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The Work Connection: The Role of Social Security in British Economic Regulation
by J. Stewart Chris GroverThe authors use regulation to explain the antecedents to current welfare developments in Britain. From discussion of the 'Speenhamland System', the struggle for Family Allowance and a National Minimum Wage, they show how first a Conservative government in the 1970s, and more recently 'New Labour', have used in-work benefits so that today they have become the preferred instrument of intervention in the labour market for setting wages. The authors discuss the ways in which these measures - the new deals for lone parents and young people and the working family tax credit - address issues of child poverty and the adequacy of incomes, and how far they are disciplining devices to encourage a new moral order, supportive of family life.
Working Across Boundaries: Collaboration in Public Services (Government beyond the Centre)
by Chris Skelcher Helen SullivanCollaboration between governments, business, the voluntary and community sectors is now central to the way public policy is made, managed and delivered. This book provides the first comprehensive and authoritative account of the theory, policy and practice of collaboration. Written by two leading authorities in the field the book explores the experience of collaboration in regeneration, health and other policy sectors, and assesses the consequences of the emergence of public-private partnerships contrasting the UK experience to that elsewhere in the world.
Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London
by Nick Buck Ian Gordon Peter Hall Michael Harloe Mark KleinmanFor decades the cities of the developed world were seen as problem-beset relics from times of low mobility and slow communications. But now, their potential to sustain creativity, culture and innovation is perceived as crucial to success in a much more competitive global ecomony. The vital requirement to secure and sustain this success is argued to be the achievement of social cohesion.Working Capital provides a rigorous but accessible analysis of these key issues taking London as its test case. The book provides the first substantial analysis of key economic, social and structural issues that the new London administration needs to deal with. In a wider context, its critical assessment of the bases of the new urbanism and of the global city thesis will raise questions both about the adequacy of urban thinking and about the capacity of new institutions alone to resolve the fundamental problems faced by cities.
Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London
by Nick Buck Ian Gordon Peter Hall Michael Harloe Mark KleinmanFor decades the cities of the developed world were seen as problem-beset relics from times of low mobility and slow communications. But now, their potential to sustain creativity, culture and innovation is perceived as crucial to success in a much more competitive global ecomony. The vital requirement to secure and sustain this success is argued to be the achievement of social cohesion.Working Capital provides a rigorous but accessible analysis of these key issues taking London as its test case. The book provides the first substantial analysis of key economic, social and structural issues that the new London administration needs to deal with. In a wider context, its critical assessment of the bases of the new urbanism and of the global city thesis will raise questions both about the adequacy of urban thinking and about the capacity of new institutions alone to resolve the fundamental problems faced by cities.
World Class Schools: International Perspectives On School Effectiveness
by David Reynolds Bert Creemers Sam Stringfield Charles TeddlieIn this book the authors have conducted extensive research and describe what makes a successful school and how this varies in different countries. The book follows the progress of a cohort of 7-year-old children through their schools over a two-year period. It covers schools in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, and Ireland and: *draw together what it is that the most and least effective schools do in each country *pinpoints what makes 'effective teaching' across the globe *analyses which effectiveness-producing school and teaching factors appear to be the same and which are context specific *discusses how educational policies can be used to generate World Class Schools and which new blends of practice can, or should be used The existing literature based upon the comparison of the educational achievements of different countries is inadequate. This unique study provides a rich picture of the processes of the education systems of different countries which will appeal to practitioners and policy makers.
World Class Schools: International Perspectives On School Effectiveness (PDF)
by David Reynolds Bert Creemers Sam Stringfield Charles TeddlieIn this book the authors have conducted extensive research and describe what makes a successful school and how this varies in different countries. The book follows the progress of a cohort of 7-year-old children through their schools over a two-year period. It covers schools in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, and Ireland and: *draw together what it is that the most and least effective schools do in each country *pinpoints what makes 'effective teaching' across the globe *analyses which effectiveness-producing school and teaching factors appear to be the same and which are context specific *discusses how educational policies can be used to generate World Class Schools and which new blends of practice can, or should be used The existing literature based upon the comparison of the educational achievements of different countries is inadequate. This unique study provides a rich picture of the processes of the education systems of different countries which will appeal to practitioners and policy makers.
