Practice-Relevant Accrual Accounting for the Public Sector
This book addresses the necessary developments and adjustments that can be regarded as a promising starting point for making accrual accounting a more practice-relevant for the public sector entities. Specifically, the main focus is on Reshaping the application of accrual accounting principles and assumptions to fit the context of public sector entities; Developing a practice-relevant holistic accounting approach for governmental capital assets, which has been based on developing and reshaping the assets recognition criteria; Scope of general purpose financial reporting from an accountability perspective; Suggesting a sustainable accounting approach for reporting on the long-term fiscal sustainability; Developing a dynamic model for making public sector accrual accounting a more user practice relevant; and finally, Developing a theory of accounting information usefulness, which explains how cognitive aspects do influence the use/non-use of accounting information by the politicians. Fundamentally, the book has tackled these necessary developments and adjustments from both the producer's and the user's perspectives.
Just Energy Transitions and Coal Bed Methane
This book discusses how Coal Bed Methane (CBM) could help the acceleration of the energy transition in a 'just' way in Indonesia, due to the country's potential CBM reserves (and current dependence on climate damaging coal). Developing countries face multiple challenges in achieving their energy transitions. CBM in Indonesia could potentially be a catalyst for energy transition and subsequently improve access to energy. However, CBM faces numerous challenges and although Indonesia first developed its domestic CBM sector over more than a decade ago, they are still to implement this successfully. This book exposes the challenges and opportunities of CBM, exploring what lessons other countries could learn from Indonesia to improve the industry with a view to achieving energy transition and climate change targets. This book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and practitioners working in this field.
Constituents of Political Theory; Selected Articles of the Warsaw School of Political Theory
The book presents a collection of articles authored by several members of the Warsaw School of Political Theory, affiliated with the University of Warsaw. The team of scholars, whose roots extend to the 1970s when professor Artur Bodnar founded the Political Theory Research Group at University of Warsaw's Methodical Centre for Political Science (COM SNP), has been conducting research under the leadership of professor Miros3aw Karwat. The school's most distinguishing features include: the acceptance of the directives and principles of methodological holism, the acceptance and creative development of holistic integral definitions, the application of sociocentric spatial analyses, and a critical approach to the "cratocentric" tradition.
Twenty Years of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
Launched in Vientiane, Lao PDR in 2000, the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) completed twenty years in 2020. The MGC initiative is a sub-regional cooperation organisation comprising India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. To commemorate the 20 years of establishment of MGC, the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in collaboration with the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) organised an international conference entitled "Twenty Years of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)" on 5-6 November 2020 at New Delhi in virtual mode. This volume is an outcome of the aforesaid conference, and examines the connected past, present, and future of MGC. This commemorative volume presents a selected set of papers, which were presented at the aforesaid conference. Although the economic engagements between India and Mekong have been limited, there is further scope to scale up our economic relations. This volume shows the path to strengthen the MGC partnership in the third decade of its establishment. This book will serve as a valuable resource for policymakers, research scholars, practitioners and regional cooperation specialists.
Power in Vulnerability
With this volume, the editors propose a multi-dimensional and critical review of migrants' vulnerabilities. They argue that a deeper understanding of vulnerability is paramount to discuss empowerment and resilience. Regardless of their motivations, migrants can face vulnerabilities at any of the stages of their journey. These vulnerabilities may change over time for better or worse, corresponding with a person's legal status, migratory path and the practices of migration regulation. This book addresses vulnerability from an interdisciplinary and intersectional perspective. It brings together latest academic research and practitioners' insights to help reception societies adapt and improve their dealing with migrants' vulnerabilities.
Urban Studies and Planning
Urban studies and planning deals with the allocation and management of land as a public resource and the regulation of infrastructure in an urban environment. This book on urban studies and planning talks about urban design, urban problems and management and the structuring of urban life and livelihoods. This book studies, analyses and upholds the pillars of urban studies and planning and its utmost significance in modern times. It strives to provide a fair idea about this discipline and to help develop better understanding of the latest advances within this field. It includes contributions of experts from across the globe. This book will prove vital for experts and researchers in the field of urban geography, human development issues and urban restructuring. Through this book, an attempt has been made to further enlighten the readers about new concepts in this field.
The Economics and Regulation of Network Industries
Have you ever wondered how your telephone company or Internet service provider can give you access to almost all people in the world, or how electricity suppliers can compete with each other if there is only one electric supply line passing through your street? This Element deals with the economics and public regulation of such network industries. It puts particular emphasis on the specific economic concepts used for analyzing them and on the regulatory reform movement and the compatibility of regulation and competition. Worldwide most of these industries have changed dramatically in recent years, telecommunications in particular. Network industries mostly exhibit economies of scale in production and similar economies in consumption. Both of these properties cause market power problems that often require industry-specific regulation. However, due to technological and market changes network policies have moved on from end-user regulation to wholesale regulation and in some cases to deregulation.
