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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes
For decades, leaders in Newark, New Jersey, have claimed their city
is about to return to its vibrant past. How accurate is this
prediction? Is Newark on the verge of revitalization? Robert
Curvin, who was one of New Jersey's outstanding civil rights
leaders, examines the city, chronicling its history, politics, and
culture." "Throughout the pages of" Inside Newark," Curvin
approaches his story both as an insider who is rooting for Newark
and as an objective social scientist illuminating the causes and
effects of sweeping changes in the city
Based on historical records and revealing interviews with over one
hundred residents and officials, "Inside Newark" traces Newark's
history from the 1950s, when the city was a thriving industrial
center, to the era of Mayor Cory Booker. Along the way, Curvin
covers the disturbances of July 1967, called a riot by the media
and a rebellion by residents; the administration of Kenneth Gibson,
the first black mayor of a large northeastern city; and the era of
Sharpe James, who was found guilty of corruption. Curvin examines
damaging housing and mortgage policies, the state takeover of the
failing school system, the persistence of corruption and patronage,
Newark's shifting ethnic and racial composition, positive
developments in housing and business complexes, and the reign of
ambitious mayor Cory Booker.
"
Inside Newark" reveals a central weakness that continues to plague
Newark--that throughout this history, elected officials have not
risen to the challenges they have faced. Curvin calls on those in
positions of influence to work for the social and economic
improvement of all groups and concludes with suggestions for
change, focusing on education reform, civic participation,
financial management, partnerships with agencies and business,
improving Newark's City Council, and limiting the term of the
mayor. If Newark's leadership can encompass these changes, Newark
will have a chance at a true turnaround.
Representative democracy has long been problematic and subject to
erosion through the introduction of components of direct democracy
(referenda, voter initiatives and systems of recall). Following the
increase of direct action across the world, through the Occupy
movement and the rise of new populist parties championing greater
citizen inclusion in decision making, many are considering whether
the hierarchical system of political control might have had its
day. But what might be the alternative, next democracy? This book
considers the viability of a populist conception of democratic
organization, which puts power into the hands of ordinary citizens.
Examining contemporary and classic theory to contextualize the
critique of existing systems, the book goes on to explore
alternative arrangements tested out by activists, eco-protestors
and anti-capitalists - from the recent Occupy agenda to Gandhi's
experiments in alternative living. Milligan confronts the practical
challenges posed by these systems of direct democracy and discusses
the considerable difficulties of scaling up and sustaining them in
state-level contexts. Whilst the book concedes that such concerns
are genuine, it argues that a theory of generalized direct
democracy can shake off its utopian aspirations and become a
legitimate alternative for the future.
Ethnic Diasporas and the Canada-United States Security Community
focuses on three diasporas and their impact on North American
security relations, the Irish and Germans, which were mainly in the
US, and the Muslim diaspora, which is based in both countries. The
book begins by examining the evolution of North America from a zone
of war to a zone of peace (i.e., a security community), starting
with the debate over the nature and meaning of the Canada-US
border. It then assesses the role of ethnic diasporas in North
American security, looking as to whether ethnic interest groups
have been gaining influence over the shaping of the US foreign
policy. This debate is also valid in Canada, especially given the
practice of federal political parties of catering to blocs of
ethnic voters. The second section of the book focuses on three case
studies. The first examines the impact of the Irish Americans on
the quality of security relations between the US and the UK, and
therefore between the former and Canada. The second looks at an
even larger diaspora, the German Americans, whose political agenda
by the start of twentieth century attempted to discourage
Anglo-American entente and eventual alliance. The final case
concentrates on the debates around the North American Muslim
diaspora in the past two decades, a time when policy attention
turned toward the greater Middle East, which in many ways
constitute the "kin community" of this politically active diaspora.
This comparative assessment of the three cases provides
contextualization for today's discussion of homegrown terrorism and
its implication for bilateral security cooperation in North
America.
The Crimean Khanate was often treated as a semi-nomadic,
watered-down version of the Golden Horde, or yet another vassal
state of the Ottoman Empire. This book revises these views by
exploring the Khanate's political and legal systems, which combined
well organized and well developed institutions, which were rooted
in different traditions (Golden Horde, Islamic and Ottoman).
Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the Crimean court
registers from the reign of Murad Giray (1678-1683), the book
examines the role of the khan, members of his council and other
officials in the Crimean political and judicial systems as well as
the practice of the Crimean sharia court during the reign of Murad
Giray.
isiXhosa edition translated by PROF
PETER MTUZE, with input from PROF SIMPHIWE SESANTI and DR ATHAMBILE
MASOLA
After years in the making, the iconic I Write What I Like has been
translated into isiXhosa, a long-awaited project for the Biko family
and the Biko Foundation.
