Electoral behaviour is one of the most dynamic areas of study in the field of comparative politics today. A strongly emerging theme in recent years has been the need to set the study of voting behaviour in its wider context, that is to understand how the behaviour of the individual (non)voter is conditioned by the environment in which the election is occurring. The main motivation for this book is to respond to this need. The Act of Voting examines voting - both the question of whether to vote (ie. electoral turnout) and who to vote for - in context from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to other topics and themes, chapters explore the national or social identities of individuals and how these contribute to complex social dynamics, discuss the institutions that determine who is able to vote and over what, and analyse the impact of the locale on the voting act. Offering chapters by up-and-coming scholars in the field of electoral behaviour, as well as reflections on how the act of voting should be viewed in the broadest context - normatively, institutionally and socially, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching political behaviour, public opinion and politics more generally.

Exploring the work of William Blake within the context of Methodism - the largest 'dissenting' religious group during his lifetime - this book contributes to ongoing critical debates surrounding Blake's religious affinities by suggesting that, contrary to previous thinking, Blake held sympathies with certain aspects of Methodism.

Utilising a wide range of theoretical traditions from philosophy, sociology and anthropology, this book aims to raise the reader's awareness of the power as well as the limitations of language in relation to special education.

Utilising a wide range of theoretical traditions from philosophy, sociology and anthropology, this book aims to raise the reader's awareness of the power as well as the limitations of language in relation to special education.

Exploring the work of William Blake within the context of Methodism - the largest 'dissenting' religious group during his lifetime - this book contributes to ongoing critical debates surrounding Blake's religious affinities by suggesting that, contrary to previous thinking, Blake held sympathies with certain aspects of Methodism.

Recursive Block Coding, a new image data compression technique that has its roots in noncausal models for 1d and 2d signals, is the subject of this book. The underlying theory provides a multitude of compression algorithms that encompass two course coding, quad tree coding, hybrid coding and so on. Since the noncausal models provide a fundamentally different image representation, they lead to new approaches to many existing algorithms, including useful approaches for asymmetric, progressive, and adaptive coding techniques. On the theoretical front, the basic result shows that a random field (an ensemble of images) can be coded block by block such that the interblock redundancy can be completely removed while the individual blocks are transform coded. On the practical side, the artifact of tiling, a block boundary effect, present in conventional block by block transform coding techniques has been greatly suppressed. This book contains not only a theoretical discussion of the algorithms but also exhaustive simulation and suggested methodologies for ensemble design techniques. Each of the resulting algorithms has been applied to twelve images over a wide range of image data rates and the results are reported using subjective descriptions, photographs, mathematical MSE values, and h-plots, a recently proposed graphical representation showing a high level of agreement with image quality as judged subjectively.

Deliberate practice exercises provide trainees and students opportunities to build competence in essential schema therapy skills and hone their own personal therapeutic style. These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a clinician, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The clinician improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—that reflect common client questions and concerns. Each of the first 12 exercises focuses on a single skill. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these essential skills into a single schema therapy session. Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering each skill, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

This book, in bringing together some of the leading international scholars on electoral behaviour and communication studies, provides the first ever stock-take of the state of this sub-discipline. The individual chapters present the most recent studies on campaign effects in North America, Europe and Australasia. As a whole, the book provides a cross-national assessment of the theme of political campaigns and their consequences.

This book, in bringing together some of the leading international scholars on electoral behaviour and communication studies, provides the first ever stock-take of the state of this sub-discipline. The individual chapters present the most recent studies on campaign effects in North America, Europe and Australasia. As a whole, the book provides a cross-national assessment of the theme of political campaigns and their consequences.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166957

Spain in the EU takes the country's entry into the European Community in 1986 as its starting point and traces changes in the national and regional economy, shifts in national economic policy, and the fundamental restructuring of the public sector. The book identifies the challenges that continue to confront the Spanish policy under monetary integration, as Spain pursues convergence towards the EU model, while retaining national cohesion.