Decision in Africa
In this under-recognized work of economic and political scholarship, Hunton examined the history of the economic exploitation of Africa, the contributions of this exploitation to the economic development of Europe and North America, and potential paths for economic development for the newly liberated countries. Most importantly, he documented the emerging anti-imperialist and class struggles within the colonized countries which led to independence.
The Privatization of Everything
The book the American Prospect calls "an essential resource for future reformers on how not to govern," by America's leading defender of the public interest and a bestselling historian"An essential read for those who want to fight the assault on public goods and the commons." -Naomi KleinA sweeping expos矇eacute; of the ways in which private interests strip public goods of their power and diminish democracy, The Privatization of Everything has elicited a wide spectrum of praise: Kirkus Reviews hailed it as "a strong, economics-based argument for restoring the boundaries between public goods and private gains," Literary Hub featured the book on a Best Nonfiction list, calling it "a far-reaching, comprehensible, and necessary book," and Publishers Weekly dubbed it a "persuasive takedown of the idea that the private sector knows best."From Diane Ravitch ("an important new book about the dangers of privatization") to Heather McGhee ("a well-researched call to action"), the rave reviews mirror the expansive nature of the book itself, covering the impact of privatization on every aspect of our lives, from water and trash collection to the justice system and the military. Cohen and Mikaelian also demonstrate how citizens can--and are--wresting back what is ours: A Montana city took back its water infrastructure after finding that they could do it better and cheaper. Colorado towns fought back well-funded campaigns to preserve telecom monopolies and hamstring public broadband. A motivated lawyer fought all the way to the Supreme Court after the state of Georgia erected privatized paywalls around its legal code."Enlightening and sobering" (Rosanne Cash), The Privatization of Everything connects the dots across a wide range of issues and offers what Cash calls "a progressive voice with a firm eye on justice [that] can carefully parse out complex issues for those of us who take pride in citizenship."
Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making
Canada is a key member of the world's most important international intelligence-sharing partnership, the Five Eyes, along with the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Until now, few scholars have looked beyond the US to study how effectively intelligence analysts support policy makers, who rely on timely, forward-thinking insights to shape high-level foreign, national security, and defense policy. Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making provides the first in-depth look at the relationship between intelligence and policy in Canada. Thomas Juneau and Stephanie Carvin, both former analysts in the Canadian national security sector, conducted seventy in-depth interviews with serving and retired policy and intelligence practitioners, at a time when Canada's intelligence community underwent sweeping institutional changes. Juneau and Carvin provide critical recommendations for improving intelligence performance in supporting policy-with implications for other countries that, like Canada, are not superpowers but small or mid-sized countries in need of intelligence that supports their unique interests.
Moving Towards Transition
Drawing on an innovative project exploring current mobility transition policies and practices in 14 countries around the world, including key institutions such as the European Union and the United Nations, this book provides a critique of current transitions, mobility and transport policies. The authors consider how our mobility futures have been imagined, what they will potentially look and feel like, what lives we might live in them and what choices we might have to make to get there.
Rural Livelihood and Environmental Sustainability in China
Energy Transitions and the Future of the African Energy Sector
This book explores current developments in the African energy sector and highlights how these are likely to be affected by the ongoing global efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy. It analyses the legal, regulatory and policy frameworks at the national and regional level as they relate to Energy transition in Africa and discusses how regionalism is increasingly utilized to tackle energy access and climate change challenges. Using case studies from across the continent, several key thematic issues, including gender justice, social license to operate, local content and conflict of energy laws are covered in detail. The authors also uniquely examine the progressive nature of global energy use and introduce the new concept of 'Energy Progression.' This book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and policymakers looking for a comprehensive overview of the field.
Toward a Coordinated and Balanced Development
The book is a comprehensive study of the strategic position of Yangtze River Economic Belt in the political and economic development of China. It is a holistic and precise qualitative and quantitative delineation of Jiangsu's position in this belt and its development strategy, and the strategic position of Yangtze River Economic Belt in national development. It also illustrates the great significance of the initiation of Yangtze River Economic Belt for the economy, politics, environment, and integration of natural resources. There is a research of the position of Jiangsu in the construction of the nation, and the difficulties it has encountered. Coordinated and balanced development of Yangtze River Economic Belt will effectively facilitate reasonable allocation and exploitation of various resources, the implementation of other national strategies, and communication and cooperation between China and Western countries, enhancing their mutual understanding. Therefore, common readers can get some general information from different perspectives, and professionals can have a detailed understanding of different arrangements and guiding principles. It is thus suitable for different readers.Yangtze River Economic Belt runs through the three regions of China, making a vital latitudinal axis, whose coordinated and balanced development is of great strategic importance for promoting coordinated and shared development of the three regions and for the spatial balance of population, economy and the environment. The current imbalance between them, the absolute disparity in regional development, the obstruction in the flow of resource factors, the inequality in development opportunities, the incoordination between regional economic growth and the bearing capacity of resources and environment, the fragmentation of regional economic policies, all contribute to the insufficient utilization of the Golden Waterway, problems numerous. How coordinated and balanced development can be realized within this economic belt is a prominent and pressing, even a severe problem.
