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Merchants of Despair
by Robert ZubrinThere was a time when humanity looked in the mirror and saw something precious, worth protecting and fighting for--indeed, worth liberating. But now, we are beset on all sides by propaganda promoting a radically different viewpoint. According to this idea, human beings are a cancer upon the Earth, a horde of vermin whose aspirations and appetites are endangering the natural order. This is the core of antihumanism.Merchants of Despair traces the pedigree of this ideology and exposes its pernicious consequences in startling and horrifying detail. The book names the chief prophets and promoters of antihumanism over the last two centuries, from Thomas Malthus through Paul Ehrlich and Al Gore. It exposes the worst crimes perpetrated by the antihumanist movement, including eugenics campaigns in the United States and genocidal anti-development and population-control programs around the world.Combining riveting tales from history with powerful policy arguments, Merchants of Despair provides scientific refutations to all of antihumanism's major pseudo-scientific claims, including its modern tirades against nuclear power, pesticides, population growth, biotech foods, resource depletion, and industrial development.
Merchants of Grain
by Dan MorganThe first and only book to describe the seven secretive families and five far-flung companies that control the world's food supplies. Little has changed their central role since Morgan's best-selling book first appeared in 1979.
Merchants of Men: How Jihadists and ISIS Turned Kidnapping and Refugee Trafficking into a Multi-Billion Dollar Business
by Loretta NapoleoniA powerful and sophisticated underground business delivers thousands of refugees a day all along the Mediterranean coasts of Europe. The new breed of criminals that controls it has risen out of the political chaos of post-9/11 Western foreign policy and the fiasco of the Arab Spring. These merchants of men are intertwined with jihadist armed organizations such as al Qaeda in the Maghreb. They have prospered smuggling cocaine from West Africa and kidnapping Westerners. More recently, the destabilization of Syria and Iraq coupled with the rise of ISIS offered them new business opportunities in the Middle East, from selling Western hostages to jihadist groups to trafficking in refugees numbering in the millions.Overall, the kidnapping industry today is bigger than the illegal drug trade and worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Merchants of Men is based on exclusive access to hostage negotiators actively involved in ransom negotiations and rescue missions, counter-terrorism experts, members of security services, and former hostages, among many others. The reader will discover that the protocols of prevention and rescue change according to the type of abduction and the designated targets, and will come to know first hand the range of experiences of kidnapping victims.Will the West once again reap the benefits of the political chaos it has sown in its own backyard? From colonization to the advent of "friendly" dictatorial regimes, today's fast-aging European nations are buyers on the refugee market. New workers are needed, and the merchants of men are supplying them. But only skilled, highly educated refugees are wanted. As a tsunami of migrants and refugees floods Europe, new questions almost too numerous to count must be answered.From the Hardcover edition.
Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy
by Jennifer CarlsonAn eye-opening portrait of the gun sellers who navigated the social turmoil leading up to the January 6 Capitol attackGun sellers sell more than just guns. They also sell politics. Merchants of the Right sheds light on the unparalleled surge in gun purchasing during one of the most dire moments in American history, revealing how conservative political culture was galvanized amid a once-in-a-century pandemic, racial unrest, and a U.S. presidential election that rocked the foundations of American democracy.Drawing on a wealth of in-depth interviews with gun sellers across the United States, Jennifer Carlson takes readers to the front lines of the culture war over gun rights. Even though the majority of gun owners are conservative, new gun buyers are more likely to be liberal than existing gun owners. This posed a dilemma to gun sellers in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election: embrace these liberal customers as part of a new, perhaps post-partisan chapter in the American gun saga or double down on gun politics as conservative terrain. Carlson describes how gun sellers mobilized mainstays of modern conservative culture—armed individualism, conspiracism, and partisanship—as they navigated the uncertainty and chaos unfolding around them, asserting gun politics as conservative politics and reworking and even rejecting liberal democracy in the process.Merchants of the Right offers crucial lessons about the dilemmas confronting us today, arguing that we must reckon with the everyday politics that divide us if we ever hope to restore American democracy to health.
Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society
by Austin SaratMerciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities explores the tension between law's need for and dependence on merciful judgments and suspicions that regularly accompany them. Rather than focusing primarily on definitional questions or the longstanding debate about the moral worth and importance of mercy, this book focuses on mercy as a part of, and problem for, law. This book is a product of the University of Alabama School of Law symposia series on 'Law, Knowledge and Imagination'. It explores the ways law is known and imagined in a diverse array of disciplines, including political science, history, cultural studies, philosophy and science. In addition, books produced through the Alabama symposia explore various conjunctions of law, knowledge and imagination as they play out in debates about theory and policy and speak to venerable questions as well as contemporary issues.
Mercosur: Nacimiento, vida y decadencia
by Luis Alberto Lacalle- El Mercosur ha sido, desde sus inicios, objeto de múltiples debates y confrontaciones. ¿Se trata de una herramienta útil? ¿Aporta al desarrollo de los países que lo integran, o limita sus posibilidades de vincularse con el resto del mundo? ¿Debe tener una orientación económica o política? ¿Cómo se resuelven las asimetrías entre los países grandes y los pequeños? El Dr. Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera, protagonista del proceso gestacional del Mercosur y sus primeros años de desarrollo, aporta su mirada lúcida e incisiva a este debate de profunda vigencia e importancia. Con una prosa que discurre con agilidad, y que no rehúye al compromiso con las propias convicciones y a la mención de los momentos difíciles del proceso, estas páginas se convierten en un aporte para comprender los procesos internos que marcaron la historia de este proyecto de integración regional. Este libro es un aporte fundamental para comprender los vaivenes que han atravesado los países en torno al Mercosur, y su reflexión se orienta hacia el desarrollo de la región, de cara al futuro.
Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability through a Volatile Element
by Henrik Selin Noelle Eckley SelinAn interdisciplinary analysis of human interactions with mercury through history that sheds light on efforts to promote and achieve sustainability.In Mercury Stories, Henrik Selin and Noelle Eckley Selin examine sustainability through analyzing human interactions with mercury over thousands of years. They explore how people have made beneficial use of this volatile element, how they have been harmed by its toxic properties, and how they have tried to protect themselves and the environment from its damaging effects. Taking a systems approach, they develop and apply an analytical framework that can inform other efforts to evaluate and promote sustainability.
Mercy Mission
by William ChristieIn this nerve-wracking sequel to THE WARRIORS OF GOD, Richard Welsh returns, now working as an aide to a U.S. Senator.Three U.S. Marine security guards are gunned down by unknown assailants at an outdoor café in Guatemala City, far from Afghanistan and the world's attention. Could it be terrorism, or backlash from the war on drugs?Welsh is sent down to Guatemala to investigate, for the most mundane of reasons: the father of one of the dead Marines was a major political contributor. No one expects him to find out anything, least of all himself. But, as soon as he arrives in Guatemala City, he falls into a series of discoveries, each one more disturbing than the last.The attack on the Marines seems to stretch from events as far back as the dirty guerrilla wars of the 80's to the mountains of drugs making their way along Central American pathways from Colombia to Mexico today. Circumstances force Welsh together with a mysterious American woman whose motives are unclear. She may be his ally, or she may regard him as a sacrificial pawn in pursuit of her own agenda. When the final crucial piece of information comes into Welsh's hands it will take every last bit of luck and skill for him to make it out of Guatemala alive.Because, strangely enough, it seems that as many people in Washington as in Guatemala want him dead.There are many jungles, from the tropical rainforest to Washington back rooms. But in each case the most dangerous predator is always the same.
Mercy Street
by Jennifer Haigh“Ms. Haigh is an expertly nuanced storyteller long overdue for major attention. Her work is gripping, real, and totally immersive, akin to that of writers as different as Richard Price, Richard Ford, and Richard Russo.”—Janet Maslin, New York TimesThe highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh—“a gifted chronicler of the human condition” (Washington Post Book World)—is a tense, riveting story about the disparate lives that intersect at a women’s clinic in Boston.For almost a decade, Claudia has counseled patients at Mercy Street, a clinic in the heart of the city. The work is consuming, the unending dramas of women in crisis. For its patients, Mercy Street offers more than health care; for many, it is a second chance.But outside the clinic, the reality is different. Anonymous threats are frequent. A small, determined group of anti-abortion demonstrators appears each morning at its door. As the protests intensify, fear creeps into Claudia’s days, a humming anxiety she manages with frequent visits to Timmy, an affable pot dealer in the midst of his own existential crisis. At Timmy’s, she encounters a random assortment of customers, including Anthony, a lost soul who spends most of his life online, chatting with the mysterious Excelsior11—the screenname of Victor Prine, an anti-abortion crusader who has set his sights on Mercy Street and is ready to risk it all for his beliefs. Mercy Street is a novel for right now, a story of the polarized American present. Jennifer Haigh, “an expert natural storyteller with a keen sense of her characters’ humanity” (New York Times), has written a groundbreaking novel, a fearless examination of one of the most divisive issues of our time.