World Economic Issues at the United Nations: Half a Century of Debate
by Mahfuzur RahmanWhat were all those diplomats and bureaucrats from all over the world doing at the United Nations over the past half century when they were not debating how to prevent countries from tearing at each other or how to feed and shelter victims of natural or man-made disasters around the globe? A lot in fact, at least in terms of time spent and the sweep of issues debated. A major category of them were discussing a whole range of economic ques tions since the inception of the organization, while a slightly different category, with some members only changing hats, were talking about social Issues. Apart from operational activities, such as technical assistance to devel oping countries, and except for the well-publicized attempts at activism at as those on the environment or the status of international conferences such women, little is known outside the United Nations about the work of the or ganization in economic and social fields. Which is a pity. After all, the organization has often been given the dubious distinction of being the big gest talk show on earth. It is certainly pertinent to ask what it has been talking about over the last fifty-odd years.
World poverty: New policies to defeat an old enemy (Studies in Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion series)
by Peter Townsend David GordonWorld poverty is an important book offering fresh insights into how to tackle poverty worldwide. With contributions from leading scholars in the field both internationally and in the UK, the book asks whether existing international and national policies are likely to succeed in reducing poverty across the world. It concludes that they are not and that a radically different international strategy is needed. This book is a companion volume to Breadline Europe: The measurement of poverty (The Policy Press, 2001). The focus of World poverty is on anti-poverty policies rather than the scale, causes and measurement of poverty. A wide range of countries is discussed including countries such as China and India, which have rarely been covered elsewhere. The interests of the industrialised and developing world are given equal attention and are analysed together. Policies intended to operate at different levels - international, regional, national and sub-national - ranging from the policies of international agencies like the UN and the World Bank through to national governments, groups of governments and local and city authorities - are examined. Key aspects of social policy, like 'targeting' and means-testing, de-regulation and privatisation, are considered in detail. World poverty will become a definitive point of reference for anyone working, studying or researching in the poverty field. Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available. For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.
World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms (PDF)
by Thomas PoggeThe poorest 46 percent of humankind have 1.2 percent of global income. Their purchasing power per person per day is less than that of $2.15 in the US in 1993; 826 million of them do not have enough to eat. One–third of all human deaths are from poverty–related causes: 18 million annually, including 12 million children under five. At the other end, the 15 percent of humankind in the ′high–income economies′ have 80 percent of global income. Shifting 1 or 2 percent of our share toward poverty eradication seems morally compelling. Yet the prosperous 1990s have in fact brought a large shift toward greater global inequality, as most of the affluent believe that they have no such responsibility. Thomas Pogge′s book seeks to explain how this belief is sustained. He analyses how our moral and economic theorizing and our global economic order have adapted to make us appear disconnected from massive poverty abroad. Dispelling the illusion, he also offers a modest, widely sharable standard of global economic justice and makes detailed, realistic proposals toward fulfilling it.
Writing With An Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors
by Edvige GiuntaMary Cappello, Louise DeSalvo, Sandra M. Gilbert, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Carole Maso, Agnes Rossi. These are some of the best-known Italian American writers today. They are part of a literary tradition with mid-twentieth century roots that began to develop, in earnest, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During those decades, a number of Italian American women, such as Helen Barolini, began to publish books that depicted their perspectives on life through the critical lenses of gender, class, and ethnicity. At the end of the twentieth century, this literature finally blossomed into a fully fledged cultural movement that also took into account issues of sexuality, age, illness, and familial and societal abuse. Writing with an Accent takes a look at this vibrant literary movement by discussing those first writers of the 1970s and 1980s as well as later authors. At the center of Edvige Giunta s Writing with an Accent is the literal notion of accent, the marker of linguistic and cultural difference that separates and identifies recent immigrants to the United States. In this study, an accent symbolically embodies the differences and creative strategies through which contemporary Italian American women writers engage Italian American culture in works of fiction, poetry, and memoir. Giunta also looks at the links between the literature and art, music, film, and video produced by contemporary Italian American women. The literature of the Italian American women in Writing with an Accent is shaped by the complicated connections these authors maintain with their cultural origins, but also, and perhaps more importantly, by their feminist consciousness and politicized sense of ethnic identity. Writing with an Accent celebrates and explores a group of authors who characteristically mix the joy and pain of Italian American life to paint a multifaceted picture of Italian American women and their complex place in U.S. culture.
