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Providential Democracy: An Essay on Contemporary Equality
By Dominique Schnapper. 2006
Democracy posits the universality of the equality principle: a community of citizens is governed by the principle of the formal…
equality of all individuals, whatever their real social, cultural, or other inequalities. Democratization, on the other hand, is motivated by the ambition of ensuring the real equality of citizens, and not simply their formal equality. The dynamics of democracy are thus insured by the development of a welfare state that increasingly intervenes in order to satisfy the social and economic needs of individuals. Especially focused on France, yet informed by the experiences of other European countries, this book examines the dilemmas of the search for equality in society and politics.Democratization guarantees the rights of salaried workers and employees, the rights to material survival and housing, as well as health care, education, and culture. Today, however, as Schnapper observes, its action has become paradoxical. As the fruit of a praiseworthy concern to ensure the universality of rights, what Schnapper identifies as a "Providence State" now aims, by means of positive discrimination and other specific promotion policies, to defend the particular rights of certain categories of individuals. The action of the Providence State thus nourishes an aspiration: that the identities of historical collectivities gathered within the same national society be publicly recognized, and that these have rights. Equity thus supplants equality; and multiculturalism, universality. Such is the ordeal currently experienced by Western democracies, which are faced with the increasingly "providential" nature of their societies. Indeed, the author asks, how can a united political Europe be constructed on the ideals and institutions of citizenship, when European nations are becoming providential democracies?Providential Democracy offers a searching and timely critique of democratization that will be of interest to sociologists, political sciThe Possibility of Politics: A Study in the Political Economy of the Welfare State
By Stein Ringen. 2006
The Possibility of Politics explores the power of political reform, specifically reform of the modern welfare state. Can reform be…
effective if limited to cautious and piecemeal interventions that avoid radicalism and revolution? Can it also avoid unwanted consequences? Will the welfare state survive in the future?Stein Ringen views the welfare state as a large-scale experiment in political reform. To ask if the welfare state works is to ask if political reform is possible at all. By its nature, the welfare state is reform on a grand scale, for it attempts to change the circumstances individuals and families live under without changing and disrupting society itself. But is it realistic to believe a population can get together, set goals and then try to meet these goals through collective actions, specifically public policies, without causing unintended consequences and destroying the state in the process? The welfare state attempts, idealistically, to redistribute welfare without reshaping the economic processes that cause inequities in the first place. Ringen considers how well redistribution has met the test in terms of political legitimacy, its intended effects on poverty and inequality, as well as its undesired and unintended effects on economic efficiency and the quality of private life. Ultimately, does the welfare state work? Further, is the welfare state a good thing?In considering these questions, The Possibility of Politics should be of particular value to academics and advanced students interested in political theory, public economics, social administration, and political sociology.Stein Ringen is professor of sociology and social policy at Oxford University and a Fellow of Green College. He teaches social and political theory and research methodology for graduates in social policy, sociology, politics, economic and social history and other subjects.Democratization Through the Looking-glass
By Patar Burnall. 2006
In Democratization through the Looking-Glass, Peter Burnell provides a revealing image of how our knowledge and understanding of democratization could…
be improved by viewing the topic through a more multi- disciplinary lens and from the perspective of more broadly based comparative analyses. Burnell and his contributors encourage readers to both "look and think outside of the box," beyond the limited parameters that usually shape the study of democratization.The goal of Democratization through the Looking-Glass is to pursue a more comprehensive understanding of democratization as a process taking many forms rather than just as a political phenomenon. With a viewpoint from a wider multi-disciplinary stance, and broader global geopolitical knowledge base, the contributors hope to get readers to better recognize and address gaps in the political science literature on the subject of democratization. The contributors seek to do this by specifically: explaining what democratization is while also making sense of the wide variety of experiences undergone by different societies at different times going through this very process; anticipating the wider effects of democratization's consequences for all human conditions at all levels; and critically assessing strategies for extending and deepening democracy by improving its positive qualities and chances of being sustained in societies into which it is introduced.This volume takes readers in the direction of predicting and foretelling the future of democracy and democratization with greater accuracy. In all, Democratization through the Looking-Glass provides a wide-ranging review of themes, issues, and topics concisely written by leading experts in their fields while advancing its case for more inclusive comparative studies covering Europe and North America, as well as developing regions, showing precisely how multi-disciplinary approaches enhance a global vision and understanding of democratization.Learning to Seek: Globalization, Governance, and the Futures of Higher Education