Mercy Under Fire: War And The Global Humanitarian Community
by Larry MinearFrom Bosnia to Somalia, and most recently from Rwanda to Angola and the Sudan, humanitarian aid and international interventions have gone awry. Although the need for humanitarian assistance has not diminished in the wake of the Cold War, success stories will almost certainly be harder to come by. This book addresses that grim prospect. Based on sch
Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution
by Austin SaratOn January 11, 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan--a Republican on record as saying that "some crimes are so horrendous . . . that society has a right to demand the ultimate penalty"--commuted the capital sentences of all 167 prisoners on his state's death row. Critics demonized Ryan. For opponents of capital punishment, however, Ryan became an instant hero whose decision was seen as a signal moment in the "new abolitionist" politics to end killing by the state. In this compelling and timely work, Austin Sarat provides the first book-length work on executive clemency. He turns our focus from questions of guilt and innocence to the very meaning of mercy. Starting from Ryan's controversial decision, Mercy on Trial uses the lens of executive clemency in capital cases to discuss the fraught condition of mercy in American political life. Most pointedly, Sarat argues that mercy itself is on trial. Although it has always had a problematic position as a form of "lawful lawlessness," it has come under much more intense popular pressure and criticism in recent decades. This has yielded a radical decline in the use of the power of chief executives to stop executions. From the history of capital clemency in the twentieth century to surrounding legal controversies and philosophical debates about when (if ever) mercy should be extended, Sarat examines the issue comprehensively. In the end, he acknowledges the risks associated with mercy--but, he argues, those risks are worth taking.
Mere Civility
by Teresa M. BejanIn liberal democracies committed to tolerating diversity as well as disagreement, the loss of civility in the public sphere seems critical. But is civility really a virtue, or a demand for conformity that silences dissent? Teresa Bejan looks at early modern debates about religious toleration for answers about what a civil society should look like.
Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution
by Hadley ArkesOriginalism Is Not Enough In this profoundly important reassessment of constitutional interpretation, the eminent legal philosopher Hadley Arkes argues that &“originalism&” alone is an inadequate answer to judicial activism. Untethered from &“mere Natural Law&”—the moral principles knowable by all—our legal and constitutional system is doomed to incoherence. The framers of the Constitution regarded the &“self-evident&” truths of the Natural Law as foundational. And yet in our own time, both liberals and conservatives insist that we must interpret the Constitution while ignoring its foundation. Making the case anew for Natural Law, Arkes finds it not in theories hovering in the clouds or in benign platitudes (&“be generous,&” &“be selfless&”). He draws us back, rather, to the ground of Natural Law as the American Founders understood it, the anchoring truths of common sense—truths grasped at once by the ordinary man, unburdened by theories imbibed in college and law school. When liberals discovered hitherto unknown rights in the &“emanations&” and &“penumbras&” of a &“living constitution,&” conservatives responded with an &“originalism&” that refuses to venture beyond the bare text. But in framing that text, the Founders appealed to moral principles that were there before the Constitution and would be there even if there were no Constitution. An originalism that is detached from those anchor - ing principles has strayed far from the original meaning of the Constitution. It is powerless, moreover, to resist the imposition of a perverse moral vision on our institutions and our lives. Brilliant in its analysis, essential in its argument, Mere Natural Law is a must-read for everyone who cares about the Constitution, morality, and the rule of law.