The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development
by Heinrich Wohlmeyer Theodor QuendlerDespite the Doha declaration of November 2001, the failure to start a new round of global trade negotiations at Seattle in December 1999 and the hostility of protesters to the trade liberalization process and growing global economic and social disparities was a wake-up call for the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ambitious goal of this ground-breaking book is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of liberalized world trade, in particular in the agricultural sector, and to investigate to what extent the current WTO agreements provide the necessary fail-safe devices to react to trade-related negative impacts on sustainability, environmental protection and food security. The background and interrelationship between the WTO, the tenets of sustainable development and the unique features of the agriculture and forestry sectors are explored, and conclusions regarding the deficits of the world trade system and its conflicts with basic societal goals – such as sustainability – are drawn. Agriculture and forestry have a particular affinity with what the authors call "strong sustainability" and are to be among the major agenda items in forthcoming WTO negotiations. The book proposes that sustainable agricultural production techniques such as integrated and organic farming provide a series of related services to community and environment which could be severely prejudiced by wholesale trade liberalization and the imposition of the large-scale production methods of the mega-trade giants of the USA and Europe. And yet the concept of sustainability is referred to only tangentially in the existing WTO agenda. The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development argues that, without a formal recognition of this failing, the premise that free trade is inherently advantageous for all countries is a falsehood. Further, unfettered liberalization is unsustainable and a social and environmental multilateral framework must be agreed to reinterpret or adapt a host of WTO regulations that are at odds with sustainable development. The core problem is that, under the current system, import duties can only be differentiated by direct goods and services and not by their means of production – sustainable or otherwise. Therefore, a range of environmental policy measures in the agricultural sector, such as the consideration of product life-cycles, the internalization of external costs and a coupling of trade liberalization with ecological obligations are proposed by the authors. In addition, they argue that unsustainable economic short-termism must be curbed and the use of the stick of trade sanctions and the carrot of financial benefits for good environmental performance be permitted to promote sustainable agricultural practices. This book will contribute greatly in addressing the lack of basic theoretical arguments at the intersection between trade and sustainable development – a failing that has already been bemoaned by trade policy-makers. It is highly recommended reading for all those involved or interested in the WTO negotiations, whether from multilateral organizations, governments, industry or civil society.
The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development
by Heinrich Wohlmeyer Theodor QuendlerDespite the Doha declaration of November 2001, the failure to start a new round of global trade negotiations at Seattle in December 1999 and the hostility of protesters to the trade liberalization process and growing global economic and social disparities was a wake-up call for the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ambitious goal of this ground-breaking book is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of liberalized world trade, in particular in the agricultural sector, and to investigate to what extent the current WTO agreements provide the necessary fail-safe devices to react to trade-related negative impacts on sustainability, environmental protection and food security. The background and interrelationship between the WTO, the tenets of sustainable development and the unique features of the agriculture and forestry sectors are explored, and conclusions regarding the deficits of the world trade system and its conflicts with basic societal goals – such as sustainability – are drawn. Agriculture and forestry have a particular affinity with what the authors call "strong sustainability" and are to be among the major agenda items in forthcoming WTO negotiations. The book proposes that sustainable agricultural production techniques such as integrated and organic farming provide a series of related services to community and environment which could be severely prejudiced by wholesale trade liberalization and the imposition of the large-scale production methods of the mega-trade giants of the USA and Europe. And yet the concept of sustainability is referred to only tangentially in the existing WTO agenda. The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development argues that, without a formal recognition of this failing, the premise that free trade is inherently advantageous for all countries is a falsehood. Further, unfettered liberalization is unsustainable and a social and environmental multilateral framework must be agreed to reinterpret or adapt a host of WTO regulations that are at odds with sustainable development. The core problem is that, under the current system, import duties can only be differentiated by direct goods and services and not by their means of production – sustainable or otherwise. Therefore, a range of environmental policy measures in the agricultural sector, such as the consideration of product life-cycles, the internalization of external costs and a coupling of trade liberalization with ecological obligations are proposed by the authors. In addition, they argue that unsustainable economic short-termism must be curbed and the use of the stick of trade sanctions and the carrot of financial benefits for good environmental performance be permitted to promote sustainable agricultural practices. This book will contribute greatly in addressing the lack of basic theoretical arguments at the intersection between trade and sustainable development – a failing that has already been bemoaned by trade policy-makers. It is highly recommended reading for all those involved or interested in the WTO negotiations, whether from multilateral organizations, governments, industry or civil society.