Industrial Development and Eco-Tourisms
This book examines the "oil-tourism interface", the broad range of direct and indirect contact points between offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism. Offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism are pursued as development paths across the North Atlantic region. Offshore oil promises economic benefits from employment and royalty payments to host societies, but is based on fossil fuel-intensive resource extraction. Nature-based tourism, instead, is based on experiencing natural environments and encountering wildlife, including whales, seals, or seabirds. They share social-ecological space, such as oceans, coastlines, cities and towns where tourism and offshore oil operations and offices are located. However, they rarely share cultural or political space, in terms of media coverage, public debate, or policy discussion that integrates both modes of development. Through a comparative analysis of Denmark, Iceland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Norway, and Scotland, this book offers important lessons for how coastal societies can better navigate relationships between resource extraction and nature-based tourism in the interests of social-ecological wellbeing.
The Uneven Offshore World
Robertson and Tyrala provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of emerging markets and the offshore economic system. An insightful study for scholars of international political economy.
Municipal Territorial Reforms of the 21st Century in Europe
This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of territorial change on the municipal level across all European countries. Taking a thematic and comparative perspective, the book builds on extensive quantitative data and a large survey of academic experts in 33 European countries. Territorial organisation of the municipal level in Europe is strongly diversified and yet far from stable. Politically speaking, territorial reforms tend to be risky and difficult, as such changes affect vital interests and identities. Despite such difficulties, the last two decades have witnessed considerable changes in territorial divisions at the municipal level across a range of European countries. In this book, the authors describe and analyse these changes comprehensively, making a vital contribution to understanding the reasons and dynamics of territorial reform processes. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in local or sub-national government, institutional design and more broadly to political science, public administration/policy, human geography, sociology and economics.
Life in the Middle
A long-held belief of political scientists is that moderate voices in the Senate act as power brokers between the ideological poles, yet year after year we see partisan gridlock in Congress. Some even argue that the shrinking number of moderates only increases their political influence. In Life in the Middle, Neilan S. Chaturvedi argues that the belief in the powerful, pivotal moderate neglects their electoral circumstances and overestimates their legislative power. In other words, not all Senators are elected under equal circumstances. Chaturvedi posits that, unlike their ideological counterparts who are elected from states that share an ideological identity, moderates are elected from one of two constituencies: states that have a partisan lean to one party but have enough "swing voters" to vote in a moderate from the opposite party, or states that are nearly evenly divided in terms of partisanship. Using unique interview data with legislative directors, retired United States Senators, and data compiled from the Congressional Record, Chaturvedi shows that, because of their precarious electoral circumstances, moderate senators must avoid active participation on bills and pushing controversial legislation. Lawmaking is much more variable and less moderating than previous theories assumed, as the process relies less on the work of moderates and more on party leaders. The book also demonstrates that mainstream concerns about polarization and its negative effects of increased gridlock and ideological legislation are true.
Whispers from the Land of Snows. Culture-based Violence in Tibet
This study focuses on the struggle of Tibetans for the recognition of their most fundamental rights and freedoms. In addition, it investigates the correlation between violations of cultural rights and the violence committed by state actors against a community rooted in a profoundly Buddhist society. Collaboration with Tibetans was at the heart of the participative approach adopted in this interdisciplinary study. It is based on the first-hand testimonies of Tibetan exiles who have sought asylum in Switzerland. It uncovers the experiences, perceptions and opinions of Tibetans, most of whom have suffered various forms of abuse in Tibet. The approach adopted in this book draws on the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and 2007 Declaration de Fribourg, which reflect the essential role of cultural rights. It also focuses on the concept of genocide developed by Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959). On this basis, it is shown that several examples of techniques of genocide were, and still are, being employed in Tibet (LEMKIN 1944:82-90). The PRC has violently disrupted the natural process of cultural change in Tibet, through forced cultural assimilation which continues to engender violence. Tibetans' resilience, nonviolence and commitment to peace are powerful coping mechanisms. Yet, extreme self-violence continues: since 1998, 157 self-immolations have been reported.Efforts must continue to advocate for human rights in Tibet, particularly when it comes to issues of freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and of movement, in order to secure a sustainable peace that would benefit both Tibet and the PRC.