Merely Judgment: Ignoring, Evading, and Trumping the Supreme Court (Constitutionalism and Democracy)
by Martin J. SweetMerely Judgment uses affirmative action in government contracting, legislative vetoes, flag burning, hate speech, and school prayer as windows for understanding how Supreme Court decisions send signals regarding the Court's policy preferences to institutions and actors (such as lower courts, legislatures, executive branches, and interest groups), and then traces the responses of these same institutions and actors to Court decisions. The lower courts nearly always abide by Supreme Court precedent, but, to a surprising degree, elected branches and other institutions avoid complying with Supreme Court decisions. To explain the persistence of unconstitutional policies and legislation, Sweet isolates the ability of institutions to derail the litigation process. Merely Judgment explores the mechanisms by which litigants and their peers have escaped from the clutches of litigation and thus effectively ignored, evaded, and trumped the Supreme Court.
Merged Evolution: Long-term Complications of Biotechnology and Informatin Technology (World Futures General Evolution Studies #Vol. 14)
by Susantha GoonatilakeMerged Evolution charts the implications of two major forces of change, information technology and biotechnology, combined with a third force, that of 'artifactual' information, which is handed down dichronically from computing device to computing device.Through developments anticipated in the near future, Dr. Goonatilake describes the merging of these three systems, a convergence which will profoundly affect the biological, social, and technical fields much more than previous studies have implied. Together these changes yield an entirely different history - and a different future of the world for life, nature and civilization. This book addresses the broader issue arising from these important developments using the unifying perspective of general evolutionary theory to yield a fresh and profound insight.
Merger Delusion
by Peter F. TrentPowerless under the country's constitution, Canadian municipal governments often find themselves in conflict with their provincial masters. In 2002, the Province of Quebec forcibly merged all cities on the Island of Montreal into a single municipality - a decision that was partially reversed in 2006. The first book-length study of the series of mergers imposed by the Parti Québécois government, The Merger Delusion is a sharp and insightful critique by a key player in anti-merger politics. Peter Trent, mayor of the City of Westmount, Quebec, foresaw the numerous financial and institutional problems posed by amalgamating municipalities into megacities. Here, he presents a stirring and detailed account of the battle he led against the provincial government, the City of Montreal, the Board of Trade, and many of his former colleagues. Describing how he took the struggle all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Trent demonstrates the ways in which de-mergers resonated with voters and eventually helped the Quebec Liberal Party win the 2003 provincial election. As the cost and pitfalls of forced mergers become clearer in hindsight, The Merger Delusion recounts a compelling case study with broad implications for cities across the globe.
Merger Delusion: How Swallowing Its Suburbs Made an Even Bigger Mess of Montreal
by Peter F. TrentPowerless under the country's constitution, Canadian municipal governments often find themselves in conflict with their provincial masters. In 2002, the Province of Quebec forcibly merged all cities on the Island of Montreal into a single municipality - a decision that was partially reversed in 2006. The first book-length study of the series of mergers imposed by the Parti Québécois government, The Merger Delusion is a sharp and insightful critique by a key player in anti-merger politics. Peter Trent, mayor of the City of Westmount, Quebec, foresaw the numerous financial and institutional problems posed by amalgamating municipalities into megacities. Here, he presents a stirring and detailed account of the battle he led against the provincial government, the City of Montreal, the Board of Trade, and many of his former colleagues. Describing how he took the struggle all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Trent demonstrates the ways in which de-mergers resonated with voters and eventually helped the Quebec Liberal Party win the 2003 provincial election. As the cost and pitfalls of forced mergers become clearer in hindsight, The Merger Delusion recounts a compelling case study with broad implications for cities across the globe.
Merging Interests: When Domestic Firms Shape FDI Policy (Business and Public Policy)
by Sarah Bauerle DanzmanWhy do governments open their economies to multinational enterprises (MNEs)? Some argue democratic forces promote this openness, but many citizen groups view multinational business with suspicion. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, Bauerle Danzman demonstrates how large domestic firms push to liberalize foreign direct investment (FDI) policies to ameliorate financing constraints, often to the detriment of smaller competitors. MNE entry comes with substantial risks, such as higher labour costs and increased productivity pressures, so well-connected domestic firms will prefer to limit access to local markets when the costs of debt financing are relatively low. However, when local environments make debt financing increasingly expensive, firms will be more willing to dismantle restrictive investment policies so that they may overcome liquidity constraints with equity financing from abroad. Bauerle Danzman includes comparative analysis of Malaysia and Indonesia from 1965–2016 to illustrate how governments undertake investment policy reform, and to indicate the interest groups that influence the outcomes of these regulatory changes.
