This book studies the emergence of the regulatory state in Europe and its impact on democratic governance in Scandinavia. On the basis of comparative studies on various government structures in Scandinavia and the EU, the author analyses the repercussions of the change from government to dominant non-parliamentary democratic governance. In addition, readers will be introduced to the organizational and institutional changes and developments caused by economic and welfare state reforms. A cutting-edge resource, the book will appeal to students and scholars of political science and political economics, while also offering an engaging read for civil servants and policymakers.

With the widespread knowledge and use of e-government, the intent and evaluation of e-government services continues to focus on meeting the needs and satisfaction of its citizens. E-Government Services Design, Adoption, and Evaluation is a comprehensive collection of research on assessment and implementation of electronic/digital government technologies in organizations. This book aims to supply academics, practitioners and professionals with the understanding of e-government and its applications and impact on organizations around the world.

This book illustrates the role of international economic advisors in the development of Israel's economic policies. Based on extensive archival and historical research, it presents case studies on the policy impacts of the world-renowned advisors Michal Kalecki, Abba Lerner, Richard Kahn, Milton Friedman, Herbert Stein and Stanley Fischer. The authors evaluate the contributions of these advisors to policy developments in various fields, including international trade and capital flows, exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policy, industrial policy and labor relations. Readers will discover a wealth of previously unpublished information on these advisors' activities, perspectives on policy and interactions with policymakers and the public. Using the Israeli experience as a guide, the authors subsequently derive general hypotheses regarding the conditions that are conducive to the success of economic advisors.

The book covers the topic of the role of public sector in the economic and territorial development across several dimensions of spatial planning, e.g. theoretical-methodological (planning cultures, leadership), executive (regional policies, services of general interest), sectoral (energy, tourism, air-quality) or social (social innovation, preservation of cultural heritage). The book delivers up-to date knowledge build on interactions between representatives of different stakeholders of economic and territorial development with the research represented by renowned experts and academicians. This is mirrored in the content of the book, delivering in a consistent form the conceptual explanations combined with the examples of the role of the public sector in fostering the local economies within the frame of spatial planning. The book reflects and transfers the expert knowledge which has been generated during more than a decade of scientific and research activities of Spa-ce.net. Presents a comprehensive view on different aspects of the involvement of public sector in the local and regional spatial development; Includes a combination of macro-regionally specific perspectives with the generalized knowledge; Provides knowledge from various researchers from prestigious European scientific and research teams.

New Public Management has held a central position within public administration over the past few decades, complemented by various models promoting post-bureaucratic organization. But 'traditional' bureaucracy has not disappeared, and bureaucracy is in transition in the West and the rest of the world. Bureaucracies still fill crucial positions in modern societies, despite growing criticism of assumed inefficiencies and unlimited growth. This volume examines a range of issues related to bureaucracies in transition across Europe, with a particular focus on the Nordic region. Chapters examine a range of topics including a reinterpretation of Weber's conception of bureaucracy; the historical development of institutions and organizational structures in Sweden and Greece; the myth of bureaucratic neutrality and the concept of 'competent neutrality'; performance management systems; the anti-bureaucratic identities of senior civil servants; the role of experts and expertise in bureaucratic organizations; the impact of reform on public sector executives; the curbing of corruption in Scandinavian states; an interrogation of the Nordic administrative model; Supreme Audit Institutions; 'street-level' bureaucracy; and the establishment of an 'ethics of office' amongst Danish civil servants.

This book focuses on the implementation of digital strategies in the public sectors in the US, Mexico, Brazil, India and Germany. The case studies presented examine different digital projects by looking at their impact as well as their alignment with their national governments' digital strategies. The contributors assess the current state of digital government, analyze the contribution of digital technologies in achieving outcomes for citizens, discuss ways to measure digitalization and address the question of how governments oversee the legal and regulatory obligations of information technology. The book argues that most countries formulate good strategies for digital government, but do not effectively prescribe and implement corresponding policies and programs. Showing specific programs that deliver results can help policy makers, knowledge specialists and public-sector researchers to develop best practices for future national strategies.