Zur Theorie, Empirie und Politik der Einkommensverteilung: Festschrift für Gerold Blümle
by Lukas Menkhoff Friedrich L. SellLukas Menkhoff und Friedrich L. Seil Gerold Blümle ist seit je her ein vielseitig interessierter Wissenschaftler und Zeitgenosse gewesen. Davon zeugt sein Schriftenverzeichnis am Ende dieser Festschrift, das neben seinen strikt "beruflichen" Neigungen zugun sten der Wirtschaftswissenschaften auch ein Spiegel von Teilen seiner privaten Hobbies ist. Im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Kollegen der Zunft hat Blümle sich den "Luxus", ja das Vergnügen gegönnt, über viele The men, die ihm nicht durch sein "Berufsbild" vorgezeichnet waren, auch leidenschaftlich und - nicht zu vergessen - mit einer gehörigen Portion Humor zu schreiben. Schaut man sich sein wissenschaftliches Oeuvre an, so fällt von Anfang an sein Engagement ftir die Verteilungstheorie ins Auge. Dabei hat es ihm insbesondere die Theorie der personellen Einkommensverteilung angetan. Die wirtschafts- und insbesondere sozialpolitischen Implikationen der Einkommensverteilung beschäftigten ihn besonders spätestens seit Ende der 1980er Jahre. Gerade in jüngster Zeit sind - neben den theoretischen und wirtschaftspolitischen Aspekten - auch verstärkt empirische Gesichts punkte in seinen Arbeiten zur Einkommensverteilung zum Zuge gekom men. Als Beispiel sei seine Untersuchung zu den Unterschieden in der EinkommensverteilungzwischenFrankreic hundDeutschlandgenannt. Es lag daher nahe, dieser Festschrift den Titel "Zur Theorie, Empirie und Politik der Einkommensverteilung" zu geben. Damit war für die Her ausgeber auch schon eine "natürliche" Gliederung der Beiträge zur Fest schrift vorgegeben, wobei die Theorie - wie in Blümles Schriften - ein deutliches Übergewicht hat und auch in den anderen Beiträgen eine große Rolle spielen kann.
The Primary Decision: A Functional Analysis of Debates in Presidential Primaries (Praeger Series in Political Communication)
by William L. BenoitBenoit and his colleagues apply the functional theory of political campaign discourse to 25 presidential primary debates beginning with the 1948 American presidential primary campaign. They conclude with the 2000 presidential primaries.They identify the functions, topics, and targets of attacks, and the results are compared with research on primary TV spots and with general debates. An important resource for scholars and students of American presidential and party elections and political communications.
Alain Badiou: A Critical Introduction (Modern European Thinkers)
by Jason BarkerAlain Badiou is rapidly emerging as one of the most radical and influential philosophers of our time. Badiou opposes the contemporary reduction of philosophy to nothing but a matter of language and premature announcements of the end of philosophy and thus sets himself against both analytic and continental modes of philosophy.*BR**BR*Setting the traditional platonic concerns of philosophy, truth and being, against the modern sophists of postmodernism, Badiou has articulated a powerful systematic philosophy with profound ethical and political consequences.
Corporate Capitalism and Political Philosophy
by Suman GuptaCorporate capitalism is usually examined from a sociological or economic viewpoint, and this book breaks new ground in providing a thorough account of the mechanisms which define it from a philosophical perspective, revealing how these processes determine the way we live today.*BR**BR*Marxist and other left-oriented political philosophies had ideological roots that were based, sometimes incongruously, on particular economic and sociological readings of the capitalist process. Political philosophies associated with conservatism and neoliberalism have either been assimilated within capitalist discourses, or they have been designed to justify corporate capitalist processes. *BR**BR*This book re-examines these issues with an unusually dispassionate approach, providing a systematic view of contemporary corporate capitalism in all its complexity, without expecting the reader to have a specialist knowledge of sociology or economics. It clarifies the scope of political philosophy by reflecting on its own methodology and practice, and offers a controversial conclusion that within contemporary corporate capitalist modes of organisation there is actually no space left for political philosophy at all, as corporate capitalism systematically denies all political agents an ability to exercise their political will.
