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Products tagged with: political science
A Brief History of Liberty
Through a fusion of philosophical, social scientific, and historical methods, A Brief History of Liberty provides a comprehensive, philosophically-informed portrait of the elusive nature of one of our most cherished ideals. Offers a succinct yet thorough survey of personal freedom Explores the true meaning of liberty, drawingphilosophical lessons about liberty from history Considers the writings of key historical figures from Socrates and Erasmus to Hobbes, Locke, Marx, and Adam Smith Combines philosophical rigor with social scientific analysis Argues that liberty refers to a range of related but specific ideas rather than limiting the concept to one definition
A Brief History of Liberty
Through a fusion of philosophical, social scientific, and historical methods, A Brief History of Liberty provides a comprehensive, philosophically-informed portrait of the elusive nature of one of our most cherished ideals. Offers a succinct yet thorough survey of personal freedom Explores the true meaning of liberty, drawingphilosophical lessons about liberty from history Considers the writings of key historical figures from Socrates and Erasmus to Hobbes, Locke, Marx, and Adam Smith Combines philosophical rigor with social scientific analysis Argues that liberty refers to a range of related but specific ideas rather than limiting the concept to one definition
A Deadly Misunderstanding
Former Congressman and Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Mark D. Siljander takes us on an eye-opening journey of personal, religious, and political discovery. In the 1980s, Siljander was a newly minted Reagan Republican from Michigan who joined Congress in the same generation as Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, ready to remake the world. A staunch member of the Religious Right, he once walked out of the National Prayer Breakfast when a speaker quoted from the Qur'an. But after losing reelection, Siljander dove into the Bible to look for the passage in which the Bible says it is our job as Christians to convert others in order to save them from eternal damnation. He couldn't find it; in fact, he couldn't even find a passage saying that Jesus set out to form a new religion. This discovery was the first step on a spiritual and political journey that started with an in-depth linguistic study of the Bible and led to the discovery that Christianity and Islam share many base words and concepts. In his role as ambassador to the United Nations Siljander began sharing his insights on the connections between Islam and Christianity, with surprising results. A Deadly Misunderstanding recounts Siljander's amazing discoveries as he travels to some of the most remote and hostile places in the world—deep into Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, and India—forging deep ties with both heads of state and religious leaders. What he has learned could radically shift the contemporary religious landscape and help heal the rift between Islam and the West. No Christian or Muslim will be unaffected after reading this book.
A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics
As the twentieth century draws to a close and the rush to globalization gathers momentum, political and economic considerations are crowding out vital ethical questions about the shape of our future. Now, Hans Kung, one of the world's preeminent Christian theologians, explores these issues in a visionary and cautionary look at the coming global society. How can the new world order of the twenty first century avoid the horrors of the twentieth? Will nations form a real community or continue to aggressively pursue their own interests? Will the Machiavellian approaches of the past prevail over idealism and a more humanitarian politics? What role can religion play in a world increasingly dominated by transnational corporations? Kung tackles these and many other questions with the insight and moral authority that comes from a lifetime's devotion to the search for justice and human dignity. Arguing against both an amoral realpolitik and an immoral resurgence of laissez faire economics, Kung defines a comprehensive ethic founded on the bedrock of mutual respect and humane treatment of all beings that would encompass the ecological, legal, technological, and social patterns that are reshaping civilization. If we are going to have a global economy, a global technology, a global media, Kung argues, we must also have a global ethic to which all nations, and peoples of the most varied backgrounds and beliefs, can commit themselves. "The world," he says, "is not going to be held together by the Internet." For anyone concerned about the world we are creating, A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics offers equal measures of informed analysis, compassionate foresight, and wise counsel.
