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Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and
law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to
be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. Tackling the complex issues surrounding what shapes a
person's vote, this cutting-edge Advanced Introduction analyses the
main findings in current research on electoral behavior to provide
a comprehensive understanding of electoral choice. Key Features:
Treats the voting decision as the cumulation of a lifetime of
learning Studies global voting examples, from Europe and the
Anglo-American democracies to newly democratic states Places the
act of voting in context to cover all dimensions of the voting
decision, examining the causes of an individual's vote and how that
interacts with the design of the country's institutions Considers
the ideological effects of short-term factors like issues and
leaders which dominate election campaigns, and long-term factors
like social backgrounds, looking at how class and economic
interests can influence voters Analysing the incentives behind
party loyalties and political participation, this Advanced
Introduction will be an invaluable guide for students and scholars
interested in political and electoral behavior and comparative
politics.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and
law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to
be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. Tackling the complex issues surrounding what shapes a
person's vote, this cutting-edge Advanced Introduction analyses the
main findings in current research on electoral behavior to provide
a comprehensive understanding of electoral choice. Key Features:
Treats the voting decision as the cumulation of a lifetime of
learning Studies global voting examples, from Europe and the
Anglo-American democracies to newly democratic states Places the
act of voting in context to cover all dimensions of the voting
decision, examining the causes of an individual's vote and how that
interacts with the design of the country's institutions Considers
the ideological effects of short-term factors like issues and
leaders which dominate election campaigns, and long-term factors
like social backgrounds, looking at how class and economic
interests can influence voters Analysing the incentives behind
party loyalties and political participation, this Advanced
Introduction will be an invaluable guide for students and scholars
interested in political and electoral behavior and comparative
politics.
This book examines the impact of Australian public opinion towards
defence and foreign policy from the mid-twentieth century to the
present day. For most of this period, the public showed little
interest in defence and security policy and possessed limited
knowledge about the strategic options available. The principal
post-war exception to this pattern is, of course, the Vietnam War,
when political divisions over Australia's support for the U.S.-led
action eventually resulted in the withdrawal of troops in 1972. The
period since 2001 has seen a fundamental change both in the
public's views of defence and foreign affairs, and in how these
issues are debated by political elites. This has come about as a
result of major changes in the strategic environment such as a
heightened public awareness of terrorism, party political divisions
over Australia's military commitment to the 2003-11 Iraq War and
the increasing overlap of economic and trade considerations with
defence and foreign policies, which has increased the public's
interest in these issues. Combining the expertise of one of
Australia's foremost scholars of public opinion with that of an
expert of international relations, particularly as pertains to
Australia in Asia, this book will be a critical read for those
wishing to understand Australia's alliance with the U.S.,
interactions with Asia and China, and the distinctive challenges
posed to Australia by its geographic position.
The fabled Great Bear Rainforest stretches up the rugged Pacific
coast from northern Vancouver Island to southern Alaska. A longtime
resident of the area, award-winning photographer and
conservationist Ian McAllister takes us on a deeply personal
journey from the headwaters of the Great Bear Rainforest's
unexplored river valleys down to where the ocean meets the
rainforest and finally to the hidden depths of the offshore world.
Along the way, we meet the spectacular wildlife that inhabits the
region. On a not-so-unusual day, McAllister quietly observes
twenty-seven bears fishing for salmon, three of which are the famed
pure-white spirit bear. McAllister introduces us to the First
Nations people who have lived in this area for millennia and to the
scientists conducting groundbreaking research and racing against
time to protect the rainforest from massive energy projects. Rich
with full-color photographs of the wolves, whales, and other
creatures who make the rainforest their home, Great Bear Wild is a
stunning celebration of this legendary area.
This book is a cross-national analysis of the role of the internet
in national electoral campaigns. It covers an array of electoral
and party systems throughout the globe from parliamentary to
presidential, party-based to candidate-oriented, multi-party to
two-party, and stable party system to dynamic party system. It
takes a look at three groups of nations with varying levels of
Internet access_those where internet usage is common across
demographic groups, those where usage has reached significant
levels but not widespread penetration, and those where internet
access is still limited to a small elite. Each chapter is a study
of a particular nation, focusing on its electoral and party
systems, the accessibility of the Internet to the population, the
nature of candidate/party usage, and the effects of the internet on
the conduct of campaigns. By reviewing the findings from these
studies, Making a Difference draws conclusions about exactly how
the internet influences electoral politics.
