This short book brings together novel cross-interdisciplinary investigation from both natural and social science, representing a true hybrid across disciplines examining the 'politics' and 'science' of COVID-19. Viruses, Vaccines, and Antivirals: Why Politics Matters considers the dynamics surrounding viruses, proposed vaccines, and antiviral therapies, contextualizing what governments have done during the COVID-19 crisis. The four basic phases of a pandemic are considered with a strong focus on COVID-19, namely the anticipating and early virus detection, containment strategies, policies to control and mitigate the spread of the virus and policies aimed at opening up society. Viruses, Vaccines, and Antivirals: Why Politics Matters examines policy developments throughout these phases in key nations worldwide and puts forward a blueprint for countries developing public policies to deal with a pandemic.

In an age of corruption, sleaze and scandal associated with financial crisis and economic downturn across the globe, citizens want more transparency and accountability in politics. This book examines a principal means by which this can be achieved: the regulation of lobbyists. It provides innovative insights into lobbying regulations across four continents -- North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. What are these regulations about? What are the differences across the continents? How effective are the rules? How have they changed the lobbying profession? Using qualitative and quantitative analyses, the book compares and contrasts regulatory laws in the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, the EU, Taiwan and Australia. It examines how politicians, lobbyists and civil servants regard the legislation in place in different jurisdictions. It also considers what lessons and different "models of regulation" can be considered and adopted by those states without lobbying rules.

The recent financial and economic crisis has forced governments and people from around the globe to ask some hard questions about how democracy has evolved. Some of these are old questions; others are new. Is democracy really the most desirable form of government? How democratic is policy-making during the financial and economic crisis? Why do vote-seeking parties in modern democracies actually make voters miserable? Can women s under-representation in politics be explained because of voter bias? Why are some citizens still excluded from voting in their country? And can terrorist organizations that promote violence one day, really become democratic the next?

This represents the first book of its kind to ask and answer a broad range of hard questions that need to be addressed in times of both flux and calls for democratic change throughout the world. It does so by bringing together leading social scientists and rising stars from around the globe. Interdisciplinary in its analysis, it is essential reading for students of comparative and international politics, political philosophy, gender studies and economics.

The book's website can be found at: www.democracyquestions.com and it was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

This short book brings together novel cross-interdisciplinary investigation from both natural and social science, representing a true hybrid across disciplines examining the ‘politics’ and ‘science’ of COVID-19. Viruses, Vaccines, and Antivirals: Why Politics Matters considers the dynamics surrounding viruses, proposed vaccines, and antiviral therapies, contextualizing what governments have done during the COVID-19 crisis. The four basic phases of a pandemic are considered with a strong focus on COVID-19, namely the anticipating and early virus detection, containment strategies, policies to control and mitigate the spread of the virus and policies aimed at opening up society. Viruses, Vaccines, and Antivirals: Why Politics Matters examines policy developments throughout these phases in key nations worldwide and puts forward a blueprint for countries developing public policies to deal with a pandemic.

The recent financial and economic crisis has forced governments and people from around the globe to ask some hard questions about how democracy has evolved. Some of these are old questions; others are new. Is democracy really the most desirable form of government? How democratic is policy-making during the financial and economic crisis? Why do vote-seeking parties in modern democracies actually make voters miserable? Can women's under-representation in politics be explained because of voter bias? Why are some citizens still excluded from voting in their country? And can terrorist organizations that promote violence one day, really become democratic the next? This represents the first book of its kind to ask and answer a broad range of hard questions that need to be addressed in times of both flux and calls for democratic change throughout the world. It does so by bringing together leading social scientists and rising stars from around the globe. Interdisciplinary in its analysis, it is essential reading for students of comparative and international politics, political philosophy, gender studies and economics. The book's website can be found at: www.democracyquestions.com and it was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

Life After Privatization offers a refreshing and original theoretical conceptualization of what happened to stateowned enterprises after they were privatized from the late 1970s onwards. Some privatized firms have become todays European and global giants, Alphas, merging with or acquiring other firms, whereas other firms, Betas, have been taken over by Alphas or other sectoral leaders. The book raises questions such as which privatized firms in the airline, automobile, and the electricity sectors in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are Alphas and Betas today? And why? Building on a variety of themes from both Political Science and Business Studies, it considers a comprehensive set of explanations both internal and external to the firm, to analyse why a firm may become an Alpha or a Beta. The evidence shows that while internal factors are important, the more external, political, factors are necessary and sufficient to explain why a firm becomes an Alpha or a Beta. This includes the impact of liberalization, the roles of states, and the actions of regulators that are lobbied by firms. Based on exhaustive evidence, Life After Privatization concludes with a novel inductive theory, which offers a significant step forward for social science scholars and practitioners understanding of the politics businesses face in global markets.

Governments worldwide are developing sunshine policies that increase transparency in politics, where a key initiative is regulating lobbyists. Building on the pioneering first edition, this book updates its examination of all jurisdictions with regulations, from the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Unlike any book, it offers unique insights into how the regulations compare and contrast against each other, offering a revamped theoretical classification of different regulatory environments and situating each political system therein. This edition innovatively considers different measurements to capture the robustness of lobbying laws in terms of promoting transparency and accountability. And, based on the authors' experience of advising governments globally, it closes with a no-nonsense guide on how to make a lobbying law. This is of value to policymakers seeking to introduce or amend regulations, and lobbyists seeking to influence this process. -- .