Economic Poisoning, 8
The toxicity of pesticides to the environment and humans is often framed as an unfortunate effect of their benefits to agricultural production. In Economic Poisoning, Adam M. Romero upends this narrative and provides a fascinating new history of pesticides in American industrial agriculture prior to World War II. Through impeccable archival research, Romero reveals the ways in which late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American agriculture, especially in California, functioned less as a market for novel pest-killing chemical products and more as a sink for the accumulating toxic wastes of mining, oil production, and chemical manufacturing. Connecting farming ecosystems to technology and the economy, Romero provides an intriguing reconceptualization of pesticides that forces readers to rethink assumptions about food, industry, and the relationship between human and nonhuman environments.
Aiding Islam
Understanding the West today requires recognising the extraordinary indifference and animosity white people feel towards their race and cultures. Shaken by two world wars and scarred by the Holocaust, we prefer other races and their cultures.The West refuses to fear those other races and cultures, whatever they do. Instead, we fear white people slipping back into prejudice. We're locked into a mindset of 1945.We have to move on: to learn from the past but not remain there; to confront the reality of the present and the future. An inevitable consequence of multiculturalism is the West's submission to self-confident, collective peoples. The most self-certain religion on earth is Islam.
Measuring Peace
How can we know if the peace that has been established following a civil war is a stable peace? More than half of all countries that experienced civil war since World War II have suffered a relapse into violent conflict, in some cases more than once. Meanwhile, the international community expends billions of dollars and deploys tens of thousands of personnel each year in support of efforts to build peace in countries emerging from violent conflict. This book argues that efforts to build peace are hampered by the lack of effective means of assessing progress towards the achievement of a consolidated peace. Rarely, if ever, do peacebuilding organizations and governments seek to ascertain the quality of the peace that they are helping to build and the contribution that their engagement is making (or not) to the consolidation of peace. More rigorous assessments of the robustness of peace are needed. These assessments require clarity about the characteristics of, and the requirements for, a stable peace. This in turn requires knowledge of the local culture, local history, and the specific conflict dynamics at work in a given conflict situation. Better assessment can inform peacebuilding actors in the reconfiguration and reprioritization of their operations in cases where conditions on the ground have deteriorated or improved. To build a stable peace, it is argued here, it is important to take the measure of peace.
Tweeting Is Leading
Social media is changing the business of representation in the Senate. If you want to know what your senator is up to, you don't need a newspaper, just your phone. Some senators are social media minimalists while others are digitally long-winded, but each senator has the ability to insert themselves into our daily digital routines and frame their political brand for a public audience. Drawing on a unique dataset of almost 200,000 senator tweets, Tweeting is Leading offers a critical analysis of senators' communication on Twitter, the individual and constituent forces that shape it, and the agendas that result. The public priorities that senators communicate through social media--what Annelise Russell calls their rhetorical agenda--offer a necessary tool for understanding how senators link their carefully crafted public image with potential voters. The rhetorical agenda challenges what we know about representation, removing the institutional and political constraints on congressional communication and giving lawmakers a messaging platform where individual discretion is high, the relative costs are low, and someone is always watching. Tweeting is Leading emphasizes why representation on social media matters for understanding media norms and how lawmakers digitally build a political brand, showing empirically how senators self-constrain their communications to curate different styles of representation that match constituent expectations.
No Standard Oil
In No Standard Oil, environmental policy expert Deborah Gordon examines the widely varying climate impacts of global oils and gases, and proposes solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in this sector while making sustainable progress in transitioning to a carbon-free energy future. The next decade will be decisive in the fight against climate change. It will be impossible to hold the planet to a 1.5o C temperature rise without controlling methane and CO2 emissions from the oil and gas sector. Contrary to popular belief, the world will not run out of these resources anytime soon. Consumers will continue to demand these abundant resources to fuel their cars, heat their homes, and produce everyday goods like shampoo, pajamas, and paint. But it is becoming more environmentally damaging to supply energy using technologies like fracking oil and liquefying gas. Policymakers, financial investors, environmental advocates, and citizens need to understand what oil and gas are doing to our climate to inform decision-making. In No Standard Oil, Deborah Gordon shows that no two oils or gases are environmentally alike. Each has a distinct, quantifiable climate impact. While all oils and gases pollute, some are much worse for the climate than others. In clear, accessible language, Gordon explains the results of the Oil Climate Index Plus Gas (OCI+), an innovative, open source model that estimates global oil and gas emissions. Gordon identifies the oils and gases from every region of the globe-along with the specific production, processing, and refining activities-that are the most harmful to the planet, and proposes innovative solutions to reduce their climate footprints. Global climate stabilization cannot afford to wait for oil and gas to run out. No Standard Oil shows how we can take immediate, practical steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the crucial oil and gas sector while making sustainable progress in transitioning to a carbon-free energy future.