This book is a cross-national analysis of the role of the internet
in national electoral campaigns. It covers an array of electoral
and party systems throughout the globe from parliamentary to
presidential, party-based to candidate-oriented, multi-party to
two-party, and stable party system to dynamic party system. It
takes a look at three groups of nations with varying levels of
Internet access-those where internet usage is common across
demographic groups, those where usage has reached significant
levels but not widespread penetration, and those where internet
access is still limited to a small elite. Each chapter is a study
of a particular nation, focusing on its electoral and party
systems, the accessibility of the Internet to the population, the
nature of candidate/party usage, and the effects of the internet on
the conduct of campaigns. By reviewing the findings from these
studies, Making a Difference draws conclusions about exactly how
the internet influences electoral politics.
This book examines the impact of Australian public opinion towards
defence and foreign policy from the mid-twentieth century to the
present day. For most of this period, the public showed little
interest in defence and security policy and possessed limited
knowledge about the strategic options available. The principal
post-war exception to this pattern is, of course, the Vietnam War,
when political divisions over Australia's support for the U.S.-led
action eventually resulted in the withdrawal of troops in 1972. The
period since 2001 has seen a fundamental change both in the
public's views of defence and foreign affairs, and in how these
issues are debated by political elites. This has come about as a
result of major changes in the strategic environment such as a
heightened public awareness of terrorism, party political divisions
over Australia's military commitment to the 2003-11 Iraq War and
the increasing overlap of economic and trade considerations with
defence and foreign policies, which has increased the public's
interest in these issues. Combining the expertise of one of
Australia's foremost scholars of public opinion with that of an
expert of international relations, particularly as pertains to
Australia in Asia, this book will be a critical read for those
wishing to understand Australia's alliance with the U.S.,
interactions with Asia and China, and the distinctive challenges
posed to Australia by its geographic position.
This high-quality reference on significant research in Australian social sciences is divided into three main sections: economics, sociology and political science. Each section examines the significant research in the field. The volume views the research within the context of broader debates about the social sciences and the ways in which more recent institutional changes have altered how they are defined, taught and researched.
Is the party over? Parties are the central institutions of
representative democracy, but critics increasingly claim that
parties are failing to perform their democratic functions.
Political Parties and Democratic Linkage assembles unprecedented
cross-national evidence to assess how parties link the individual
citizen to the formation of governments and then to government
policies. Using the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and
other recent cross-national data, the authors examine the workings
of this party linkage process across established and new
democracies. Political parties still dominate the electoral process
in shaping the discourse of campaigns, the selection of candidates,
and mobilizing citizens to vote. Equally striking, parties link
citizen preferences to the choice of representatives, with strong
congruence between voter and party Left/Right positions. These
preferences are then translated in the formation of coalition
governments and their policies.
The authors argue that the critics of parties have overlooked the
ability of political parties to adapt to changing conditions in
order to perform their crucial linkage functions. As the context of
politics and societies have changed, so too have political parties.
Political Parties and DemocraticLinkage argues that the process of
party government is alive and well in most contemporary
democracies.
The statistics detailing the socioeconomic growth of Russia and
China are impressive. On some projections, China will be the
world's largest economy by 2050, and Russia will be the sixth
largest. Yet despite this impressive record of economic growth, a
striking feature of both countries is the inegalitarian nature of
their development - notwithstanding the (post)communist legacy. On
most conventional measures, the two countries are now among the
most unequal in the world, and the level of inequality has
increased significantly since the 1990s. What effect does this
endemic economic inequality have on political stability? From
Aristotle onwards, observers have concluded that the greater the
inequality within a society, the greater the likelihood of
instability. This book addresses the relationship between economic
inequality and political stability in Russia and China. Several
chapters examine how economic performance has driven institutional
reform, while others evaluate long term trends in public opinion to
see how economic change has affected the public's views of
politics. The conclusion is that both regimes have proved adept at
adapting to rising inequality by managing the policy agenda,
guiding public opinion and co-opting or repressing political
opposition. The chapters in this book originally published as a
special issue in Europe-Asia Studies.
