This thought-provoking book addresses the legal questions raised by the nexus between the rule of law and areas of limited statehood, in which the State lacks the ability to exercise the full depth of its governmental authority. Working from an international law perspective, it examines the implications of limited statehood for the traditional State-based framing of the international legal order. Featuring original contributions written by renowned international scholars, chapters investigate key issues arising at the junction between domestic and international rule of law and areas of limited statehood, as well as the alternative modes of governance that develop therein, both with and without the approval of the State. Contributors discuss the impact of contested sovereignty on the rule of law, international responsibility with regard to rebel governance in these areas, and the consequences of limited statehood for international peace and security. This book will be useful for students and scholars of international law and international relations, particularly those working on sovereignty and statehood, non-state actors, State responsibility, and the rule of law. It will also appeal to practitioners and policy-makers working in these same fields in either State or global governance apparatus.

Mass attachment to religion is rapidly declining in most of the world; Why, and What comes next? The world is becoming less religious. Since 2007, there has been a pervasive decline in religious belief and most of the world's people now say that God is less important in their lives than they said He was in the quarter century before 2007. The American public showed the most dramatic shift of all. The United States, which for many years stood as a highly religious outlier among the world's high-income countries, now ranks as the 12th least religious country for which data are available. Many factors contributed to this dramatic worldwide shift, but as Inglehart shows, certain ones stand out. For centuries, virtually all major religions encouraged women to stay home and produce as many children as possible; and they sternly discouraged divorce, abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and any other form of sexual behavior not linked with reproduction. These norms were necessary for societies to survive when facing high infant mortality and low life expectancy: societies that didn't instill them tended to die out. Recent technological advances have greatly increased life expectancy and cut infant mortality to a tiny fraction of its historic levels, making these norms no longer necessary for societal survival. These norms require repressing strong natural urges, but, since they present traditional norms as absolute values, most religions strongly resist change. The resulting tension, together with the fact that rising existential security has made people less dependent on religion, opened the way for an exodus from religion. Utilizing a massive global data base, Inglehart analyzes the conditions under which religiosity collapses, and explores its implications for the future.

'This is an urgent and compelling account of great bravery and passion. Delphine Minoui has crafted a book that champions books and the individuals who risk everything to preserve them.' Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book In 2012 the rebel suburb of Daraya in Damascus was brutally besieged by Syrian government forces. Four years of suffering ensued, punctuated by shelling, barrel bombs and chemical gas attacks. People's homes were destroyed and their food supplies cut off; disease was rife. Yet in this man-made hell, forty young Syrian revolutionaries embarked on an extraordinary project, rescuing all the books they could find in the bombed-out ruins of their home town. They used them to create a secret library, in a safe place, deep underground. It became their school, their university, their refuge. It was a place to learn, to exchange ideas, to dream and to hope. Based on lengthy interviews with these young men, conducted over Skype by the award-winning French journalist Delphine Minoui, The Book Collectors of Daraya is a powerful testament to freedom, tolerance and the power of literature. Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud.

The Impact of Gender Quotas is a theory-building and comparative exercise in elaborating concepts commonly used to analyze the broad impacts of gender quotas. The book begins with the argument that the means by which women enter politics may influence how, why and to what extent their presence affects political representation. Following a preface by Drude Dahlerup, one of the pioneers of gender quota research, the editors introduce the book with a conceptual framework for analyzing the impact of quotas, based upon descriptive, substantive and symbolic dimensions of representation. The book is subsequently organized into three sections, each devoted to analyzing one of the dimensions of representation, and each of these sections contains a chapter case study from one of four regions of the world (Western Europe, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia). Each of the chapters follows a basic format instituted by the editors, with the goal of facilitating cross-case comparisons and broad theory-building. The editors conclude the book by summarizing the main themes and implications for future research on gender quotas.

The 'Good Chaps' theory holds that those who rise to power in the UK can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing. They're good chaps, after all. Yet Britain appears to have been taken over by bad chaps, and politics is awash with financial scandals, donors who have practically bought shares in political parties, and a shameless contempt for the rules.

Simon Kuper, author of the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller Chums, exposes how corruption took control of public life, and asks: how can we get politicians to behave like good chaps again?

This revised and updated Research Handbook on European State Aid Law brings together established academics and practitioners to provide a wide-ranging coverage of the field. Incorporating political science, economics and the law in its analysis, it provides a strong overview of the salient issues in State aid law and policy. Chapters address the significance of State aid to various aspects of the political and legal systems of the Member States, including taxation, the financial sector, and the interplay between EU rules on State aid, free movement and public procurement. The Research Handbook further examines the application of the State aid rules to major sectors of the EU economy and introduces brand new themes for State aid analysis, such as arbitration, social services and the impact of Brexit. Featuring theoretical explorations and empirical studies, this Research Handbook will be crucial reading for scholars and researchers of EU State aid law, especially those searching for new avenues of research. It will also be a useful reference point for officials in national governments and the European Commission who are engaged in the State aid approval process. Judges hoping to expand their knowledge of EU State aid law and policy will also benefit from this insightful Research Handbook.