By Majid Tehranian, Jim Dator, Walter Truett Anderson. 2006
The accelerating technological transformation in learn- ing has necessitated an ability to search and differentiate among the one billion web…
pages, libraries, databases, books, newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and opinion columns available online. This volume focuses on the normative challenges that the current technological transformation presents to all professionals engaged in higher education. Part I concentrates on the current social and technological trends. David Snyder presents an outline of technologies that have made open knowledge systems possible. Majid Tehranian argues that the new technological environment has made learning to seek out information more possible than ever before. Robert Fuller calls for an egalitarian rather than hierarchical approach to communication systems. Harlan Cleveland proposes integrative learning, broad thinking, and globally aware citizenship through "education for wisdom." Part II focuses on problems of governance and finance in the new technological environment. John Hinchcliff takes up the problem of values and argues for the maintenance of traditional altruistic rather than Promethean goals. Karou Yamaguchi comes to the problem of the futures with the tools of system dynamics. William Bergquist calls for a reorganization of higher education to meet the needs for creation, transfer, and inculcation of knowledge and skills. Hamid Shirvani calls for the core values of transparency, integrity, open communication, and dignitarian approach as the guideposts in educational leadership. Walter Truett Anderson concludes by attempting to bring the complex technological, social, economic, and political variables into a holistic approach for the management of higher education. In 2005, at the Universities of the Future Conference, participants were asked to envision the future of higher education. Part III, presents their visions.Politics, Products, and Markets: Exploring Political Consumerism Past and Present
By Frederick M. Wirt. 2006
In contemporary life, the marketplace has emerged as an important arena for the practice of politics. Concerns about personal and…
family well-being as well as ethical or political assessment of favorable and unfavorable business and government practices become part and parcel of the marketplace of politics. This volume describes this phenomenon as political consumerism, reflecting an understanding of politics as a product embedded in a complex social and normative context. Politics, Products, and Markets is the first general study of political consumerism. It asks fundamental questions, including what is new and what is old about the phenomenon. The authors discuss the mediating role of political consumerism in the problematic relationship between markets and morality. They explore whether institutional arrangements have been developed to permit consumers and producers to assume ethical responsibility for their choices and behavior. They ask why political consumerism is presently on the rise. And they investigate the relationship between globalization and political consumerism. Part 1, "Making Money Morally," discusses how political consumerism challenges the perceived division between private interests pursued by private actors in the market and public interests pursued through political means. Part 2, "Consumer Choices and Setting of the Agenda of Politics," contains examples of how political consumerism sets the agenda of politics and discusses its democratic quality. Part 3, "Building Responsible Institutions in Multi-Risk Society," has as its central theme the development of new political consumer institutions. Part 4, "Politicizing Consumers and Change in Politics," studies the characteristics of political consumers and raises the question of whether political consumerism really is politics. This volume will be of interest to social scientists, social activists, and policy institutes.The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917-49 (Cass Series: Naval Policy And History Ser. #Vol. 37)
By Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones. 2006
An essential new account of how anti-submarine warfare is conducted, with a focus on both historic and present-day operations. This new book shows how until…
1944 U-boats operated as submersible torpedo craft which relied heavily on the surface for movement and charging their batteries. This pattern was repeated in WWIDefining Danger: American Assassins and the New Domestic Terrorists
By James W Clarke. 2006
Since 1789, when George Washington became the first president of the United States, forty-three men have held the nation's highest…
office. Four were killed by assassins, and serious attempts were made on the lives of eight others. Add to that list the names of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, and it is reasonable to conclude that political prominence in the United States entails grave risks. In "Defining Danger", James W. Clarke explores the cultural and psychological linkages that define assassinations and a new era of domestic terrorism in America. Clarke notes an upsurge in political violence beginning with the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Since then, there have been ten assassination attempts on nationally prominent political leaders. That is two more than the eight recorded in the previous 174 years of the nation's presidential history. New elements of domestic terror in American life were introduced in the 1990s by Timothy McVeigh, the "Oklahoma City Bomber," Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber," and Eric Rudolph, the abortion clinic bomber. These men were politically motivated; their crimes unprecedented. These events and the perpetrators behind them are the subjects of this book. The volume conveys two central themes. The first is that individual acts of violence directed toward America's democratically elected leaders represent a defining element of American politics. The second addresses how danger is defined, through an analysis of the motives and characteristics of twenty-one perpetrators responsible for these acts of political violence where shots were fired, or bombs detonated, and, in most instances, victims died. The importance and originality of this material have been acknowledged in presentations to and consultations with the U.S. Secret Service and some of the nation's top independent private investigators. It is written in an accessible and engaging style that will appeal to the informed general reader, as well as to professionals in a variety of fields - especially in the wake of recent events and the specter of future violence that, sadly, haunts us all.Considering what has been described as an Age of Revolutions, Black assesses a formative period in world history by examining…