The statistics detailing the socioeconomic growth of Russia and
China are impressive. On some projections, China will be the
world's largest economy by 2050, and Russia will be the sixth
largest. Yet despite this impressive record of economic growth, a
striking feature of both countries is the inegalitarian nature of
their development - notwithstanding the (post)communist legacy. On
most conventional measures, the two countries are now among the
most unequal in the world, and the level of inequality has
increased significantly since the 1990s. What effect does this
endemic economic inequality have on political stability? From
Aristotle onwards, observers have concluded that the greater the
inequality within a society, the greater the likelihood of
instability. This book addresses the relationship between economic
inequality and political stability in Russia and China. Several
chapters examine how economic performance has driven institutional
reform, while others evaluate long term trends in public opinion to
see how economic change has affected the public's views of
politics. The conclusion is that both regimes have proved adept at
adapting to rising inequality by managing the policy agenda,
guiding public opinion and co-opting or repressing political
opposition. The chapters in this book originally published as a
special issue in Europe-Asia Studies.
For twenty years, Ian McAllister has explored the rugged north
coast of British Columbia, known as the Great Bear Rainforest, one
of the last places on the planet where wolves live in an
undisturbed way. This book describes McAllister's experiences over
that period following two packs of wolves, one that dominates the
extreme outer coastal islands, and another that lives farther
inland in the heart of the temperate rainforest. McAllister, along
with Chris Darimont and Paul C. Paquet, were the first to document
the unique behavior of these animals in The Last Wild Wolves. In
Following the Last Wild Wolves McAllister brings readers up to date
describing what has happened to the wolves and their environment
since the book first appeared. He chronicles their unique behavior
as they fish for salmon in the fall, target seals hauled out on
rocks in winter, and give birth to their young in spring. He also
describes the work of scientists with the Raincoast Conservation
Society who have been studying the wolves and explains how their
science corroborates his own observations and the traditional
knowledge of the area's Native people. Most interestingly, the
results of these studies reveal a genetically distinct population
of wolves independent of and separate from all other known wolf
populations on the planet.
After three decades of violence, Northern Ireland has experienced
unprecedented peace. This book, now available in paperback,
examines the impact of the 1998 Agreement which halted the violence
on those most affected by it - the Northern Irish people
themselves. Using public opinion surveys conducted over a period of
half a century, this book covers changes in public opinion across
all areas of society and politics, including elections, education,
community relations and national identity. The surveys show that
despite peace, Protestants and Catholics remain as deeply divided
as ever. The vast majority marry co-religionists, attend religious
schools and have few friends across the religious divide. The
results have implications not just for peacemaking in Northern
Ireland, but for other societies emerging from conflict. The main
lesson of peacemaking in Northern Ireland is that political reform
has to be accompanied by social change across the society as a
whole. Peace after conflict needs social as well as political
change. -- .
For seventeen years, Ian McAllister has lived on the rugged north
coast of British Columbia, one of the last places on the planet
where wolves live relatively undisturbed by humans. The Last Wild
Wolves describes his experiences over that period following two
packs of wolves, one in the extreme outer coastal islands and
another farther inland in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest.
The behavior of these animals -- which depend on the vast
old-growth forest and its gifts -- is documented in words and
pictures as they fish for salmon in the fall, target seals hauled
out on rocks in winter, and give birth to their young in the base
of thousand-year-old cedar trees in spring. Most interestingly,
scientific studies reveal a genetically distinct population of
wolves -- one that is increasingly threatened by human incursions.
First published in 2003, The Cambridge Handbook of Social Sciences
in Australia is a high-quality reference on significant research in
Australian social sciences. The book is divided into three main
sections, covering the central areas of the social
sciences-economics, political science and sociology. Each section
examines the significant research in the field, placing it within
the context of broader debates about the nature of the social
sciences and the ways in which institutional changes have shaped
how they are defined, taught and researched.
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