This book explores the impact of Bangladesh's Local Government Act of 2009 on the functioning of the local governments or Union Parishads (UP), with a particular emphasis on people's participation and accountability. Throughout the chapters, the authors review the existing legal framework of UP and its relation to social accountability, examine how much of the social participation is spontaneous and how much is politically induced, question the success of the Citizen's Charter and Right to Information acts as mechanisms for social accountability, and present suggestions to remedy some of the problems facing people's participation and accountability in the UP. This book fills existing gaps in the discourse by adding new information to the literature on development research and legal reforms in Bangladesh, specifically in how those legal reforms have led to strengthening or weakening people's participation in local government. The target audience for this book are students and researchers in Asian studies , international development studies, and public administration, as well as practitioners working in the local governments discussed.

An unassailable case that, in the eyes of history, Barack Obama will be viewed as one of America's best and most accomplished presidents.Over the course of eight years, Barack Obama has amassed an array of outstanding achievements. His administration saved the American economy from collapse, expanded health insurance to millions who previously could not afford it, negotiated an historic nuclear deal with Iran, helped craft a groundbreaking international climate accord, reined in Wall Street and crafted a new vision of racial progress. He has done all of this despite a left that frequently disdained him as a sellout, and a hysterical right that did everything possible to destroy his agenda even when they agreed with what he was doing. Now, as the page turns to our next Commander in Chief, Jonathan Chait, acclaimed as one of the most incisive and meticulous political commentators in America, digs deep into Obama's record on major policy fronts--economics, the environment, domestic reform, health care, race, foreign policy, and civil rights--to demonstrate why history will judge our forty-fourth president as among the greatest in history. Audacity does not shy away from Obama's failures, most notably in foreign policy. Yet Chait convincingly shows that President Obama has accomplished what candidate Obama said he would, despite overwhelming opposition--and that the hopes of those who voted for him have not been dashed despite the smokescreen of extremist propaganda and the limits of short-term perspective.

This bold venture into political theory and comparative politics combines traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods. It asks how contemporary democracies work, an essential stage in asking how they can be justified. An answer to both questions is found in the idea of the median mandate. The voter in the middle - the voice of the majority - empowers the centre party in parliament to translate his or her preferences into public policy. The median mandate provides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each qualified 'vision' with an integrated account of how representative institutions work. The unified theory is put to the test with comprehensive cross-national evidence covering 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995. This exciting book will be of interest to specialists and general readers alike, representing as it does a reaffirmation of traditional democratic practice in an uncertain and threatening world. Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science, International University, Bremen, Germany; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

The study of Prime Ministers and the reform of British central government in any era is fascinating. The interaction between the temporary, often inexperienced but largely elected ministers and the experienced but theoretically subservient senior civil servants provides enormous interest. This book concentrates on the years of Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson, Alec Douglas Home and Edward Heath--years when the battle between Civil Service and Government was most intense. What makes this book more compelling is that many of the key players, including Richard Crossman, Barbara Castle and Tony Benn, wrote their own published accounts. Eighteen months after he came to power, Harold Wilson commissioned the Fulton Committee to look at the recruitment, training and management of civil servants. The Fulton report emerged in 1968 and became legendary for its difficult gestation and for the mini civil war, which developed within Whitehall over its implementation. This is but one episode in the history of British Prime Ministers' attempts to reform the Civil Service. The Fulton report remains a landmark in the administrative history of Britain.

This book analyzes e-participation in smart cities. In recent decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have played a key role in the democratic political and governance process by allowing easier interaction between governments and citizens, and the increased ability of citizens to participate in the production chain of public services. E-participation plays and important role in the development of smart cities and smart communities , but it has not yet been extensively studied. This book fills that gap by combining empirical and theoretical research to analyze actual practices of citizen involvement in smart cities and build a solid framework for successful e-participation in smart cities. The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses smart technologies and their role in improving e-participation in smart cities. Part II deals with models of e-participation in smart cities and the organization issues affecting the implementation of e-participation; these chapters analyze the efficiency of governance models in relation to the establishment of smart cities. Part III proposes incentives to motivate increased participation by governments and cititzenry within the smart cities context. Written by an international panel of experts and practitioners, this book will be a convenient source of information on e-participation in smart cities and will be valuable to academics, researchers, policy-makers, public managers, citizens, international organizations and anyone who has a stake in enhancing citizen engagement in smart cities.