Cameroon's Tycoon: Max Esser's Expedition and its Consequences (Cameroon Studies #3)
by E. M. Chilver Ute RöschenthalerMax Esser was an adventurous young merchant banker, a Rhinelander, who became the first managing director of the largest German plantation company in Cameroon. This volume gives a vivid account of the antecedents and early stages as experienced and described by Esser. In 1896 he ventured, with the explorer Zintgraff, into the hinterland to seek the agreement of Zintgraff's old ally, the ruler of Bali, for the provision of laborers for his projected enterprise. The consequences, many optimistically unforeseen, are illustrated with the help of contemporary materials. Esser's account is preceded by a look at his and his family's connections, added to by an account of newspaper campaigns against him, and completed by an examination of his Cameroon collection, which he gave to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart.
Women as Sacred Custodians of the Earth?: Women, Spirituality and the Environment
by Alaine Low Soraya TremayneLiterature on women, development and environment is abundant. The relationship between women and ecology has been analyzed by various disciplines, by specialists from the North as well as the South. This book offers a new perspective, specifically to challenge the assumption that women have a special affinity with the Earth and therefore a historic mission for the care of the environment. The book explores spiritual, religious and philosophical beliefs concerning women and ecology, and whether women are truly "sacred custodians" of the Earth. This concept has evolved from ideas developed by eco-feminists. Whether and how different belief systems can be put to use to create an awareness to protect, preserve and improve ecological conditions is discussed. The collection of papers demonstrates the complexity of the issues and the variations and vulnerability of the assumed relationship between women and the environment in different cultural and political contexts. The book challenges policy solutions which are devised to be on a global scale and to create unrealistic global aspirations, and the value of targeting women in a particular attempt to achieve environmentally sustainable development.
Administrative Reform in Developing Nations
by Ali FarazmandUnder pressure from the World Bank, the International Monetary Funds and the World Trade Organization governments of both industrialized and less developed nations have undertaken extensive reforms and reorganization to streamline their public sectors. This volume, with chapters written by authorities from around the world, provides information on administrative reform in varied nations. Following an introduction, which sets a theoretical framework, the book contains sections devoted to Asia, the Near/Middle East, Africa, and a comparison of East/South Europe and Asia.Administrative reform has become a widespread challenge to national and sub-national governments around the globe. Under pressure from the World Bank, the International Monetary Funds and the World Trade Organization governments of both industrialized and less developed nations have undertaken extensive reforms and reorganization to streamline their public sectors. This volume, with chapters written by authorities from around the world, provides information on administrative reform in varied nations.Developing nations face acute problems on a daily basis, making administrative reform an essential function of public administration. With chapters devoted to experiences in such nations as Korea, India, Iran, Turkey, the Arab States, Nigeria, and South Africa, this volume sheds valuable light on administrative reform in developing countries and provides lessons for future policy actions.
Covering Clinton: The President and the Press in the 1990s (Praeger Series in Presidential Studies)
by Joseph R. HaydenThe end of the 1990s saw increasing criticism of the media's treatment of the scandals in Washington. Critics complained that journalists either had not covered the political crisis well, that they had bungled it, or that they had simply blown it out of proportion. Some went so far as to call the situation Pressgate. As Hayden points out, however, the larger question remained: What was Clinton's overall relationship with the media?Hayden examines presidential-press relationships in the 1990s, focusing first on the 1992 campaign, then on issues and events over Clinton's two terms. He analyzes the press response to the programs of the Clinton era as well as the scandals, the roles of consultants like James Carville, the effectiveness of various press secretaries, and the use of pollsters like Dick Morris. He also examines the fate of the First Amendment in the 1990s and how Clinton responded to freedom of expression concerns. This analysis will be of interest to media specialists as well as the general public concerned with contemporary Washington politics and journalism.
Cyber-threats, Information Warfare, and Critical Infrastructure Protection: Defending the U.S. Homeland
by Anthony H. CordesmanDuring the last two decades, the infrastructure of the U.S. economy has undergone a fundamental set of changes. It has steadily increased its reliance on its service sector and high-technology economy. The U.S. has come to depend on computers, electronic data storage and transfers, and highly integrated communications networks. The result is the rapid development of a new form of critical infrastructure--and one that is exceedingly vulnerable to a new family of threats, loosely grouped together as information warfare. This detailed volume examines these threats and the evolving U.S. policy response.After examining the dangers posed by information warfare and efforts at threat assessment, Cordesman considers the growing policy response on the part of various federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector. The changing nature of the threats is leading these actors to reassess the role they must play in critical infrastructure protection. Government at all levels, industry, and even friendly and neutral foreign governments are learning that an effective response requires coordination in deterrence, defense, and counterattack.