the North American, European, Haitian and Latin American Revolutions. Causes, courses and consequences are all clarified in the articles selected and an introduction charts the major themes.Post-Communist EU Member States: Parties and Party Systems
By Susanne Jungerstam-Mulders. 2006
Providing comprehensive insights into the parties and party systems of post-communist EU member states within the framework of each country's…
specific conditions and developments, this volume examines in particular the cases of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. The book concentrates on three main themes: ideological cleavages between parties, party system competition, and party organization. Analytically competent and highly informative, it is suitable for courses on party systems and EU politics.China's rapid development has attracted worldwide attention in recent years. The implications of China's rise, from its expanding influence and…
military muscle to its growing demand for energy supplies, are heatedly debated in the international community. Jintao's officially proposed concept of 'peaceful development' has become the underlying principle behind Chinese foreign policy under the fourth generation leadership. However, is 'peaceful development' possible in the broad context of domestic and international development? This comprehensive and timely study examines the conditions and challenges of China's 'peaceful rise' and addresses the central question of whether it is possible for China to 'rise peacefully' in the 21st century, bearing in mind the implications for China and the rest of the world. It is ideal as a supplementary course book in foreign policy, Asian politics and development.Crossing the Line: Vagrancy, Homelessness and Social Displacement in Russia
By Svetlana Stephenson. 2006
This pioneering book is the first to explore the experiences of homeless people in Russia in the late Soviet period…
and during post-socialist transition. Through their own stories, it introduces us to the hidden world of vagrants, itinerant workers and the street homeless - roofless people living on the streets, in cellars, in the lofts of apartment blocks, in train stations, in rubbish dumps or in holes underground. Using in-depth biographical interviews, Svetlana Stephenson documents the processes of their displacement; the strategies they adopt for survival and building social bonds; and the barriers which block their escape from homelessness. These narratives are placed within a framework of theoretical perspectives on social and spatial exclusion; interaction between space and social identity, and the regimes of settlement and social control. The structural causes of homelessness are discussed, together with the criminological, legal and expert discourses that constructed vagrants and the homeless as 'social waste' in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Stephenson advances our understanding of homelessness as an extreme case of social-territorial displacement, and sets out its causes and its individual consequences within the larger social and political context. She suggests that by using the concept of displacement, particularly in a historical perspective, it is possible to better understand the ways in which social systems produce marginality and homelessness.President McKinley, War and Empire: President McKinley and the Coming of War, 1898
By Richard F. Hamilton. 2006
The "progressive" reading of history focuses on two major antecedents for the origins of the United States' 1898 war with…
Spain: the 1896 presidential election and the Hearst-Pulitzer press war that, reportedly, generated an irresistible clamor from an "aroused public." Underlying those narratives are two very different theoretical frameworks: a class-dominance view and that of the mass society. Volume 1 of President McKinley, War and Empire assesses the adequacy of those readings.In the 1896 election the Republicans, led by William McKinley, were challenged by William Jennings Bryan, a radical and an inflationist, who had defeated the conservative leaders of the Democratic Party. The Bryanites portrayed the 1896 election as a struggle between "Wall Street" and "the people." McKinley was portrayed as a docile, pliable figure whose campaign was directed by an adept Ohio business magnate, Mark Hanna. The McKinley victory meant that "big business" was now "in control."The Cuban insurgency, begun in 1895, gained attention and support from the American newspapers. This began with a circulation war in New York City, with Hearst and Pulitzer publishing "sensational" reports about the struggle in Cuba. The resulting public clamor, it is said, overwhelmed the members of the legislative and executive branches. McKinley and his advisors fended off those demands as best they could but, following the sinking of the Maine, he conceded and asked Congress to authorize intervention.This work provides an original assessment of those long-standing claims, the basic elements of the progressive history. It reviews McKinley's biography, principally the events leading up to his election victory, including discussion of Hanna's role. It then examines the events leading up to the war. Studies of press content are reviewed and new material is introduced. The work also argues that two other factors were decisive: the efforts of an adept Cuban pressure group and partisaFunding Democratization (Perspectives On Democratization Ser.)