Ndibhala Intando Yam features the writing of the famous activist and
Black Consciousness leader, Steve Biko. Before his untimely death in
detention at age 30, Biko was instrumental in uniting Black Africans in
the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa.
This edition features a new Foreword by Nkosinathi Biko as well as the
material of the original 2004 Picador Africa edition: a collection of
Biko’s columns entitled I Write What I Like published in the journal of
the South Africa Student Organisation under the pseudonym of ‘Frank
Talk’; other journal articles, interviews and letters written by Steve
Biko at the time; a Preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and an
Introduction by Nkosinathi Biko; and a moving memoir by Father Aelred
Stubbs, which pays tribute to the courage and power of this young
leader who was to become one of Africa’s heroes.
This book argues that Franklin D. Roosevelt's work-of which the New
Deal was a prime example-was rooted in a definitive political
ideology tied to the ideals of the Progressive movement and the
social gospel of the late 19th century. Roosevelt's New Deal
resulted in such dramatic changes within the United States that it
merits the label "revolutionary" and ranks with the work of
Washington and Lincoln in its influence on the American nation. The
New Deal was not simply the response to a severe economic crisis;
it was also an expression of FDR's well-developed political
ideology stemming from his religious ideas and his experience in
the Progressive movement of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Third American Revolution describes
the unfolding of his New Deal response to the crisis of the
Depression and chronicles the bitter conservative opposition that
resisted every step in the Roosevelt revolution. The author's
analysis of Roosevelt's political thought is supported by FDR's own
words contained in the key documents and various speeches of his
political career. This book also documents FDR's recognition of the
dangers to democracy from unresponsive government and identifies
his specific motivations to provide for the general welfare.
Provides a chronology of FDR's career Contains photographs of FDR
and New Deal moments as well as edited versions of FDR's documents
and speeches Includes a bibliography of works and documents cited
The third edition of the manual for community organizers tells
readers how to most effectively implement community action for
social change, clearly laying out grassroots organizing principles,
methods, and best practices. Written for those who want to improve
their own lives or the lives of others, this thoroughly revised
how-to manual presents techniques groups can use to organize
successfully in pursuit of their dreams. The book combines
time-tested, universal principles and methods with cutting-edge
material addressing new opportunities and challenges. It covers
basic concepts and best practices and offers step-by-step
guidelines on things an organizer needs to know, such as how to
identify issues, formulate strategies, set goals, recruit
participants, and much more. The work focuses on six organizing
arenas: turf/geography, failth-based, issue, identity, shared
experience, and work-related. It offers new or expanded material
addressing community development, use of social media, internal
organizational dynamics, electoral organizing,
evaluation/assessment, and prevention of burnout for key leaders.
There are also nuts-and-bolts articles by experts who address
topics such as action research, lobbying, legal tactics, and
grassroots fundraising. Numerous case examples, charts, worksheets,
and small group exercises enrich the discussion and bring the
material to life. Provides clear, step-by-step guidelines for
building grassroots organizations, selecting and framing issues,
establishing goals, developing leadership, planning and
implementing actions, and assessing results Explores the distinct
roles of members, leaders, and organizers Shares case materials
that demonstrate community organizing strategies and tactics used
to leverage institutions at the state, regional, and national
levels Discusses why some strategies succeed while others fail
Includes campaign-planning worksheets and small-group exercises
suitable for community-based training sessions and workshops as
well as for undergraduate or graduate level courses
This book assesses how governance has evolved in six nations -
England, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands -
between 1970 and 2018. More specifically, it examines how the
governance approaches and the sets of policy tools used to govern
have altered with respect to four public policy sectors that
represent core responsibilities of the modern OECD state:
education, energy, environment and health. To structure this
analytical approach, the book harnesses sociological
institutionalism in the area of 'policy sequencing' to trace both
the motivations and the consequences of policy-makers' altering
governance approaches and the resulting policy tools. Combining a
comparative and international focus, this book will appeal to
scholars and students of public policy and governance.
