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Understanding Public Policy
by Thomas R. DyeThis edition provides students with a close up look at the American healthcare system, current economic policies, issues of homeland security and defense policy among many other current event and issues shaping public policy today. The gold-standard for introductory public policy texts, Understanding Public Policy is designed to provide readers with concrete tools for both understanding and analyzing public policy.
Understanding Public Services: A Contemporary Introduction
by E.K. Sarter and Elizabeth Cookingham BaileyDive inside this textbook for an accessible guide to the discipline of public services. Perfect for students, it offers a comprehensive account of core public service topics and explains the fundamental elements of working in the public services. Outlining their role in the welfare state, it explores the policies, providers and legalities shaping the context in which public services operate. Students will study concepts of organisational change, strategy, management, leadership and funding, and engage with timely discussions around contemporary public issues such as equality, sustainability and climate change. Key features to support student learning include: • objectives at the beginning of each chapter; • case studies and examples; • end of chapter summaries; • reflective questions; • further reading recommendations and resources. Bringing together authors with expertise in politics and public policy, social policy and law, this book is essential reading for everybody studying public services.
Understanding Public Speaking: A Learner's Guide to Persuasive Oratory
by Braj MohanPublic speaking is a much coveted yet difficult art. This book illustrates the use of various linguistic devices and persuasive strategies with examples from the speeches of powerful orators in history. It systematically draws on the various approaches to public speaking and persuasive discourse to present new insights and techniques. The volume: Critically examines strategies of persuasive oratory. Draws on extensive investigation of a corpus of famous public speeches in history. Focuses on the needs of those who want to brush up their public speaking skills. The volume will be a key reference for aspiring civil servants, lawyers, business and corporate professionals, and politicians. It will be of great interest to scholars of linguistics, and political and business communication.
Understanding Quality Peace: Peacebuilding after Civil War (Routledge Studies in Security and Conflict Management)
by Madhav Joshi Peter WallensteenThis book provides an analytical framework for understanding how the concept of quality peace can be used to evaluate post-conflict peacebuilding, using social science, statistics, and case studies. Including contributions from more than 20 researchers and practitioners, it argues that the quality of the peace in a post-conflict state relates to the extent to which peace accords are implemented, the agreed-upon mechanism for the non-violent resolution of the conflict, and the available social space for civil and political actors. To arrive at the concept of 'quality peace', the authors evaluate the existing literature and identify a lack of a satisfactory means of measuring outcomes, and consequently how these might be researched comparatively. The volume problematizes the 'quality peace' concept as a way to understand the origins of armed conflict as well as problems deriving from the conflict dynamics and the need for social, political, and economic changes in the post-conflict periods. The book emphasizes five dimensions as crucial for quality peace in a post-accord society. Negotiations and agreements not only aim at avoiding the return of war but also seek to: (1) promote reconciliation, (2) develop mechanisms for resolving future disputes, (3) provide for reliable security, (4) open economic opportunities for marginalized segments of the population, and (5) generate space for civil society. These five dimensions together provide for quality peace after war. They are studied in the context of internal armed conflicts in which multiple parties have signed a peace agreement. This book will be of great interest to students of peace and conflict studies, civil wars, global governance, security studies, and International Relations in general.
Understanding Racist Activism: Theory, Methods, and Research (Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right)
by Kathleen M. BleeWhite supremacist groups are highly secretive, so their public propaganda tells us little about their operations or the people they attract. To understand the world of organized racism it is necessary to study it from the inside by talking to their members and observing their groups. Doing so reveals a disturbing picture of how fairly ordinary white people learn to embrace the vicious ideas and dangerous agendas of white supremacism. This book takes the reader inside organized racism, revealing the kind of women and men who join groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazi skinheads, and what they do in those groups. The volume collects significant published works from renowned scholar Kathleen M. Blee's work on racist activism, alongside new essays on the theories, methods, and approaches of studying racist activism. Discussing topics such as emotional issues in research, the place of violence and hate in white supremacism, and how women are involved in racial terrorism, Blee makes use of a range of sources, including oral histories, ethnographic observations, and interviews, to shape her findings. Written by the pioneer and leading scholar of women in racist activism, this volume is essential reading for students, scholars, and general readers interested in the areas of social movements, politics, race studies, and American history.
