop public policy without the electoral mandate and legitimacy held by our councillors. -- .

This book investigates the experiences of women city councilors in India. It follows the careers of women in Jaipur, Rajasthan, who were brought into public office through a gender quota instituted over two decades ago. It reveals how, even in office, women continue to face stigma and normative restrictions imposed by a society not entirely willing to accept them in a public and independent position; and how men, technically blocked by the gender quota from holding office themselves, continue to exert control and influence over women officeholders, even sidelining them in many cases as proxies. The volume also documents the role of these men, colloquially known as parshad-patis, who have uniquely subverted the gender quota without violating any of the formal quota rules. To combat these challenges, the author presents pragmatic approaches to empower women in political offices at the grassroots and highlights the need for a comprehensive support structure to aid gender quota institutions in delivering equality in highly patriarchal environments. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with elected members and their spouses, as well as journalists, women's rights activists, and student political leaders, this book provides fascinating insights into the everyday politics of India. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of gender studies, politics, political processes, and South Asian studies.