This book provides a comprehensive overview of smart ports and remote technologies in the maritime industry. It demonstrates how modern advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have transformed the shipping industry, and assesses the impact of this technology from a law and governance standpoint. The book covers a range of topics including port autonomous operations systems, cybersecurity, big data analytics, digitalization and blockchain to throw light on the opportunities and benefits of these new technologies in improving security and safety. It also considers the challenges and threats of their application. It concludes by examining the trajectory of national and international regulatory developments. The book will appeal to scholars and students of maritime technology, law and governance, as well as practitioners and policymakers. Chapters 8, 19 and 20 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book presents the main theoretical foundations behind smart services as well as specific guidelines and practically proven methods on how to design them. Furthermore, it gives an overview of the possible implementation architectures and shows how the designed smart services can be realized with specific technologies. Finally, it provides four specific use cases that show how smart services have been realized in practice and what impact they have within the businesses. The first part of the book defines the basic concepts and aims to establish a shared understanding of terms, such as smart services, service systems, smart service systems or cyber-physical systems. On this basis, it provides an analysis of existing work and includes insights on how an organization incorporating smart services could enhance and adjust their management and business processes. The second part on the design of smart services elaborates on what constitutes a successful smart service and describes experiences in the area of interdisciplinary teams, strategic partnerships, the overall service systems and the common data basis. In the third part, technical reference architectures are presented in detail, encompassing topics on the design of digital twins in cyber physical systems, the communication between entities and sensors in the age of Industry 4.0 as well as data management and integration. The fourth part then highlights a number of analytical possibilities that can be realized and that can constitute or be part of smart services, including machine learning and artificial intelligence methods. Finally, the applicability of the introduced design and development method is demonstrated by considering specific real-world use cases. These include services in the industrial and mobility sector, which were developed in direct cooperation with industry partners. The main target audience of this book is industry-focused readers, especially practitioners from industry, who are involved in supporting and managing digital business. These include professionals working in business development, product management, strategy, and development, ranging from middle management to Chief Digital Officers. It conveys all the basics needed for developing smart services and successfully placing them on the market by explaining technical aspects as well as showcasing practical use cases.

In his academic work, Robert Higgs has dissected the government's shrewd secret excesses that lead to the Welfare State, the Warfare State, and the Administrative State. For several decades he has unstintingly chronicled the federal, state, and local governments' malfeasance in these many areas of life that all levels of government have intruded upon without Constitutional mandate. In this book, however, are essays that show a whimsical, introspective, and personal side of this world renowned scholar. From the myth that the government has derived its powers from the consent of the governed to the role of independent experts in formulating monetary and fiscal policy; from the government's duplicity in announcing the unemployment rate in a given month to how the state entraps us, if you want to see a true polymath at work, these lofty, serious, sad, and illuminating essays will educate you beyond what you had thought possible about life, liberty, and the economy.

This book explores a new model for addressing the central issue of environmental and other collective actions. An alternative to the classical models: central authority, privatization, and self-governance, it has provisionally been named "expert and scholar-based-" or "knowledge-driven governance". The book also identifies seven working rules (or design principles) for successful knowledge-driven governance, and argues that the more strictly these rules are abided by, the more successful this model of governance becomes. Lastly, it demonstrates that in addition to Lindblom's observed intellectually guided society and preference-guided/volition-guided society, there may be the possibility of a knowledge-driven society in which knowledge or intellect plays a greater role. The results obtained are supplemented by numerical calculations, presented as tables and figures. This book is intended for graduate students, lecturers and researchers working in environmental management, environmental science and engineering, sustainable development, collective action, and public administration.

Winner of the "Textbook Excellence Award" from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. Provides state-of-the-art tools for best practice in the procurement of services at state and local levels, from initial stages through to completion. Includes lively case studies and research conducted with state and local agencies across the United States, providing management advice and tips on compliance to reduce costs, select the best-qualified contractors, manage contractors' performance, and prevent corruption and waste. Contains 18 all-new best-practice documents as well as updated methodologies and templates including but not limited to: a full-length and short-form Request for Proposal (RFP), a full-length and short-form Pro Forma Contract (PFC), letter contracts, a sample estimate at completion, a contract amendment template, and a form for evaluation of proposals. Several additional resources for practitioners are available online, including PowerPoint slides.