A History of 20th Century Britain
Between the death of Queen Victoria and the turn of the Millennium, Britain has been utterly transformed by an extraordinary century of war and peace. A History of 20th Century Britain collects together for the first time Andrew Marr's two bestselling volumes A History of Modern Britain and The Making of Modern Britain. Together, they tell the story of how the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire only to stumble into a series of monumental upheavals, from World Wars to Cold Wars and everything in between. In each decade, political leaders thought they knew what they were doing, but found themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turned out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. This wonderfully entertaining history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with the riotous colour of an extraordinary century: a century of trenches, flappers and Spitfires; of comedy, punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, and the triumph of shopping over idealism. Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. Andrew Marr has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences' Sunday Telegraph
A History of 20th Century Britain
Between the death of Queen Victoria and the turn of the Millennium, Britain has been utterly transformed by an extraordinary century of war and peace. A History of 20th Century Britain collects together for the first time Andrew Marr's two bestselling volumes A History of Modern Britain and The Making of Modern Britain. Together, they tell the story of how the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire only to stumble into a series of monumental upheavals, from World Wars to Cold Wars and everything in between. In each decade, political leaders thought they knew what they were doing, but found themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turned out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. This wonderfully entertaining history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with the riotous colour of an extraordinary century: a century of trenches, flappers and Spitfires; of comedy, punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, and the triumph of shopping over idealism. Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. Andrew Marr has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences' Sunday Telegraph
A History of Modern Britain
A History of Modern Britain confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what they are doing, but find themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. Throughout, Britain is a country on the edge first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration now reshaping the world. This history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, Sixties anarchists, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, political lies and the true heroes of British theatre. Superb, colourful, outspoken, fresh and richly entertaining. Don't miss' The Times Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. He has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences' Sunday Telegraph
A New Science of International Relations
Foucauldian methodology is here applied to Complexity Science in order to generate a new understanding of International Relations, particularly to the conflict in Kosovo. The book shows how theoretical issues inform understandings of crisis, leading to decisions in the real world of international policy-making.
A System of Health Accounts
A System of Health Accounts 2011 provides a systematic description of the financial flows related to the consumption of health care goods and services. As demands for information increase and more countries implement and institutionalise health accounts according to the system, the data produced are expected to be more comparable, more detailed and more policy relevant. This new edition builds on the original OECD Manual, published in 2000, and the Guide to Producing National Health Accounts to create a single global framework for producing health expenditure accounts that can help track resource flows from sources to uses. The Manual is the result of a four-year collaborative effort between the OECD, WHO and the European Commission, and sets out in more detail the boundaries, the definitions and the concepts– responding to health care systems around the globe – from the simplest to the more complicated.
A Winter of Discontent
. . . This is essential reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the freeze movement or make nuclear policy more responsive to democratic processes. Pam Solo, Co-director, Institute for Peace and International Security A rare achievement, combining impeccable scholarly research with lively, readable prose. . . . It is at the same time a careful, thoughtful history of the recent nuclear freeze movement, and a sophisticated analysis of the problem of social change in this country, using that movement as a test. The synthesis of theory and history is accomplished with great skill, making the book valuable to students of social change and to a larger public. Howard Zinn, Professor of Political Science, Boston University The nuclear freeze movement grew more quickly than even the most optimistic activists thought possible, as large numbers of Americans became convinced that there was something wrong with United States defense policy and that they could do something about it. This analysis provides the first comprehensive history of the nuclear freeze movement, approaching it from three distinct perspectives. Changes in the politics and policy of nuclear weapons created an opportunity for a dissident movement. Intermediating forces in American politics influenced the situation. The efforts of activists and organizations to build a protest movement and their interaction with American political institutions provide the third perspective. A Winter of Discontent addresses both the broad spectrum of movement activity and the political context surrounding it. The text explores the challenge of the nuclear freeze movement to the content of United States national security policy and the policy making process. By analyzing the freeze, a theoretical framework for understanding the origins, development and potential political influence of other protest movements in the United States can be developed. The book also strives to integrate analysis of peace movements into an understanding of the policy context in which they emerge. This volume is essential for courses in social movements, strategic policy, American politics and political sociology. Antinuclear freeze activists and students of peace studies will also find this work invaluable.
