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Although much has been written about contemporary Poland,
discussions that provide a balanced assessment of the current
situation are in short supply. To correct that problem, this book
offers a cross-section of intellectual opinion within Poland,
including original research and works of synthesis that draw on
Polish research and writing that have been, for the most part,
inaccessible to scholars outside Poland. The contributors' views
avoid the extremes of condemnation or defense of the system and
make possible a more complete understanding of present-day
realities. Their perspectives are moderated by the fact that,
although the authors recognize the need for reform and change, they
also take into consideration the great constraints facing all who
would confront serious national issues. The discussions range from
examinations of social structure and class to evaluations of the
significance of the state apparatus in the analysis of policy and
assessments of economic performance.
Lawrence S. Graham focuses on the implications of the Portuguese
case for understanding more fully broader, cross-national patterns
in politics and governance, showing how the Portuguese case may
constitute an alternative model especially for Latin America and
Eastern Europe.
Lawrence S. Graham focuses on the implications of the Portuguese
case for understanding more fully broader, cross-national patterns
in politics and governance, showing how the Portuguese case may
constitute an alternative model especially for Latin America and
Eastern Europe.
Although much has been written about contemporary Poland,
discussions that provide a balanced assessment of the current
situation are in short supply. To correct that problem, this book
offers a cross-section of intellectual opinion within Poland,
including original research and works of synthesis that draw on
Polish research and writing that have been, for the most part,
inaccessible to scholars outside Poland. The contributors' views
avoid the extremes of condemnation or defense of the system and
make possible a more complete understanding of present-day
realities. Their perspectives are moderated by the fact that,
although the authors recognize the need for reform and change, they
also take into consideration the great constraints facing all who
would confront serious national issues. The discussions range from
examinations of social structure and class to evaluations of the
significance of the state apparatus in the analysis of policy and
assessments of economic performance.
The transition from authoritarian to democratic government in
Brazil unleashed profound changes in government and society that
cannot be adequately understood from any single theoretical
perspective. The great need, say Graham and Wilson, is a holistic
vision of what occurred in Brazil, one that opens political and
economic analysis to new vistas. This need is answered in The
Political Economy of Brazil, a groundbreaking study of late
twentieth-century Brazilian issues from a policy perspective. The
book was an outgrowth of a year-long policy research project
undertaken jointly by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public
Affairs and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American
Studies, both at the University of Texas at Austin. In this book,
several noted scholars focus on specific issues central to an
understanding of the political and economic choices that were under
debate in Brazil. Their findings reveal that for Brazil the break
with the past-the authoritarian regime-could not be complete due to
economic choices made in the 1960s and 1970s, and also the way in
which economic resources committed at that time locked the
government into a relatively limited number of options in balancing
external and internal pressures. These conclusions will be
important for everyone working in Latin American and Third World
development.
It's tough to keep students afloat in a sea of detail when moving
from country to country in a comparative course. While it's
important to give students a sense of place, lengthy textbooks can
overwhelm them with far too much description. Students are left
with no clear path for understanding regional context or for making
meaningful cross-national comparisons, and little sense of larger
concepts and themes. The Politics of Governing: A Comparative
Introduction answers this dilemma in a truly brief text-only 320
pages long-that frames country case studies within regional
chapters. This approach equips students to see the bigger picture
and understand how the issues of governing can no longer be
separated from events outside a country's borders. The authors
answer the same set of questions in each chapter-What are the
purposes of government (the ends of politics)? What do governments
do (the functions of politics)? Who exercises political power (the
processes of politics)?-giving this concise text strong analysis of
particular countries within a powerful regional framework. The book
incorporates the American experience as a familiar touch point for
students and examines those areas of the world in which the U.S. is
most engaged: The European chapters highlight the development of
supranational institutions and their impact on politics in Great
Britain, France, and Germany. These stand in contrast to the
transitional politics underway to the east with Central Europe's
new democracies and the upheavals in Russia, the Ukraine, and the
Balkan states keeping those countries at the margins of this new
Europe. The diversity of Asian governments is explored within the
context of competing forces between markets and democracy, at the
core of which stands mainland China. The forces of religion and
culture across the Muslim world shape the chapter that encompasses
North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with country
case studies focused on Morocco, Iran, and Indonesia. The chapter
on Latin America highlights the draw of North American markets and
the appeal of distinctive political and economic patterns in South
America, with case studies on Mexico and Brazil. A final chapter on
regional convergence examines both developing countries and
competing supranational markets to understand how people in
countries caught in between larger, competing regional trading
blocs are affected.
Despite worldwide interest in the Portuguese Revolution of 1974,
Portugal remained for most people a little known and poorly
understood country, neglected for years by social scientists.
Editors Graham and Makler brought together for the first time in
one substantive volume most of the leading social science experts
on Portugal. The contributors' highly original research represents
the best work generated by the International Conference Group on
Modern Portugal at its two major conferences held in 1973 and 1976.
The result is a comprehensive collection of essays discussing in
detail the events leading up to the revolution, the causes of the
military coup, and the movement of a society on the brink of
revolutionary upheaval toward open, democratic parliamentary
elections. As the first interdisciplinary study to span fifty years
of Portuguese history from the Estado Novo of 1926 to the eventual
social democratic republic, this book stands alone in its field.
The specialist as well as the general reader will find insights
into the dynamics of Portugal's people, politics, and economics.
In the 1930s, during the authoritarian government of Getulio
Vargas, the Brazilian civil service reform movement began.
Thirty-five years later, the actual administrative practices of the
country did not adequately reflect the philosophy underlying this
movement, a philosophy drawn from the reform experience and public
administration theories of the United States and Western Europe.
This book examines why these ideas, when transplanted to another
cultural setting, did not take root and, further, why they
unexpectedly proved to be most applicable in Brazil during periods
of autocratic rule. These questions are highly relevant not only to
Brazil, but equally to other developing countries struggling to
create more effective national administrative systems. For this
reason, and in order to evaluate the Brazilian reform experience
within its total context (social, economic, and political),
Lawrence S. Graham develops a broad conceptual framework. His focus
is on the years between 1945 and 1964, a period which allowed a
relatively free play of political forces but, ironically, produced
a diminution in the success of the reform efforts when compared
with the authoritarian governments which preceded and followed it.
After a comparative consideration of the public administration
theories behind the reform movement, Graham examines this period in
terms of the political environment, the functions of political
patronage, and the influences of a nascent national party. Finally,
he juxtaposes the conditions and course of the Brazilian reform
experience with those of the United States and Great Britain.
Graham's study of the Brazilian example, which does not pass
judgment on the prevailing public personnel system, reveals the
importance of understanding the total cultural context within which
administrative principles are put into practice. Such an approach,
wider than generally held in the field of public administration,
may prove to be the most vital factor in the future of the civil
service in Brazil and several other countries facing the same
problems.
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