People and Land
This book addresses the impacts of the strikes by empires upon land and people, the traditions that fund and sanctify those ventures, and the spinoffs that they inspire. The contributors engage and interrogate these assaults on the land and people, and oblige theologians and biblical studies scholars to confront modern empires.
Stuxnet to Sunburst
This book covers decades of digital eavesdropping and manipulation of agencies to Stuxnet, the world's first use of digital code and digital certificates for offensive purposes against the Iranians and their Nuclear Power facilities to cause collateral damage. It continues all the way to today's Solarwinds attack, codenamed Sunburst.
Macht Landschaft gl羹cklich
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Fragestellung "Wie l瓣sst sich landschaftsbezogenes Wohlbefinden in der r瓣umlichen Planung greifbar machen?". In den Vor羹berlegungen werden Grundlagen des Wahrnehmens und Erlebens von Landschaft, sowie der Landschaftstheorie zusammengestellt und systematisch aufbereitet. Weiterhin werden die Begriffe Landschaft, Gesundheit, Wohlbefinden und Erholung inhaltlich gefasst und theoretische Wechselbez羹ge dargestellt. Anschlie?end werden unterschiedliche M繹glichkeiten zur Ermittlung von menschlichen Emotionen im Raum vorgestellt. Dabei handelt es sich um innovative Formate der Raumforschung, wie spaziergangs- oder fotografiebasierte Forschungsmethoden und etablierte Instrumente der Psychologie, wie Emotionsfrageb繹gen. Diese werden systematisch aufbereitet, um Vorteile bzw. Herausforderungen aufzuzeigen. Danach wird ein Forschungsdesign entwickelt und in konkreten Untersuchungsgebieten zur Anwendung gebracht. Es entstehen empirische Daten zu menschlichem Wohlbefinden in diversen Erholungsgebieten, welche systematisch ausgewertet und zusammengef羹hrt werden. Zugeh繹rige Ergebnisse werden auf kreativem Wege visualisiert und in Form von Diagrammen, Fotos sowie Karten pr瓣sentiert. Das Buch richtet sich sowohl an Wissenschaftler*innen und Planer*innen als auch an naturbegeisterte Personen und Menschen, welche Landschaft zu Erholungszwecken aufsuchen.
Rethinking Internal Displacement
To tackle the vast numbers of internally displaced people, a UN regime has emerged that seeks to replicate the long-established regime of refugee protection by applying international law and humanitarian assistance to citizens within their own borders. This book looks at the origins, structure and impact of this new UN regime and whether it is fit for purpose.
Party Personnel Strategies
Key party goals serve to advance a policy brand and maximize seats in the legislature. This book offers a theory of how political parties assign their elected members -- their "personnel" -- to specialized legislative committees to serve collective organizational goals, here known as "party personnel strategies". Individual party members vary in their personal attributes, such as prior occupation, gender, and local experience. Parties seek to harness the attributes of their members by assigning them to committees where their expertise is relevant, and where they may enhance the party's policy brand. However, under some electoral systems, parties may need to trade-off the harnessing of expertise against the pursuit of seats, instead matching legislators according to electoral situation (e.g. marginality of seat) or characteristics of their constituency (e.g. population density). This book offers an analysis of the extent to which parties trade these goals by matching the attributes of their personnel and their electoral needs to the functions of the available committee seats. The analysis is based on a dataset of around six thousand legislators across thirty-eight elections in six established parliamentary democracies with diverse electoral systems.
Survival of the Unfittest
Originally published in 1972, this book is an analytical account of the socio-medical tribulations suffered by Glasgow's east-end elderly leading to referral to geriatric wards. It examines why so many old people suffer from physical, mental and social deprivation in the final years of their lives.
The Politics of Environment
Originally published in 1972 and ahead of its time in many respects this book was the first to take a constructive approach to the problems facing the human race in the 20th Century.
Brazil-India Renewable Energy Cooperation
The book is a study of the cooperation of Brazil and India on renewable energy. It is based on a research project on the energy sector of both the countries. It discusses the agreements in the energy sector between the two countries and the renewable energy policies developed in four decades. A scientific and technological mapping, a brief study of competitiveness and a primary research were carried out in order to find out the weaknesses and the opportunities for cooperation in renewable energies. This Publication will undoubtedly provoke the reader to reflect on the importance of cooperation given the growing protectionism not only in terms of energy security, but also in terms of investments in new technologies considering energy transition scenario. For Brazil and India, intensifying the dialogue is more than a strategy of visibility and the search for greater space in worldwide geopolitics.