Achieving Better Value for Money in Health Care
Rising public health care spending remains a problem in virtually all OECD and EU member countries. As a consequence, there is growing interest in policies that will ease this pressure through improved health system performance. This reportexamines selected policies that may help countries better achieve the goal of improved health system efficiency and thus better value for money. Drawing on multinational data sets and case studies, it examines a range policy instruments. These include: the role of competition in health markets; the scope for improving care coordination; better pharmaceutical pricing policies; greater quality control supported by stronger information and communication technology in health care; and increased cost sharing.
Adam Mickiewicz - Die Bedeutung der Sprache fr die polnische Nation
Hauptbeschreibung Adam Mickiewicz (1798 - 1855) war Kenner der deutschen und der bedeutendste Reprsentant der polnischen Romantik. Er verwob die abendlndische Geistesgeschichte mit universellen Symbolen durch seine Interpretation der Sprache in der Spannung zwischen Identitt und Differenz. Er gilt bis heute als der bedeutendste Nationaldichter seines Landes. Mickiewicz war auch ein politischer Denker, der fortschrittliche und hretische Ansichten vertrat. Etliche seiner berhmten "Paris-Vorlesungen" landeten 1848 auf dem ppstlichen Index verbotener Bcher. Welchen Wert hat die Sprache fr eine Gesellschaft? Welche Bedeutung hat Mickiewicz' Werk fr das Bewusstsein der Polen von ihrer Nation? Wo liegt der Ursprung der Sprache im Kontext von Politik und Religion? Welche Deutungsmuster bietet die Geistes - und Ideengeschichte? Bewandert in Politologie, Geschichte, Philosophie, Theologie und Religion einschlielich der Mystik geht Georg Hajdas diesen Fragen nach. Biographische Informationen n/a
After
The story begins on September 12, 2001. It reads like a novel. But the characters in award-winning journalist Steven Brill's America are real. They don't have all the answers or all the virtues of fictional heroes. It is because they are so human -- so much like the rest of us -- that makes the way they rise to the challenge of September 12 such an inspiring story about how America really works. A Customs inspector somehow has to guard against a nuclear bomb that could be hidden in one of the thousands of cargo containers from all over the world sitting on his dock in New York harbor. A young woman in New Jersey, suddenly widowed with three young children, doesn't know how to get the keys to her husband's car, much less how she can challenge the head of a federal victims' fund. An entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, who makes machines that screen luggage for bombs, can't decide if this crisis is an opportunity he should seize. Attorney General John Ashcroft has no idea how to find the new, hidden enemy living among us. The young, just-hired director of the American Civil Liberties Union wonders how he can keep Ashcroft from going too far. The CEO of a giant insurer has to decide whether to risk economic panic by not paying damage claims that he might legally be able to avoid. Red Cross President Bernadine Healy has to figure out how to collect and allocate donations while dodging a hostile board of directors. Career civil servant Gale Rossides has to recruit and train the largest workforce ever hired by the government -- the new airport passenger screeners. A proprietor of a shoe repair shop -- helped by two young women, pro bono lawyers -- has to rebuild a business buried in the rubble of Ground Zero. A Detroit Border Patrol agent -- whose bosses want to fire him for speaking out about how unprotected his stretch of border is -- has to choose whether to risk his family's livelihood by sounding the alarm. Tom Ridge has to run through a bureaucratic wall to mount a true homeland security defense. Drawing on 347 on-the-record interviews and revelations from memos of government meetings, court filings, and other documents, Brill gives us a front-row seat as these and other players in this real-life drama cross paths in a series of alliances and confrontations and fight for their own interests and their version of the public interest. The result is a gritty story -- and trailblazing journalism -- that inspires us not because these Americans or their country are perfect, but because they were tough enough, anchored enough, and living in a system that encouraged and enabled them to meet the awesome challenges they faced.
After New Labour
What's Left after New Labour? This timely book assesses the legacy of both the Third Way and its critics. Analysing the relationship between social theory and political strategy, it outlines the basis of a post-New Labour project. This reconnects with the concerns of the Left, while preserving what was important in the Third Way. Collapsing the boundaries between sociology and political science, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in centre-left renewal.