In 1966, a soft-spoken 32-year old man emerged from relative
obscurity and humble background to become Nigeria's Head of State
and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. His name was Lt Col
(later General)Yakubu Gowon. He emerged as the compromise candidate
following the political crisis that engulfed the country after the
July 1966 military coup that had led to the assassination of the
country's first military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi. At
the end of the Civil War in 1970, General Gowon's doctrine of 'No
Victor No Vanquished' greatly endeared him to many, and he was
variously dubbed 'Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria', 'a soft spoken but
dynamic leader' 'a real gentleman' and 'an almost faultless
administrator'. However, after he was overthrown in a military coup
in July 1975, long knives were drawn out for him, with the hitherto
friendly press and public crying 'crucify him', and now variously
vilifying him as 'weak' and of managing a purposeless
administration that had led to the 'drifting' of the nation. In
this book Professor J. Isawa Elaigwu attempts a scholarly political
biography of someone he believes has rendered great services to the
Nigerian nation despite his weaknesses as a leader. He rejects the
notion that Gowon's nine years in office were 'nine years of
failure' as the General's ardent critics posit, arguing that if it
is possible to identify a number of thresholds in his
administration, it is also possible to identify the approximate
point in time when the strains of his administration became visible
to observers and the public in general. He poses and methodically
seeks answers to a number of fundamental questions: Who was Yakubu
Gowon? Why and how was the reservoir of goodwill and credibility
which he had accumulated by the end of the Civil War expended? What
image of Nigeria did he have when he came into power? And did he
ever achieve his objectives? The book, first published in 1986, has
been revised and expanded for this edition
____________________________________ Dr. J. Isawa Elaigwu is
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Jos, Jos,
Nigeria. He is currently the President of the Institute of
Governance and Social Research (IGSR), Jos, Nigeria. A widely
travelled academic, Professor Elaigwu's works have been widely
published within and outside Nigeria. He has also served as a
consultant to many national and international agencies.
'A REMARKABLE BOOK... AN AMAZINGLY AUDACIOUS AND COMPLETELY
INNOVATIVE WAY OF WRITING HISTORY... IMMEDIATE AND GRIPPING' -
WILLIAM BOYD In Petrograd a fire is lit. The Tsar is packed off to
the Urals. A rancorous Russian exile crosses war-torn Europe to
make his triumphal entry into the capital. 'Peace now!' the crowds
cry... German soldiers return from the war to quash a Communist
rising in Berlin. A former field-runner trained by the army to give
rousing speeches against the Bolshevik peril begins to rail against
the Jews... A solar eclipse turns a former patent clerk from
Switzerland into a celebrity, shaking the foundations of human
understanding with his revolutionary theories of time and space...
In Paris an American reporter in search of himself writes ever
shorter sentences and discovers a new literary style... Lenin and
Hitler, Einstein and Hemingway, Sigmund Freud and Andre Breton,
Emmaline Pankhurst and Mustafa Kemal - these are some of the
protagonists in this dramatic panorama of a world in turmoil.
Emperors, kings and generals depart furtively on midnight trains
and submarines. Women are given the vote. Artistic experiments
flourish. The real becomes surreal. Marching tunes are syncopated
into jazz. Civilisation is loosed from its pre-war moorings. People
search for meaning in the wreckage. Even as the ink is drying on
the armistice that ends the war in the west in 1918, fresh
conflicts and upheavals erupt elsewhere. It takes six years for
Europe to find uneasy peace. Crucible is the collective diary of an
era: filled with all-too-human tales of exuberant dreams, dark
fears, grubby ambitions and the absurdities of chance. Encompassing
both tragedy and humour, it brings immediacy and intimacy to a
moment of deep historical transformation - with consequences which
echo down to today.
This volume is a collection of 30 papers on the broad subject of
the Scandinavian expansion westwards to Britain, Ireland and the
North Atlantic, with a particular emphasis on settlement. The
volume has been prepared in tribute to the work of Barbara E.
Crawford on this subject, and to celebrate the twentieth
anniversary of the publication of her seminal book, Scandinavian
Scotland. Reflecting Dr Crawford's interests, the papers cover a
range of disciplines, and are arranged into four main sections:
History and Cultural Contacts; The Church and the Cult of Saints;
Archaeology, Material Culture and Settlement; Place-Names and
Language. The combination provides a variety of new perspectives
both on the Viking expansion and on Scandinavia's continued
contacts across the North Sea in the post-Viking period.
Contributors include: Lesley Abrams, Haki Antonsson, Beverley
Ballin Smith, James Barrett, Paul Bibire, Nicholas Brooks, Dauvit
Broun, Margaret Cormac, Neil Curtis, Clare Downham, Gillian
Fellows-Jensen, Ian Fisher, Katherine Forsyth, Peder Gammeltoft,
Sarah Jane Gibbon, Mark Hall, Hans Emil Liden, Christopher Lowe,
Joanne McKenzie, Christopher Morris, Elizabeth Okasha, Elizabeth
Ridel, Liv Schei, Jon Vioar Sigurosson, Brian Smith, Steffen
Stumann Hansen, Frans Arne Stylegard, Simon Taylor, William
Thomson, Gareth Williams, Doreen Waugh and Alex Woolf.
In this rich and broad-ranging volume, Giovanni Sartori outlines
what is now recognised to be the most comprehensive and
authoritative approach to the classification of party systems. He
also offers an extensive review of the concept and rationale of the
political party, and develops a sharp critique of various spatial
models of party competition. This is political science at its best
- combining the intelligent use of theory with sophisticated
analytic arguments, and grounding all of this on a substantial
cross-national empirical base. Parties and Party Systems is one of
the classics of postwar political science, and is now established
as the foremost work in its field.
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