Along with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights serves as the main watchdog for the promotion and protection of fundamental rights in the Americas. Drawing on the case law of the Court, this volume analyses crucial developments over the years on both procedural and substantive issues before the Inter-American Court. The book discusses access to legal aid, third party interventions, positive obligations and provisional measures, the evaluation of evidence and the use of external referencing by the Court, the protection of vulnerable groups, including indigenous peoples, migrants, women and children. It also explores other contemporary issues such as coerced statements, medical negligence, the use of force, amnesties, forced disappearances, the right to water, judicial protection in times of emergency, the relation of the Inter-American Court with national courts and with other international jurisdictions like the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, and with national courts, reparations and revisions of cases by the Inter-American Court, and present-day challenges to the Inter-American system of human rights. Due to its multifaceted and comprehensive character, this scholarly volume is an essential reference work for both legal scholars and practitioners working with regional human rights systems in general and with the Inter-American human rights system in particular.

The fifth edition of American Politics Today is designed to show students the reality of politics today and how it connects to their own lives. New features-from chapter opening cases that address the kinds of questions students ask, to full-page graphics that illustrate key political processes-show students how politics works and why it matters. All components of the learning package-textbook, InQuizitive adaptive learning tool and coursepack-are organised around specific chapter learning goals to ensure that students learn the nuts and bolts of American government.

This comprehensive Commentary provides an in-depth analysis of each of the 31 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as the 10 Principles for Responsible Contracts. It engages in both a legal and contextual examination of the Principles alongside their application to real world practices at both the domestic and international levels. Key Features: One of the first detailed considerations of each of the Principles for Responsible Contracts Contributions from more than 40 leading international academics and practitioners in the field Discussion of legal and regulatory instruments as well as case law emanating from the Principles Offers information on interpreting, analysing, and using the UNGPs and the Principles for Responsible Contracts in a centralized accessible format. Practitioners, including government officials, who are responsible for corporate governance and human rights issues will find this Commentary invaluable for its systematic analysis of the obligations of both States and corporations. It will also be of interest to academics and those working for NGOs in the area of business and human rights, as well as businesses themselves looking to incorporate sustainability initiatives into their corporate practices.

Challenges the mainstream understanding of BRICS and US dominance to situate the new global rivalries engulfing capitalism.

BRICS is a grouping of the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Volume five in the Democratic Marxism series, BRICS and the New American Imperialism challenges the mainstream understanding of BRICS and US dominance to situate the new global rivalries engulfing capitalism. It offers novel analyses of BRICS in the context of increasing US induced imperial chaos, deepening environmental crisis tendencies (such as climate change and water scarcity), contradictory dynamics inside BRICS countries and growing subaltern resistance.

The authors revisit contemporary thinking on imperialism and anti-imperialism, drawing on the work of Rosa Luxemburg, one of the leading theorists after Marx, who attempted to understand the expansionary nature of capitalism from the heartlands to the peripheries. The richness of Luxemburg’s pioneering work inspires most of the volume’s contributors in their analyses of the dangerous contradictions of the contemporary world as well as forms of democratic agency advancing resistance.

While various forms of resistance are highlighted, among them water protests, mass worker strikes, anti-corporate campaigning and forms of cultural critique, this volume grapples with the challenge of renewing anti-imperialism beyond the NGO-driven World Social Forum and considers the prospects of a new horizontal political vessel to build global convergence. It also explores the prospects of a Fifth International of Peoples and Workers.

Political theory deals with profound questions about human nature, political principles, and the limits of knowledge. In Teaching Political Theory, Nicholas Tampio shows how political theorists may take a pluralistic approach to help students investigate the deepest levels of political life. The book shares advice about how to design a political theory course, including selecting reading materials, writing lectures, making assignments, and creating experiences for students. More than a how-to manual, the book also shows how political theorists may profitably stage conversations between American, Chinese, European, and Indian political thinkers. After reading this book, political theorists will gain ideas about how to read and teach ancient sceptics like Sextus Empiricus, Chinese Daoists like Zhuangzi, African American abolitionists like Sojourner Truth, and Indian philosophers like B.R. Ambedkar. Written by an editor of the journal Comparative Political Theory, this book offers insights to political theorists at all stages of their career on how to energize their research and teaching methods.

Presenting a thorough examination of intelligence activities in international law, Sophie Duroy provides theoretical and empirical justifications to support the cutting-edge claim that states’ compliance with international law in intelligence matters serves their national security interests. This book theorises the regulation of intelligence activities under international law, identifying three layers of regulation: a clear legal framework governing intelligence activities (legality); a capacity to enforce state responsibility (accountability); and the integration of legality and accountability into responsive regulation by the international legal order (compliance). The empirical relevance of these three layers of regulation is demonstrated through in-depth case studies of state responsibility in the CIA-led war on terror and an analysis of the accountability of Djibouti, the Gambia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States for conduct in the CIA-led war on terror. Overall, the author shows that the most reliable path to long-term national security is the effective regulation of intelligence activities under international law. Making an original contribution to existing theories of compliance and regulation, as well as the law of state responsibility and its enforcement, this book will be essential for students and scholars of public international law, human rights, intelligence and security studies, and international relations. It will also be a valuable resource for practitioners of international law with an interest in intelligence, state responsibility, and terrorism and security law.