The New Politics of the Old South
Now in its seventh edition, The New Politics of the Old South offers the best and most comprehensive analysis and history of political behaviors and shifting demographics in the American south. This edition has been updated through the 2020 elections to provide the most accurate and useful snapshot of the current state of southern politics.
The Russian Parliamentary Elections of 1995
This book is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the elections held on 17 December 1995 to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. It analyzes the entire electoral process, from the adoption of the electoral law to the announcement of the final results.
Railways and Sustainable Low-Carbon Mobility in China
This book explores the role of railways in developing sustainable low-carbon mobility by analyzing the intermodal relationship between railways and other transport modes. Focusing on geographical and governance perspectives, and taking China as a case study, it analyzes the competition and cooperation between and integration of railways and other transport modes, in order to provide guidance on future sustainable transport development. Firstly, the book examines the contribution of railways to low carbon emissions in China over recent decades by estimating the carbon dioxide emissions from various transport modes in China at national and regional levels using decomposition analysis. It then discusses the current competition and cooperation between railways and other transport modes, as well as their integration and the impact of their relationship on climate change. It also highlights how the competition between railways and other transport modes may change the passenger flows between city pairs and so alter transport carbon emissions and examines how cooperation and integration could improve passengers' travel experience while at the same time reducing carbon emissions. Lastly, it addresses the implications for future sustainable transport development based on institutional analysis. Presenting multidisciplinary, sustainable transport research on the role of railways in reducing carbon emissions, and also offering policy recommendations for developing low-carbon, integrated transport in the future, this book is a valuable reference resource for graduates, researchers, and government managers responsible for transport development, urban planning and environmental policy.
Article by Article
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is one of the most important and debated sociopolitical documents of the twentieth century. A leading authority on the UDHR, Johannes Morsink is the author of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent (2000) and Inherent Human Rights: Philosophical Roots of the Universal Declaration (2009). With this new book, Morsink has now written a volume for a new generation of human rights students and activists, one that presents an article-by-article account of the formulation of each article in the UDHR. The author comments perceptively on how they have been argued, argued over, and used in a wide range of political discourses. Comprised of short essays on each of the Declaration's thirty articles, this book constitutes the most accessible and comprehensive approach to this document and explicates the UDHR's continued relevance in contemporary times. Throughout the book, Morsink explains how this 1948 iconic text can help us in the twenty-first century. He shows us the high moral ground we need to fight evils perpetuated during and after World War II that now present themselves in new garb and does so in a clear and concise manner.
Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making
Canada is a key member of the world's most important international intelligence-sharing partnership, the Five Eyes, along with the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Until now, few scholars have looked beyond the US to study how effectively intelligence analysts support policy makers, who rely on timely, forward-thinking insights to shape high-level foreign, national security, and defense policy. Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making provides the first in-depth look at the relationship between intelligence and policy in Canada. Thomas Juneau and Stephanie Carvin, both former analysts in the Canadian national security sector, conducted seventy in-depth interviews with serving and retired policy and intelligence practitioners, at a time when Canada's intelligence community underwent sweeping institutional changes. Juneau and Carvin provide critical recommendations for improving intelligence performance in supporting policy-with implications for other countries that, like Canada, are not superpowers but small or mid-sized countries in need of intelligence that supports their unique interests.
Collieries, Communities and the Miners' Strike in Scotland, 1984-85
This book, available at last in paperback, analyses the 1984-85 miners' strike by focusing on its vital Scottish dimensions, especially the role of workplace politics and community mobilisation. The year-long strike began in Scotland, with workers defending the moral economy of the coalfields, and resisting pit closures and management attacks on trade unionism. The book relates the strike to an analysis of changing coalfield community and industrial structures from the 1960s to the 1980s. It challenges the stereotyped view that the strike began in March 1984 as a confrontation between Arthur Scargill, the miners' leader, and Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. Before this point, in fact, fifty percent of Scottish miners were already on strike or engaged in a significant pit-level dispute with their managers, who were far more confrontational than their counterparts in England and Wales. The book explores the key features of the strike that followed in Scotland: the unusual industrial politics; the strong initial pattern of general solidarity; and then the emergence of varieties of pit-level commitment.