Meridian and The Third Life of Grange Copeland: The Color Purple; Meridian; And The Third Life Of Grange Copeland
by Alice WalkerThe highly acclaimed first two novels by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple and &“a lavishly gifted writer&” (The New York Times Book Review). The first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for The Color Purple—which also won the National Book Award and was adapted into both an award–winning film starring Whoopi Goldberg and a Tony Award–winning Broadway musical—New York Times–bestselling author Alice Walker is without question &“one of [our] best American writers&” (The Washington Post). Before her success with The Color Purple, Walked penned the two powerful and unforgettable novels collected here. Meridian: This &“classic novel of both feminism and the Civil Rights movement&” is the story of Meridian Hill, who, as she approaches the end of her teen years, has already married, divorced, and given birth to a son (Ms. Magazine). She&’s looking for a second chance, and at a small college outside Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1960s, she becomes involved in the Civil Rights movement. So fully does the cause guide her life that she&’s willing to sacrifice virtually anything to help transform the conditions of a people whose subjugation she shares. &“Beautifully presented and utterly convincing.&” —The New Yorker &“A fine, taut novel . . . Remarkable.&” —The New York Times Book Review The Third Life of Grange Copeland: In Walker&’s debut novel, Grange Copeland, a deeply conflicted and struggling tenant farmer in the Deep South of the 1930s, leaves his family and everything he&’s ever known to find happiness and respect in the cold cities of the North. This misadventure, his &“second life,&” proves a dismal failure that sends him back where he came from to confront his now-grown-up son&’s disastrous relationships with his own family, including Grange&’s granddaughter, Ruth Copeland, a child Grange grows to love. Love becomes the substance of his third and final life. He spends it in devotion to Ruth, teaching and protecting her—though the cost of doing so is almost more than he can bear. &“[A] splendid novel.&” —Chicago Tribune &“A solid, honest sensitive tale . . . leavened by those moments of humor and warmth that have enabled men and women to endure so much tragedy.&” —Chicago Daily News
Meridian: The Color Purple; Meridian; And The Third Life Of Grange Copeland (Sparknotes Literature Guide Ser.)
by Alice Walker&“A classic novel of both feminism and the Civil Rights movement&” in 1960s Atlanta by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple (Ms.). As she approaches the end of her teen years, Meridian Hill has already married, divorced, and given birth to a son. She&’s looking for a second chance, and at a small college outside Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1960s, Meridian discovers the civil rights movement. So fully does the cause guide her life that she&’s willing to sacrifice virtually anything to help transform the conditions of a people whose subjugation she shares. Meridian draws from Walker&’s own experiences working alongside some of the heroes of the civil rights movement, and the novel stands as a shrewd and affecting document of the dissolution of the Jim Crow South. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Alice Walker including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
Merit Aid and the Politics of Education (Studies in Higher Education)
by Erik C. NessWhile a substantial number of studies have evaluated the effects of merit aid programs, there is a surprising lack of any systematic consideration of how states determine eligibility criteria for these scholarships. The selectivity of merit aid eligibility criteria can be as important as whether or not such programs are adopted. If, for example, merit aid programs have broad, easily-attained initial eligibility criteria, then a large proportion of high school graduates, including low-income and under-represented students, will gain eligibility. On the other hand, if the criteria are more rigorous, then a smaller proportion of students, likely those already planning to attend and with the means to afford college, will be eligible. Thus, this innovative book - the first to deepen the descriptive and conceptual understanding of the process by which states determine merit aid scholarship criteria - is crucial to understanding merit aid's success and failures at fulfilling the promise of education.