The Yearbook on Space Policy, edited by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), is the reference publication analysing space policy developments. Each year it presents issues and trends in space policy and the space sector as a whole. Its scope is global and its perspective is European. The Yearbook also links space policy with other policy areas. It highlights specific events and issues, and provides useful insights, data and information on space activities. The first part of the Yearbook sets out a comprehensive overview of the economic, political, technological and institutional trends that have affected space activities. The second part of the Yearbook offers a more analytical perspective on the yearly ESPI theme and consists of external contributions written by professionals with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. The third part of the Yearbook carries forward the character of the Yearbook as an archive of space activities. The Yearbook is designed for government decision-makers and agencies, industry professionals, as well as the service sectors, researchers and scientists and the interested public.

This book uses sound theoretical frameworks and econometric techniques to rigorously analyze and explain the conditions of sustainable growth in agriculture. It further investigates how management of natural resources and technological advances can enhance productivity and ensure sustainable growth in agriculture. Optimal control theory, dynamic optimization problems and theory of risk and uncertainty are extensively used to create theoretical models for analyzing agricultural growth. The results demonstrate that crop diversification, rainwater harvesting and the use of organic fertilizers can ensure growth in agriculture from a dynamic perspective. Further, they show how excessive depletion of ground water, intensive farming and overuse of chemicals in connection with the adoption of modern technology in agriculture have placed tremendous strains on natural resources like land and water, and have called into question the sustainability of growth in the farming sector.

The theme of this book is the political practices by Zhejiang Government under the guidance of "China Dream" policy. It reviews the political facets of governance, The People's Congress System, the consultative system, grassroots democracy, rule of law, government function, restriction and supervision of power and the united front. These areas are the foundations of Chinese government, and are currently discussed in detail from the point of view of the Zhejiang local administration. As China has its unique political system, this book could help scholars and policy makers around the global better understand the operation of Chinese government and political goals for the future under the guidance of the statecraft.

This book presents the state-of-the-arts application of digital watermarking in audio, speech, image, video, 3D mesh graph, text, software, natural language, ontology, network stream, relational database, XML, and hardware IPs. It also presents new and recent algorithms in digital watermarking for copyright protection and discusses future trends in the field. Today, the illegal manipulation of genuine digital objects and products represents a considerable problem in the digital world. Offering an effective solution, digital watermarking can be applied to protect intellectual property, as well as fingerprinting, enhance the security and proof-of-authentication through unsecured channels.

The United States, as well as most of the world, is sitting upon a precipice of economic collapse, which will likely lead not only to the loss of our affluence but of our freedoms.

When I was a child in the fifties, despite the problems that existed, our nation was more honest, unified and free. Although we were far less affluent back then, most people felt connected and life had meaning. This book is a memoir of the 1950s when people believed in the Golden Rule, even if we could not always live by it. It is a personal recollection of the moral you-turn we took in the late 1960s and the consequences that change has had on how we live today.

For the past fifty years we have increasingly embraced the "me first' mentality that is the underlying cause of our decline. We cannot really love others, nor can we fix the problems of our nation if all we think about is ourselves.

When we, with God's help, find a place in our hearts for each other's needs, the resulting honesty, good will and unity will be the foundation upon which we begin to rebuild America.

This is a book about the modernization of public governance and the development of strategic states. It focuses on six Gulf countries (United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) and presents research findings from quantitative data analysis and comparative analysis of the trends and developments of the six Gulf states. The book analyses the workings of the governments of the Gulf States, including the way that they have tackled national development since the mid 1990s. This includes how their strategies for economic diversification have been reflected in trends in revenues from "oil rents" and whether they are still rentier states or not. Evidence is presented on key topics such as government strategies and long-term strategic visions. Careful consideration is given to reputational evidence and to the strategic process capabilities of the governments: integration and coordination of government machinery, mobilizing public and private stakeholders, evaluating, and adapting - all defined as strategic process capabilities. This examination of government is also used to study their performance in strategic results areas: the economy, the natural environment, and the happiness of their citizens. The countries emerge from this analysis as far from identical in terms of capabilities or in term of performance.