This book investigates whether legislative institutions, state and national, in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic have been able to harness constitutional powers to impact public policy. Presenting how the Nigerian state has not been able to showcase the expected dividends of presidential democracy since 1999, it analyzes the crisis of governance and its impact on political stability, social cohesion, and the livelihood of citizens.  The book further discusses the depreciating infrastructure, corruption, and mismanagement of public resources, and shows how defiant attitudes of public political and bureaucratic officials define the new wave of corruption and profligacy in Nigeria, presenting this development as a result of a weakened legislature. The book displays the necessity of implementing a culture of accountability and discusses oversight mechanisms to make the executive accountable. These mechanisms are designed to ensure effective public service delivery. Finally, the book situates the legislative institutions in Nigeria within the context of the contributions of the National Assembly and the Assemblies of the State Houses to the development of this emerging democracy in Africa.   The book will appeal to students and scholars of political science and public administration, as well as policy-makers and practitioners interested in a better understanding of democracy, separation of powers, governance, and Nigerian politics.

The use of information and communication technologies to support public administrations, governments and decision makers has been recorded for more than 20 years and dubbed e-Government. Moving towards open governance roadmaps worldwide, electronic participation and citizen engagement stand out as a new domain, important both for decision makers and citizens; and over the last decade, there have been a variety of related pilot projects and innovative approaches.

With contributions from leading researchers, Charalabidis and Koussouris provide the latest research findings such as theoretical foundations, principles, methodologies, architectures, technical frameworks, cases and lessons learnt within the domain of open, collaborative governance and online citizen engagement. The book is divided into three sections: Section one, "Public Policy Debate Foundations," lays the foundations regarding processes and methods for scoping, planning, evaluating and transforming citizen engagement. The second section, "Information and Communication Technologies for Citizen Participation," details practical approaches to designing and creating collaborative governance infrastructures and citizen participation for businesses and administrations. Lastly, the third section on "Future Research Directions of Open, Collaborative ICT-enabled Governance" provides a constructive critique of the developments in the past and presents prospects regarding future challenges and research directions.

The book is mainly written for academic researchers and graduate students working in the computer, social, political and management sciences. Its audience includes researchers and practitioners in e-Governance, public administration officials, policy and decision makers at the local, national and international level engaged in the design and creation of policies and services, and ICT professionals engaged in e-Governance and policy modelling projects and solutions.

Why is an understanding of political competition essential for the study of public economics and public policy generally? How can political competition be described and understood, and how does it differ from its strictly economic counterpart? What are the implications of the fact that policy proposals in a democracy must always pass a political test? What are the strengths and weaknesses of electoral competition as a mechanism for the allocation of economic resources? Why are tax structures in democratic polities so complicated, and what implications follow from this for normative views about good policy choice? How can the intensity of political competition be measured, why and how does it vary in mature democracies, and what are the consequences? This Element considers how answers to these questions can be approached, while also illustrating some of the interesting theoretical and empirical work that has been done on them.

Against a backcloth of tumultuous events in Europe, the EU faces once again the fateful question of moving towards federal union or let flexible integration guide the Union. The sixth volume in Interdisciplinary European Studies explores the coexistence of deepening political integration and flexible patterns of integration in the EU. The book brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights into issues with a bearing on the future of the EU: the crisis of rule of law and political values, the move towards a European defence union, the power of the new European public prosecutor's office, the prospects of financial stability through the Recovery and Resilience facility, and the state of European parliamentary democracy. The chapters are based on up-to-date research findings and succinct assessments of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates. They conclude with policy recommendations for decision-makers on European and national levels.

In the context of global population aging , the aging population of China is not only a China-specific problem but also a global concern. Based on in-depth analysis, this book focuses on the increasingly serious issue of aging population  of China  at the present time, and explores the possible path and solution from the new type of demographic dividend that is innovation. With 1/5 of the global aging population in the world, China has the largest aging population and is aging faster and deeper, which produces  and , profound and far-reaching impact on the economic growth, social security,  health care and other related areas.  

Offering strategies for a new generation of administrative systems, this book explores the impact of recent managerial reforms and shifting societal values on the stability, legitimacy, and progress of democratic governments. The chapters highlight innovations in consumer communication management and marketing, evolving methods of policy planning, formation, and implementation, and the role of high-information/high-technology in public agencies. Providing insight into the changing environment present in most governing structures, the book covers ethical dilemmas in public service, the definition of work for public sector employees, and population behavior during mass disasters.