Aids in Asia
AIDS poses an unprecedented health and developmental threat the world over including Asia. Ever since it emerged in the early 1980s, it has been spreading rapidly across continents and devastating millions of lives. In the process it has stretched the health-care systems and wrecked the economies and social fabric of many societies. Developing countries, including those in Asia—which has the second highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS—are the most seriously affected. In Asian countries, the problem is compounded by the lack of awareness, poverty, and inadequate funds and infrastructure.This important and comprehensive volume focuses on the epidemiological and programmatic aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia. The contributors discuss the dynamics and determinants of HIV and cover a wide range of pertinent topics related to prevention, care and treatment. These include:- The health, economic, socio-cultural and security dimensions of HIV/AIDS- Success stories in HIV prevention and care including 100% condom programme- Antiretroviral treatment and the “3 by 5” initiative- Management of HIV and sexually-transmitted infections- Drug-related HIV- HIV vaccine development- The role of NGOs- Country-specific HIV reportsThe contributors highlight the lessons learned in Asia in responding to the challenge posed by HIV and the success achieved by many countries. In addition to HIV prevention, facilitating access to care—including antiretroviral treatment—despite the many problems is now a matter of crucial importance. Scaling up of innovative approaches proven effective elsewhere is also a matter of great urgency.This volume will be invaluable for all those engaged in combating HIV throughout the world. In particular, it will be of immense use to all those involved in HIV/AIDS control programmes, public health professionals, health care workers, policy makers, health administrators, as also international agencies and NGOs and community-based organizations.
American Politcal Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History
American Politcal Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History" by John Fiske is a classic work of literature that can be enjoyed by all. Download "American Politcal Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History" and enjoy another quality Digireads.
American Politics and Society
Completely revised and updated to take full account of the most recent and dramatic changes in the nature of American government, the sixth edition provides a clear and concise introduction to US politics for all students of political science and American studies. Explains, analyses and interprets the processes of US government and, crucially, appraises them from a non-US perspective. Includes commentary on the 2004 presidential election. Fills in the social background to American political and economic life, preparing the ground for the central discussion of the book: the institutions of the federal government, Congress, the Supreme Court and the Constitution, the federal system, the Presidency, the party bandwagons and the electoral system. Reduced emphasis on limited government and greater emphasis on foreign and domestic policy linked into the War on Terror. Reworked throughout to reflect recent developments, with two completely new chapters on The Media and American Politics, and The Security State. Supported by a website, www.blackwellpublishing.com/mckay, including information on the book; its detailed contents; the author; controversies; sample chapters; selected tables; related titles; and links to other web resources. It will be regularly updated to ensure teachers and students have access to the most recent data.
Among the Truthers
From left-wing 9/11 conspiracy theorists to right-wing Obama-hating "birthers"—a sobering, eyewitness look at how America's marketplace of ideas is fracturing into a multitude of tiny, radicalized boutiques—each peddling its own brand of paranoia Throughout most of our nation's history, the United States has been bound together by a shared worldview. But the 9/11 terrorist attacks opened a rift in the collective national psyche: Increasingly, Americans are abandoning reality and retreating to Internet-based fantasy worlds conjured into existence out of our own fears and prejudices. The most disturbing symptom of this trend is the 9/11 Truth movement, whose members believe that Bush administration officials engineered the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a pretext to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But these "Truthers" are merely one segment of a vast conspiracist subculture that includes many other groups: anti-Obama extremists who believe their president is actually a foreign-born Manchurian Candidate seeking to destroy the United States from within; radical alternative-medicine advocates who claim that vaccine makers and mainstream doctors are conspiring to kill large swathes of humanity; financial neo-populists who have adapted the angry message of their nineteenth-century forebears to the age of Twitter; Holocaust deniers; fluoride phobics; obsessive Islamophobes; and more. For two years journalist Jonathan Kay immersed himself in this dark subculture, attending conventions of conspiracy theorists, surfing their discussion boards, reading their websites, joining their Facebook groups, and interviewing them in their homes and offices. He discovered that while many of their theories may seem harmlessly bizarre, their proliferation has done real damage to the sense of shared reality that we rely on as a society. Kay also offers concrete steps that intelligent, culturally engaged Americans can take to reject conspiracism and help regain control of the intellectual landscape.