By Alan Ware, Peter Burnell. 2006
Democracy is a fine political system, but an expensive economic venture. Political parties and election campaigns cost money. Where does…
the money come from and at what sacrifice? Issues connected with political finance are significant but often neglected aspects of the process of democratization. Funding Democratization examines how money and politics interact in emerging democracies. The contributors investigate the funding of political parties in early North America, financial uncertainties of party formation in European countries, funding of democratization in new democracies, and the influence of funding on contenders for power. They also address the nature of political competition in countries that are seeking to embrace, often for the first time, the rules of democracy. They question in what ways politicians can help make democracy affordable. The volume compares important democratizing countries, such as Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, and the regions of East Asia and East/Central Europe. It also investigates the lessons that emerging democracies can learn from the history of political finance in today's more established democracies. Funding Democratization will be of interest to political scientists and specialists in international social and political development.Election Campaigning in East and Southeast Asia: Globalization of Political Marketing
By Christian Schafferer. 2006
At the end of the last century, political marketing appeared to have become a global phenomenon with an increasing number…
of electoral campaigns resembling those of the United States. Comparative research has shown the existence of a so-called 'Americanization' of election campaign practices. This book examines the nature of electoral campaigns in East and Southeast Asia. Based on the analyses of developments in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, it examines whether there is an 'Asian style' of election campaigning. Contributing to the fields of media studies and comparative politics, the book offers an insight into the various changes in election campaigning that occurred in the East and Southeast Asia during the process of democratization and modernization. It sheds new light on the causes and consequences of the worldwide proliferation of US election campaigning and provides the academic world with previously unpublished material on the electoral strategies of Asian political parties.U.S. Foreign Policy Toward the Third World: A Post-cold War Assessment
By Jurgen Ruland, Theodor Hanf, Eva Manske. 2006
The contributors to this work examine the evolution of U.S. foreign policy toward the Third World, and the new policy…
challenges facing developing nations in the post-Cold War era. The book incorporates the key assessment standards of U.S. foreign policies directed toward critical regions, including Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Through this region-by-region analysis, readers will get the information and insight needed to fully understand U.S. policy objectives - especially with regard to economic and security issues in the wake of 9/11 - vis a vis the developing world. The book outlines both successes and failures of Washington, as it seeks to deal with the Third World in a new era of terrorism, trade, and democratic enlargement. It also considers whether anti-Western sentiment in Third World regions is a direct result of U.S. foreign policies since the end of the Cold War.Ideology and Congress: A Political Economic History of Roll Call Voting
By Howard Rosenthal. 2006
In Ideology and Congress, authors Poole and Rosenthal have analyzed over 13 million individual roll call votes spanning the two…
centuries since Congress began recording votes in 1789. By tracing the voting patterns of Congress throughout the country's history, the authors find that, despite a wide array of issues facing legislators, over 81 percent of their voting decisions can be attributed to a consistent ideological position ranging from ultraconservatism to ultraliberalism. In their classic 1997 volume, Congress: A Political Economic History of Roll Call Voting, roll call voting became the framework for a novel interpretation of important episodes in American political and economic history. Congress demonstrated that roll call voting has a very simple structure and that, for most of American history, roll call voting patterns have maintained a core stability based on two great issues: the extent of government regulation of, and intervention in, the economy; and race. In this new, paperback volume, the authors include nineteen years of additional data, bringing in the period from 1986 through 2004.Democracy for All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the U.S.