Spain and the EU takes the country's accession to the European Community in 1986 as its starting point and traces the changes in the national and regional economy, the shifts in national economic policy, and the fundamental restructuring of a public sector only recently enlarged as a result of the country's transition to democracy. The book identifies the challenges that continue to confront the Spanish polity under monetary integration in the pursuit of convergence towards the EU model, while retaining national cohesion. Aimed at an academic and general audience, the issues raised in this book have broader lessons for the management of integration at the national and sub-national level, particularly for new member states.

Despite the central importance of elections to representative democracy, there is no systematic study available of how exactly the parties wage their election campaigns. Examining recent elections in nine countries across three continents, there case studies, all following a common framework, are written by national experts and are based on detailed interviewing and research of the parties. The book includes a lengthy introduction; a comparative study on campaign 'effects'; and a detailed conclusion.

Electoral behaviour is one of the most dynamic areas of study in the field of comparative politics today. A strongly emerging theme in recent years has been the need to set the study of voting behaviour in its wider context, that is to understand how the behaviour of the individual (non)voter is conditioned by the environment in which the election is occurring. The main motivation for this book is to respond to this need. The Act of Voting examines voting - both the question of whether to vote (ie. electoral turnout) and who to vote for - in context from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to other topics and themes, chapters explore the national or social identities of individuals and how these contribute to complex social dynamics, discuss the institutions that determine who is able to vote and over what, and analyse the impact of the locale on the voting act. Offering chapters by up-and-coming scholars in the field of electoral behaviour, as well as reflections on how the act of voting should be viewed in the broadest context - normatively, institutionally and socially, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching political behaviour, public opinion and politics more generally.

This is the definitive study of the Irish general election of 2016 - the most dramatic election in a generation, which resulted in the worst electoral outcome for Ireland's established parties, the most fractionalized party system in the history of the state, and the emergence of new parties and groups. These outcomes follow a pattern seen across a number of Western Europe's established democracies in which the 'deep crisis' of the Great Recession has wreaked havoc on party systems. The objective of this book is to assess this most extraordinary of Irish elections both in its Irish and wider cross-national context. With contributions from leading scholars on Irish elections, and using a unique dataset - the Irish National Election Study 2016 - this volume explores voting patterns at Ireland's first post crisis election and it considers the implications for the electoral landscape and politics in Ireland. -- .

The Lawrence and Lynne Brown Democracy Medal, presented by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, recognizes outstanding individuals, groups, and organizations that produce innovations to further democracy in the United States or around the world. 2019 Brown Democracy Medal winners David M. Farrell and Jane Suiter are co-leads on the Irish Citizens' Assembly Project, which has transformed Irish politics over the past decade. The project started in 2011 and led to a series of significant policy decisions, including successful referenda on abortion and marriage equality. Thanks to generous funding from The Pennsylvania State University, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access (OA) volumes, available from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other Open Access repositories.

This unique resource helps therapists build their skills in schema therapy (ST) by applying ST techniques to themselves and reflecting on the experience. Designed for use by individuals or groups, the book harnesses the power of self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR), an evidence-based training strategy. Twenty modules take therapists step by step through using ST to address a professional or personal problem--from establishing safety and creating a self-conceptualization to implementing mode change work, including cognitive, experiential, and behavioral pattern-breaking interventions. In a convenient large-size format, the book is illustrated with vivid therapist examples and features numerous reproducible worksheets and forms for doing the SP/SR exercises. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Previously Marya learned the worlds were not all black and white and that race, whether made or born, does not determine the good or evil of a soul. Now she's setting out with David to find his beloved, one of the sisters taken from her so long ago. But are they too late? Nireleth herself believes that what she has become isn't worth saving. Is anything left of the carefree girl they once knew and loved? Or is her soul to shattered by what's been taken from her to survive?

Marya is filled with a great bitterness for the race that was responsible for her families destruction. With the help of her mother she proceeds to destroy every vampire that crosses her path until she destroys one belonging to a very powerful Ancient Blood. Vincent captures her and begins showing her things that contradict everything she believes.

Marya is filled with a great bitterness for the race that was responsible for her families destruction. With the help of her mother she proceeds to destroy every vampire that crosses her path until she destroys one belonging to a very powerful Ancient Blood. Vincent captures her and begins showing her things that contradict everything she believes.