This book explores the implications of knowing our place in the universe and recognising our hybridity. It is a series of self-reflections and essays drawing on many diverse ways of knowing. The book examines the complex ethical challenges of closing the wide gap in living standards between rich and poor people/communities. The notion of an ecological citizen is presented with a focus on protecting current and future generations. The idea is to track the distribution and redistribution of resources in the interests of social and environmental justice. The central argument looks for ways to hold the powerful to account so as to enable virtuous living by the majority to be demonstrated in what the author calls a "planetary passport" - a careful use of resources and a way to provide safe passage to those in need of safe habitat. The book argues that nation states need to find ways to control the super-rich through the governance process and to enhance a sense of shared ecological citizenship and responsibility for biodiversity. The fundamental approach is collaborative research. Planetary Passport: Representation, Accountability and Re-Generation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1 begins by making a case for a paradigm shift away from business as usual and the pursuit of profit at the expense of the social and environmental fabric of life. The aim is to explore alternatives and to discuss some ways of achieving wellbeing whilst the focus is on human rights, discrimination and outlining the notion of a planetary passport. Chapter 2 makes a specific link between people and the planet as a basis for understanding the nature of hybridity and interconnectedness and the implications for ethics. Chapter 3 focuses on building this planetary passport for social and environmental justice in order to enable people with complex needs to consider the consequences of either continuing to live the same way as before or making changes to the way that they live. Meanwhile Chapter 4 does the same as the previous chapter, but explores the political context of consumption and short term profit Chapter 5 examines the challenges and opportunities that come from explorations within a cross-cultural learning community. This includes a look at co-creation and co-determination. Finally Chapter 6 ends with a look to the future and a potential new framework for people and the planet through a planetary passport.

"Governance of Public Sector Organizations a"nalyzes recent changes in government administration by focusing on organizational forms and their effects. Contributors to this edited volume demonstrate how generations of reform result in increased complexity of government organizations, and explain this layering process with multiple theories.

How do migration and integration change when 'crisis becomes normalcy'? This open access book investigates this question in the present context of turbulent times when, instead of dealing with one crisis, migrants, governments and whole societies have to cope within a complex web of multiple unsettling events that create anxieties about migration. Emphasising a plurality of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, as well as a variety of geographical settings in Europe and beyond, the chapters bring new insights into migrations produced by global political events, national political shifts, economic downturns and the Covid-19 pandemic. Special attention is given to both migrants' experiences and policy outcomes. The result is an impressive rethinking of the concepts and terminology applied to migration and integration, of interest to students, social scientists, and policy-makers.

In light of demographic change and the growing problems of traditional old-age security systems, this book discusses two essential instruments in connection with privately providing for old-age security: (1) savings in private pension schemes and (2) building up equity for home-ownership. Further, it assesses the relationship between the two instruments and offers a unique overview of the latest market developments. In order to represent the profound differences between the individual member states of the EU, this book features six country-specific studies - covering Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom - that provide detailed insights into the complexity of local private pension schemes, mortgage markets, and housing markets. Lastly, the book discusses public policies and fiscal incentives intended to better integrate residential property with private pensions. It will appeal to both, private households seeking to build up old-age security, as well as policy makers interested in providing secure pension schemes.

This book provides the first in-depth study of healthcare reforms in post-communist Eastern Europe. Combining insights from comparative politics and public policy analysis, it examines health reforms in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Poland between 1989 and 2019. The book argues that the post-communist transformation of healthcare policy has entailed a process of policy learning, and that the countries' reform pathways were shaped by a series of initiatives aimed at applying market-oriented policy ideas in healthcare. The success of these initiatives has been influenced by three factors: policy legacies, political competition, and institutional configurations. The book offers a novel comparison of health reform in the region and policy changes more generally. It will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, health policy, and European politics.

As citizens, why do we care about the everyday life of ministers and civil servants? We care because the decisions of the great and the good affect all our lives, for good or ill. For all their personal, political, and policy failings and foibles, they make a difference. So, we want to know what ministers and bureaucrats do, why, and how. We are interested in their beliefs and practices.
In Everyday Life in British Government, a fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, R.A.W. Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts. Drawing on unprecedented access to ministers and senior civil servants in three government departments, he answers a simple question: 'what do they do?' On the basis of extensive fieldwork, supplemented by revealing interviews, Rhodes tries to capture the essence of their everyday life, describes the ministers' and permanent secretaries' world through their own eyes, and explores how their beliefs and practices serve to create meaning in politics, policy making, and public-service delivery. Everyday Life in British Government goes on to analyze how such beliefs and practices are embedded in traditions; in webs of protocols, rituals, and languages.
The story Rhodes has to tell is dramatized through in-depth accounts of specific events to show ministers and civil servants 'in action'. He challenges the conventional constitutional, institutional, and managerial views of British governance. Instead, he describes a storytelling political-administrative elite, with beliefs and practices rooted in the Westminster model, which uses protocols and rituals to domesticate rude surprises and cope with recurrent dilemmas.