Sam Nunn
In a 2012 opinion piece bemoaning the state of the US Senate, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank cited a "leading theory: There are no giants in the chamber today." Among the respected members who once walked the Senate floor, admired for their expertise and with a stature that went beyond party, Milbank counted Sam Nunn (D-GA). Nunn served in the Senate for four terms beginning in 1972, at a moment when domestic politics and foreign policy were undergoing far-reaching changes. As a member and then chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he had a vital impact on most of the crucial national security and defense issues of the Cold War era and the "new world order" that followed--issues that included the revitalization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's military capability, US-Soviet relations, national defense reorganization and reform, the Persian Gulf conflict, and nuclear arms control. In this first full account of Nunn's senatorial career, Frank Leith Jones reveals how, as a congressional leader and "shadow secretary of defense," Nunn helped win the Cold War, constructing the foundation for the defense and foreign policies of the 1970s and 1980s that secured the United States and its allies from the Soviet threat. At a time of bitter political polarization and partisanship, Nunn's reputation remains that of a statesman with a record of bipartisanship and a dedication to US national interests above all. His career, as recounted in Sam Nunn: Statesman of the Nuclear Age, provides both a valuable lesson in the relationships among the US government, foreign powers, and societies and a welcome reminder of the capacity of Congress, even a lone senator, to promote and enact policies that can make the country, and the world, a better and safer place.
Let the People Pick the President
"People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman." --Josh Chafetz, New York Times Book ReviewNow in paperback: an ironclad argument for eliminating the Electoral College.The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose? Now, with political passions at a boiling point, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed--now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president?In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count--and restore belief in our democratic system.
China's Uneven and Combined Development
This book mobilises the theory of uneven and combined development to uncover the geopolitical economic drivers of China's rise. The purpose is to explain the formation and trajectory of its economic 'accumulation system' -- which remains a confounding hybrid of statist and neoliberal forms of capitalism -- as the outcome of China's geopolitical engagement of the USA during the late stages of the Cold War, and its participation in manufacturing global production networks (GPNs). Fear of geopolitical catastrophe drove China to open its economy, while GPNs enabled China to generate substantial export surpluses which could be recycled through state-owned banks as cheap credit and subsidies to large, vertically integrated and politically-controlled state-owned enterprises. In this way, a synergy emerged between the 'neoliberal' and 'Keynesian-Fordist' sectors of the economy, while the national-territorial state retained its form and expanded its functions. The book chronicles how this reliance on export surpluses, however, rendered China extremely vulnerable to external shocks -- prompting a dramatic monetary and fiscal stimulus response to the crisis of 2008, even while sustaining the illusion of economic 'decoupling' from the global economy. Finally, it examines the growing role of the state in the current crisis-ridden economic model, as well as China's current geoeconomic and geopolitical expansionism in areas such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the militarisation of the East and South China Seas.
The Political Economy of Policy Ideas
In 2008, the European Commission relaunched the policy idea of active inclusion, with the aim of facilitating the integration of people into sustainable and quality employment. Over ten years later, and in the aftermath of one of the most trying periods in Europe's recent economic history, this book provides a critical and timely reassessment. The Political Economy of Policy Ideas contributes to the growing scholarly literature on ideational political economy and labour market regulation by providing a systematic analysis of the idea of active inclusion and its three core principles: activation, conditionality and personalization. The research breaks new ground by detailing how divergent interpretations of these principles, by relevant social actors in different contexts, have shaped their implementation. The book is of interest to scholars and students across comparative political economy, economic sociology, welfare and industrial relations studies.
Regulation and Planning
In Regulation and Planning, planning scholars from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and the United States explore how planning regulations are negotiated amid layers of normative considerations. It treats regulation not simply as a set of legal guidelines to be compared against proposed actions, but as a social practice in which issues of governmental legitimacy, cultural understandings, materiality, and power are contested. Each chapter addresses an actual instance of planning regulation including, among others, a dispute about a proposed Apple store in a public park in Stockholm, the procedures by which building codes are managed by planners in Napoli, the role that design plays in regulating the use of public space in a new Paris neighbourhood, and the influence of plans on the regulation of development in Malm繹 and Cambridge. Collectively, the volume probes the institutions and practices that give meaning and consequence to planning regulations. For planning students learning about what it means to plan, planning researchers striving to understand the influence of planners on urban development, and planning practitioners interested in reflecting on practices that occupy a great deal of their time, this is an indispensable book.
What Is Environmental Sociology?
Given the escalating and existential nature of our current environmental crises, environmental sociology has never mattered more. We now face global environmental threats, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as local threats, such as pollution and household toxins. The complex interactions of such pervasive problems demand an understanding of the social nature of environmental impacts, the underlying drivers of these impacts, and the range of possible solutions. Environmental sociologists continue to make indispensable contributions to this crucial task. This compact book introduces environmental sociology and emphasizes how environmental sociologists do "public sociology," that is, work with broad public application. Using a diversity of theoretical approaches and research methods, environmental sociologists continue to give marginalized people a voice, identify the systemic drivers of our environmental crises, and evaluate solutions. Diana Stuart shines a light on this work and gives readers insight into applying the tools of environmental sociology to minimize impacts and create a more sustainable and just world.