By Ron Hayduk. 2006
Aging populations are creating tremendous pressures on social security systems throughout the world, lifting the need for reform to the…
top of policy agendas. Proposed reforms often have different implications for men and women. At the same time, traditional family and gender roles are changing with the decline in fertility rates and the rapid rise in women's participation in the paid labor force.While trying to adapt social security systems to the fiscal demands of aging societies, policymakers face the compelling challenge of how to design pension reforms that achieve fair outcomes for women. Gender and Social Security Reform examines how different countries are attempting to meet this challenge. Drawing on comparative studies of European and Latin American countries along with a series of case studies of individual countries, the book provides insights into the gender dimensions of alternative designs for reform. All of the countries studied have recently reformed or are about to reform their pension systems, with a clear trend towards tightening the link between contributions and benefits in order to secure the long-term sustainability of pensions. The book also alerts policymakers to other issues: Should pension systems be gender-neutral or compensate for inequalities in paid and unpaid labor? Does compensation preserve gender discrimination? Are unisex life tables a reliable or fair redistributive tool for women? Or should annuities be linked directly to life expectancy, differentiated by sex and potentially other factors? Does a minimum pension guarantee risk compromising the principle of individual responsibility and work? How can recognition for caring work be balanced with work incentives? What can be done to help social security systems preserve freedom of choice in terms of work-family balance for women, men or the modem family unit as a whole?In analyzing the gender implications of recent social security policies and practicesEquality
By John W. Chapman, J. Roland Pennock. 2006
Equality--the battle cry of the French Revolution--has come to be accepted as everyone's birthright today. But what is equality? Is…
it a chimera in a world manifestly still abounding in inequality among individuals, nations, and races? To this eternally fascinating subject, eighteen outstanding political scientists, jurists, and philosophers address themselves with vigor and profundity in this important and illuminating work.Part I deals with fundamental concepts of equality. The first paper in this section explores such issues as the meaning, the justification, and the dialectics of equality, wherein some of its manifestations are confronted and limited by others. While the second paper criticizes the first essay and examines the legal aspects of equality. Another paper pursues the notion of proportionate equality to what he views as its ultimate reality: that of a purely formal logical concept, while another argues that "egalitarianism" has reference to human interests, which in fact give it content. Another viewpoint considers how far different kinds of equality are compatible with one another and with the enlargement of freedom and fraternity in industrial society. The final paper in this section talks widely over basic issues raised by the various interpretations of equality.Part II deals with sources of beliefs about equality. The papers in this section consider the implications for egalitarianism of Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. The final essay in this section surveys the treatment of and implications for egalitarianism in the thinking of the existentialists.Part III is concerned with the political and legal applications of equality. One of the papers suggests that Tocqueville's "providential fact of the gradual development of the principle of equality" might possibly be on the eve of a reversal, and concludes with justification of political equality. Another attacks the notion of equality of opportunity, contending that it is not an authentic expression of the democratic ideal and temper, which requires instead an "affirmation of being and belonging." Following that the highly topical problem of equality in the administration of justice is discussed as well as, the deals with many subtle distinctions involved in the application of the idea of equality to the rule of law. The book concludes with the topic of treatments of the problem of equality in the realm of international politics and organization.Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections (Routledge/UACES Contemporary European Studies #1)
By Jan Wouters, Sylvia Kritzinger, Carolina Plescia, Kolja Raube, James Wilhelm. 2020
Informed by and against the backdrop of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections, this innovative book provides a critical assessment…
of where Europe stands in terms of the quest to achieve democratic legitimacy. Since the 2014 EP elections, the European Union (EU) has experienced multiple crises, which arguably have undermined its legitimacy. The 2019 EP elections were hence seen as a crucial moment in the EU’s attempts to show resilience and regain trust. Using political science and legal frames of analysis, Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections provides an understanding and assessment of the current politico-legal framework, and its impact on European elections. Furthermore, using original data, it provides a timely examination of public opinion issue priorities and voting behaviour at the 2019 EP elections in eight countries. Given the critical conjuncture that the 2019 EP elections represent, this volume provides a key contribution to understanding both the dynamics surrounding the elections, as well as voters’ responses, and informs debates on European politics, for example, second-order elections, democratic legitimacy and political representation. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU politics, public administration, European studies, European law, and sociology, along with practitioners in politics, journalism, and policy analysis.