This open access book presents a discussion on human rights-based attributes for each article pertinent to the substantive rights of children, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It provides the reader with a unique and clear overview of the scope and core content of the articles, together with an analysis of the latest jurisprudence of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. For each article of the UNCRC, the authors explore the nature and scope of corresponding State obligations, and identify the main features that need to be taken into consideration when assessing a State's progressive implementation of the UNCRC. This analysis considers which aspects of a given right are most important to track, in order to monitor States' implementation of any given right, and whether there is any resultant change in the lives of children. This approach transforms the narrative of legal international standards concerning a given right into a set of characteristics that ensure no aspect of said right is overlooked. The book develops a clear and comprehensive understanding of the UNCRC that can be used as an introduction to the rights and principles it contains, and to identify directions for future policy and strategy development in compliance with the UNCRC. As such, it offers an invaluable reference guide for researchers and students in the field of childhood and children's rights studies, as well as a wide range of professionals and organisations concerned with the subject.

Canada's future prosperity is of utmost concern to citizens, industry leaders and policy makers. Using original public opinion research from EKOS, Redesigning Work argues that improving people's jobs and workplaces can unlock the potential to strengthen Canada's economy and improve the well-being of Canadians. Graham Lowe and Frank Graves are two of Canada's leading experts on work and public opinion. In Redesigning Work the authors provide a blueprint for the future of work in Canada by identifying practical ways to make work more motivating, rewarding and productive. The authors provide fuel for employers, workers, policy makers, HR professionals, and NGOs to combat the negative trends many Canadians associate with their future economic prospects. The book paints an optimistic picture of the future of work by addressing job stress, work-life balance, skill use and engagement.

Governments worldwide struggle to remove policy deadlocks and enact much-needed reforms in organizational structure and public services. In this book, Jacob Torfing explores collaborative innovation as a way for public and private stakeholders to break the impasse. These network-based collaborations promise to multiply the skills, ideas, energy, and resources between government and its partners across agency boundaries and in the nonprofit and private sectors. Torfing draws on his own pioneering work in Europe as well as examples from the United States and Australia to construct a cross-disciplinary framework for studying collaborative innovation. His analysis explores its complex and interactive processes as he looks at how drivers and barriers may enhance or impede the collaborative approach. He also reflects on the roles institutional design, public management, and governance reform play in spurring collaboration for public sector innovation. The result is a theoretically and empirically informed book that carefully demonstrates how multi-actor collaboration can enhance public innovation in the face of fiscal constraint, the proliferation of wicked problems, and the presence of unsatisfied social needs.

As today's world develops and evolves, so does its economics. New economic approaches have begun to emerge, but traditional methods are still being implemented. As both systems provide different solutions to society's economic issues, thoughtful research and analysis is required regarding the tactics and strategies that both theories utilize. Comparative Approaches to Old and New Institutional Economics is an essential reference source that discusses the sequential history of these two economic theories as well as their application to global fiscal disputes. Featuring research on topics such as international relations, business management, and institutionalism, this book is ideally designed for economists, analysts, managers, researchers, practitioners, academicians, and students seeking coverage on the parallel methods of these economic philosophies.

This book offers new perspectives on global phenomena that play a major role in today's society and deeply shape the actions of individuals, organizations and nations. In a complex and rapidly changing environment, decision-makers need to gain a better understanding of global phenomena to adapt and to anticipate the evolution of the global context. The authors-ten renowned international scholars of anthropology, economics, law, management and political science-propose an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to social sciences. They analyse how international phenomena, such as globalisation or transnationalisation, transform the disciplines of social sciences from an epistemological standpoint. Explaining what 'global' means in difference disciplines, the authors analyse several global phenomena that characterise today's international environment such as the circulation of norms and ideas, the linkages between war and globalization, corporate governance, and the impact of multinational enterprises on sustainable development and poverty reduction. Providing examples of analytical disciplinary approaches and guidelines for decision-makers in a fast-changing global context this book will be useful to scholars and students of anthropology, economics, law, management and political science as well as practitioners in the private and public sectors.

The book specifies infrastructure construction achievements and the present development situation in China in the 30 years after the reform and opening up in the fields of architecture, energy, transportation, environmental protection, water conservancy, telecommunications, urban arts and sports. The book also summarizes the experiences and lessons in the course of the construction and puts forward the development requirements and prospects in the hope of providing reference and enlightenment for African people in their infrastructure construction and offering certain help for their smooth construction work in order to avoid disadvantages and achieve better economic and social benefits.