Merit, Justice, and the Political Theory of Academic Knowledge Production
by Matthew C. Murray Camilla BoisenAcademia has long established itself as an institution of knowledge and ideas. Facing pressure, many academic fields and institutions have turned their attention, singularly and collectively, to the task of what to do to rectify the causes of under-representations both academic knowledge itself and who gets to be an academic producer of knowledge. Boisen and Murray argue that simply solving the contemporary symptoms of inequity in ideas, knowledge production and the academy is not enough. Political Theory must be used to analyze why dominant ideas and institutions, namely merit and the resulting meritocracy and meritocratic procedures, were given power in the first place. In using political theory and theories of justice, the book argues that academia must radically shift rather than procedurally reform these methods of evaluation in order to achieve a more coherent approach to diversity in ideas, academic knowledge producers and academic knowledge production, which are necessary to bring about other forms of social change and reform in our larger world. In questioning the ideals and the use of rival ideals to temper flawed concepts, the present motivations and justifications for producing academic knowledge can be relegated as political tools, allowing true meaningful reform. Boisen and Murray show how contemporary crises in academia around diversification of perspectives can only be solved by considering the justifications of academic knowledge production, and the inherent risk of retaining the established competitive and presumptively ‘natural’, but ultimately biased, methods of deriving academic authority.
Merit: The History of a Founding Ideal from the American Revolution to the Twenty-First Century (American Institutions and Society)
by Joseph F. KettThe idea that citizens' advancement should depend exclusively on merit, on qualities that deserve reward rather than on bloodlines or wire-pulling, was among the Founding ideals of the American republic, Joseph F. Kett argues in this provocative and engaging book. Merit's history, he contends, is best understood within the context of its often conflicting interaction with the other ideals of the Founding, equal rights and government by consent. Merit implies difference; equality suggests sameness. By sanctioning selection of those lower down by those higher up, merit potentially conflicts with the republican ideal that citizens consent to the decisions that affect their lives.In Merit, which traces the history of its subject over three centuries, Kett asserts that Americans have reconciled merit with other principles of the Founding in ways that have shaped their distinctive approach to the grading of public schools, report cards, the forging of workplace hierarchies, employee rating forms, merit systems in government, the selection of officers for the armed forces, and standardized testing for intelligence, character, and vocational interests. Today, the concept of merit is most commonly associated with measures by which it is quantified.Viewing their merit as an element of their selfhood-essential merit-members of the Founding generation showed no interest in quantitative measurements. Rather, they equated merit with an inner quality that accounted for their achievements and that was best measured by their reputations among their peers. In a republic based on equal rights and consent of the people, however, it became important to establish that merit-based rewards were within the grasp of ordinary Americans. In response, Americans embraced institutional merit in the form of procedures focused on drawing small distinctions among average people. They also developed a penchant for increasing the number of winners in competitions-what Kett calls "selection in" rather than "selection out"-in order to satisfy popular aspirations. Kett argues that values rooted in the Founding of the republic continue to influence Americans' approach to controversies, including those surrounding affirmative action, which involve the ideal of merit.
Meritocracy, Populism, and the Future of Democracy
by David StoeszThis book explores the fundamental shift that has occurred in America and Britain as elites accumulate unprecedented capital and influence and a meritocracy has emerged to manage national affairs, a change that means opportunity, affluence, and power have migrated away from most of the population. Arguing the following four points: Geography accounts for the accumulating influence of metropolitan regions, at the expense of smaller cities and rural communities of the heartland. Occupational groups, particularly lawyers, physicians, and financiers, have constructed professional cartels to secure rents at the expense of the prosperity of the public. Think tanks and universities have become the necessary pathways to attain leadership in public affairs. The internationalization of commerce has contributed to a parallel network of economic institutions and think tanks sharing ideas and personnel to lobby for policies favorable to their sponsors. Stoesz connects present and past to look at the progressive-era, the history of professions, and questions of welfare state reform, post-neoliberalism, and marketization. His book will be of great interest to students of sociology, political science, public administration, social policy, history, and economics. Scholars in think tanks and universities as well as political consultants will also find it invaluable.
Merits and Demerits of Political Systems in Dynastic China (China Academic Library)
by Mu Ch'ienBy comparing the political systems in different dynasties, this book illustrates the continuous evolution of traditional Chinese political systems, and evaluates the merits and demerits of the political systems in different dynasties. It also provides detailed records of the evolved government organizations, the names and functions of various offices, the titles and responsibilities of officials. The book consists of five chapters, each of which focuses on one of the five dynasties respectively -- Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing, and a concluding summary. Combining historical facts and anecdotes from history to make the discussion straightforward, interesting, and easy to understand, this is an ideal book for anyone interested in the history of China, particularly its traditional political systems.