Discharging Congress: Government by Commission
by Colton C. CampbellThe creation of temporary, independent advisory bodies that give advice to Congress, is an important yet under-investigated area of congressional delegation. With variations to fit the circumstances, lawmakers entrust commissions to accomplish diverse goals, such as coping with increases in the scope and complexity of legislation, forging consensus, drafting legislation, finessing institutional obstacles, coordinating strategy, and promoting party unity.Campbell investigates why and when Congress formulates policy by commissions rather than by the normal legislative process. He shows that many variables go into the decision to entrust those bodies to render non-partisan recommendations. According to lawmakers and their staff, the three primary justifications for choosing to delegate to commission include expertise, workload, and avoidance. Which of these three dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding a particular issue and the nature of the policy problem. The logic of delegation to each of the three commission types is different. Which reason dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding the issue and the nature of the legislative policy problem. Scholars, students, and other researchers involved with Congress, American government, and public policy will find the study of particular interest.
The Geopolitics of Security in the Americas: Hemispheric Denial from Monroe to Clinton
by Martin SickerSicker examines the role of the United States within the Western Hemisphere and the geopolitical and geostrategic factors that have helped shape its policies in the region. He demonstrates that such factors have contributed heavily to establishing the patterns of state development and interstate relations in the Western Hemisphere throughout its modern history. The prevailing geopolitical environment has been conditioned to a large extent by the emergence of the United States as the unquestionably dominant power in the extensive region. However, that status did not exist at the time it achieved its independence. It was brought about through almost incessant conflict with, and expansion at the expense of, other states, nations, and peoples over more than a century. As a result, the concerns and interests of the dominant power became and remain, of necessity, factors that states beyond the borders of the United States must take into consideration when pursuing their own national interests and policies. As Sicker amply demonstrates, failure to do so will often produce undesirable consequences for the offending state.As is clear, however, the states of the hemisphere have their own geopolitical interests and concerns independent of, and sometimes conflicting with, those of the United States. As Sicker shows throughout the volume, and especially in his analysis of inter-American conflicts, many of the nations of Latin America have unresolved territorial controversies with their neighbors that date to their origins as independent states. Because of this troubled geopolitical legacy, there have been numerous conflicts among the states of Latin America, some of which the United States has attempted to mediate or arbitrate, and some that seem impervious to a permanent negotiated settlement. This is a provocative analysis that will be of interest to scholars, students, researchers, and policymakers involved with inter-American relations and U.S. diplomacy.
Nested Political Coalitions: Nation, Regime, Program, Cabinet
by Terrence E. CookCook's principles of coalition politics are really rules of thumb followed by boundedly rational actors, and can predict much coalition politics behavior. Agents prefer to create marginally winning coalitions with like-minded groups in the expectation of receiving rewards commensurate with investments. Four distinct types of coalitions--country, regime, agenda, and cabinet--are explored, along with a thorough examination of current coalition literature. Normally nested, the broader coalitions give rise to narrower ones, revealing diminishing bases of support and duration. Also, barring political catastrophe, change in coalitions at the program or cabinet level usually do not harm, and may actually strengthen, the regime or country coalitions from which they arise.Students and scholars in comparative politics and political theory will benefit from Cook's ability to rise above the usual divisions and limitations of sub-fields. A distinctive and refreshing mix of theory and empirical material, ^INested Political Coalitions^R provides a sensible digest of diverse theoretical literatures, a good overview of coalition dynamics from one level to the next, and illustrates all this with breathtaking empirical coverage.
The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955 (Praeger Series in Presidential Studies)
by Shawn J. Parry-GilesBoth Truman and Eisenhower combined bully pulpit activity with presidentially directed messages voiced by surrogates whose words were as orchestrated by the administration as those delivered by the presidents themselves. A Review of the private strategizing sessions concerning propaganda activity and the actual propaganda disseminated by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations reveals how they both militarized propaganda operations, allowing the president of the United States to serve as the commander-in-chief of propaganda activity. As the presidents minimized congressional control over propaganda operations, they institutionalized propaganda as a presidential tool, expanded the means by which they and their successors could perform the rhetorical presidency, and increased presidential power over the country's Cold War message, naturalizing the Cold War ideology that resonates yet today. Of particular interest to scholars and students of political communication, the modern presidency, and Cold War history.