In 1994, the mountain territory of Chechnya was the target of the largest military campaign staged on Russian soil since World War II. In 1996, the Kremlin eventually ordered its 40,000 strong troops to withdraw from what had been a savage conflict with the Chechen guerillas. This book charts the bitter history between Russia and the Chechens and explains why the war took place. Points are raised about the nature of Soviet politics and army and the successes and failures of the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet political values.

This book examines the problem of accountability in two African political systems, South Africa and Nigeria. Despite the principle of separation of powers and the doctrine of checks and balances among the institutions of governance, a burgeoning governance crisis stifles the potential of accountability and good governance. Legislative oversight in the two countries remains largely ineffective while citizens are left to face the consequences of the mismanagement of public resources by political elites. This book critically assesses how the legislative institutions in South Africa and Nigeria have been unable to harness the requisite constitutional powers to ensure accountability in government and explores the feasibility of their effectiveness. The book begins with a comparative analysis of the principles, tradition, and powers associated with legislative capability in South Africa and Nigeria. The chapters explore constitutional provisions and analyze the capacity of each legislature to function within its respective political environment. The book also examines the process and challenges associated with the various measures and mechanisms available for legislatures to ensure accountability in the two countries. Researchers, scholars and students of African politics will find this book useful in their understanding of the problems associated with the simmering governance crisis in South Africa and Nigeria.

The first book to provide leading researchers in different policy process theoretical traditions a space to share the means by which they put their research into action. Maximizes student engagement with the material, with each chapter following a similar framework: introduction of a given theory of the policy process, application of that theory (including best practices for research design, conceptualization, major data sources, data collection, and methodological approaches), critical assessment, future directions, and online resources (including datasets, survey instruments, and interview and coding protocols). Prepare readers to confidently undertake common methodological strategies themselves. * Serves as a companion volume and supplemental guide to the well-established Theories of the Policy Process, 4th Edition (Routledge, 2018).

Have bureaucrats taken over the decision making role of politicians? This book offers a direct assessment of the role of bureaucrats in policy making by analysing how they shape policy in making decrees - laws that generally do not pass through full legislative scrutiny. These are often described as "secondary legislation" and are known by a variety of names (including decrets, arretes, administrative regulations, Verordnungen, statutory instruments). Such decrees offer an important vantage point for understanding bureaucratic power not only because they account for a large proportion of policy making activity within the executive, but also because they are made largely away from the glare of publicity. If bureaucrats have strong policy making powers and use them in a way that minimises political involvement in policy making, we would expect to find these powers especially evident in this "everyday" decision making. The book is based on research examining 52 decrees produced between 2005 and 2008 in six jurisdictions: France, the UK, Germany, Sweden, the United States and the European Union. The comparative perspective allows one to see how far different patterns of bureaucratic involvement in policy making are characteristic of particular political systems and how far they are a general feature of modern bureaucracies. The book asks three main questions about how these decrees are produced: when do politicians become involved in making them? What happens when politicians become involved? And what happens when they are not involved? The answers to these questions are provided by examination of primary source material as well as interviews with over 90 officials.

The debate on governance originates in the OECD world. At the latest since the postcolonial debate, we know that we need to "test" our assumptions under radically different conditions. This book offers an extended perspective of local self-governance by examining cases from South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, together with a study of militias in the USA. The chapters present a wide variety of local actors who pursue different notions of order legitimized by local traditions based on hierarchy or deeply rooted communalism, Islamic theology, or grassroots democracy. Some local actors claim a state-like authority and challenge the territorial state. In such cases, there is no longer "a shadow hierarchy" but opposition to the state. Different violent actors fight for supremacy, and the state is just one actor among others. The empirical studies presented in this book show how different kinds of local self-governance are combined with varieties of statehood, and thus contribute to an understanding of the notion of governance in a fundamental sense that goes beyond the special case of the OECD world.