Active Assisted Living
In dem vorliegenden Open-Access-Buch identifizieren Studierende und Lehrende interprofessionell Entwicklungen und Problemfelder der Assistiven Technologien. Diese halten zunehmend Einzug ins Leben versorgungsbed羹rftiger, h瓣ufig 瓣lterer Menschen. Nach einigen Jahren der Entwicklung kann konstatiert werden, dass der Transfer von Entwicklung zur Anwendung im Alltag infolge unterschiedlicher Perspektiven und Zielsetzungen nur unzureichend stattfindet. Die Beitragsautoren bieten kreative L繹sungsans瓣tze, die zu einer nachhaltigen Umsetzung f羹hren sollen.​​Dies ist ein Open-Access-Buch.
The Insomniac’s Best Friend
A self-help bible based on Lynda Brown's personal experiences of chronic insomnia and her research into the subject, this book welcomes you to the insomniacs' 'club' with a whole host of tips, tried and tested remedies, advice and support. written by insomniacs for insomniacs, this is the caring, sharing book that all sufferers need.For the past two years, Lynda Brown has suffered from chronic insomnia and she has now put together a self-help bible for other sufferers who have found that it can change your personality, take over your life and leave you feeling obsessional.Lynda has tirelessly researched the insomnia market, talking to therapists, professionals and natural health store workers to find out the facts people need to know. The book strikes the right balance between 'what the experts say' and 'what worked for me'.The book is written by insomniacs, for insomniacs and offers practical, grass-roots help in a well-written, humane and supportive way.As well as practical advice, the book also offers much needed moral support and understanding in the same vein as The Fat Ladies Club and the Girlfriends guides.
The Dandelion Insurrection - Love and Revolution -
In a time that looms around the corner of today, in a place on the edge of our nation, it is a crime to dissent, a crime to assemble, a crime to stand up for one's life. Despite all this - or perhaps because of it - the Dandelion Insurrection appears . . . Under a gathering storm of tyranny, Zadie Byrd Gray whirls into the life of Charlie Rider and asks him to become the voice of the Dandelion Insurrection. With the rallying cry of life, liberty, and love, Zadie and Charlie fly across America leaving a wake of revolution in their path. Passion erupts. Danger abounds. The lives of millions hang by a thread. The golden soul of humanity blossoms . . . and wonders start to unfold! Author Rivera Sun creates mythic characters from everyday people. She infuses the story of our times with practical solutions and visionary perspectives, drawing the reader into a world both terrifying and inspiring . . . a world that can be our own!Reviewers have enthusiastically called The Dandelion Insurrection..."The handbook of the coming revolution". Part fact, part fiction and part prophecy, you will enjoy The Dandelion Insurrection.From the reviewers: "Close your eyes and imagine the force of the people and the power of love overcoming the force of greed and the love of power. Then read The Dandelion Insurrection. In a world where despair has deep roots, The Dandelion Insurrection bursts forth with joyful abandon."-- Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink "I love this book! It beautifully captures the revolution of love that is sweeping the globe, told as an epic novel that will set your heart on fire. A rare gem of a book, a must read, it charts the way forward in this time of turmoil and transformation. If you loved Occupy Love, you will love The Dandelion Insurrection!"-- Velcrow Ripper, Canadian Academy Award (Genie) winner, director of Occupy Love "This novel will not only make you want to change the world, it will remind you that you can." -- Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction "THE handbook for the coming revolution!"-- Lo Daniels, Editor of Dandelion Salad "The Dandelion Insurrection is an updated, more accurate, less fantastical Brave New World or 1984."-- David Swanson, journalist, author, peace activist "The Dandelion Insurrection is a prayer seven billion hearts strong and counting."-- Megan Hollingsworth, Founder of Extinction Witness "Rivera Sun's The Dandelion Insurrection takes place in a dystopia just a hop, skip and jump away from today's society. A fundamentally political book with vivid characters and heart stopping action. It's a must and a great read."-- Judy Rebick, activist and author of Occupy This! ". . . a beautifully written book just like the dandelion plant itself, punching holes through the concert of corporate terror, and inviting all to join in the insurrection."-- Keith McHenry, co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement
Unsustainable
This book is an urgent call to reimagine our social, political and economic systems so that we might transform to a sustainable society. It considers whether an alternative economic model is possible and examines the factors needed to enable such a transition to occur. The scale and pace of change is unprecedented and the author examines the actions that have to be taken by governments, business and individuals if we are to address the environmental disaster that confronts us. Much needs to change but ultimately, this is a book of hope, believing that evolution to a better, more sustainable society is possible.