Understanding Recruitment to Organized Crime and Terrorism
by David Weisburd Francesco Calderoni Badi Hasisi Ernesto U. SavonaThis volume provides insights on how recruitment patterns develop for two related types of criminal networks: organized crime and terrorism. It specifically explores the social, situational, psychological, and economic drivers of recruitment. Although organized crime networks and terrorism networks can differ in underlying goals and motivations, this volume demonstrates common drivers in their recruitment, which will provide insights for crime prevention and intervention. The goal of the book is to explore the current knowledge about these common drivers, as well as highlight emerging research, to identify and prioritize a research agenda for scholars, as well as policymakers. The research presented in this work aims to fill existing gaps in the knowledge of recruitment to both organized crime and terrorism. For each area, it provides a systematic review of the existing research on social, psychological, and economic drivers of recruitment. It then presents findings from independent original research aimed to explore new ground not covered in these previous studies. The contributions to this volume were the result of a research project funded by a European Union Horizon 2020 grant, and present a diverse, international mix of expertise and cases. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields such as sociology, psychology, and international relations. Chapter 13 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Understanding Religion and Social Change in Ethiopia
by Mohammed GirmaReligiosity is one aspect without which Ethiopian society cannot be fully understood. This book aims to map out the terrain of the discourse in religion-social change nexus in Ethiopian using the notion of covenant as an interpretive tool.
Understanding Religious Violence: Radicalism and Terrorism in Religion Explored via Six Case Studies
by James Dingley Marcello MollicaThis book addresses the problem of religiously based conflict and violence via six case studies. It stresses particularly the structural and relational aspects of religion as providing a sense of order and a networked structure that enables people to pursue quite prosaic and earthly concerns. The book examines how such concerns link material and spiritual salvation into a holy alliance. As such, whilst the religions concerned may be different, they address the same problems and provide similar explanations for meaning, success, and failure in life. Each author has conducted their own field-work in the religiously based conflict regions they discuss, and together the collection offers perspectives from a variety of different national backgrounds and disciplines.
Understanding Religious Violence: Thinking Outside the Box on Terrorism
by J.P. LarssonThere is a long-standing fear of that which is not understood. Since September 11, 2001 the fear surrounding the violent elements of religion has led to heightened tensions. Research is thus essential to counteract the effects of 'religious xenophobia'. In this compelling book J.P. Larsson investigates religious violence, terrorism and armed conflict in order to deliver the understanding required for a more peaceful world and to allow for a framework of conflict transformation. This multi-disciplinary text will greatly interest those in the fields of international relations, theology and sociology.
Understanding Research: Coping with the Quantitative - Qualitative Divide
by M. I. FranklinPlanning, undertaking and completing a research project – from dissertations to presentations - can be a daunting undertaking for any student, involving a number of easily taken mis-steps for those without adequate guidance. The objective of any research project is to gather data, analyse it based on your research question and present your findings and conclusions. For students, having the right approach to these steps can mean the difference between an easily handled process resulting in a well argued and presented project, or panicked flailing, misdirection and confusion. For those fearful of not getting enough research done, doing it the wrong way, putting it together incorrectly, or unsure of what the end result will be, then Understanding Research is an invaluable guide to getting it right and putting fears to bed. Successfully completing a research project is a major milestone in most university degrees, and it should be daunting – although not unassailable. This book provides students with the guidance necessary to start, undertake and present their research project in social science or the humanities. This text addresses: Where do I start? How do I begin my research and pull it together into a research question? - takes the student through the process of project design, starting research and gaining confidence in their choices Am I Researching the right things? Is it taking me in the direction I want to go? What direction is it taking me in? - explores the decision making process at all points of a research project and the implications of these decisions in the longer term Am I researching in the right way – should I be conducting interviews, reading articles or collecting statistical data? - outlines the practical and philosophical conundrums around specific techniques for gathering and analysing data Focussed explicitly on the needs and experiences of students and including a wealth of practical tips, this work is an essential resource for all students embarking on a research project. Understanding Research includes: 90 illustrations 2 tables 21 text boxes Glossary Further Reading guides for each chapter
Understanding Research Methods: A Guide for the Public and Nonprofit Manager (Public Administration and Public Policy)
by Donijo RobbinsManagers and administrators in the public-policy and nonprofit sectors rely heavily on analytical skills to quickly pore through a massive amount of research. They dissect it and apply specific, useful data that can inform critical policy changes and help them improve their organization’s overall performance and financial position. To master this vital role, it is imperative that they and their staff learn to be more efficient at collecting, analyzing and evaluating research material, by discovering how to ask the right questions and quickly discern valuable information from useless data. A Blueprint to Streamline Every Aspect of the Research Process Focusing on the entire research process from start to finish, the compact but comprehensive Understanding Research Methods: A Guide for the Public and Nonprofit Manager explores the research designs and analytical tools that are the foundation for decision-making. Relying more on concepts and analysis than on mathematics, this text provides insight into the definition, process, importance, and capabilities of research – addressing the topic from the perspectives of both the producer of data and the consumer who evaluates its usefulness. Broken down into three sections, the book: Gives an overview of the research process, the construction of measures, and research ethics Elaborates on planning a research method, presenting common research designs used by practitioners and the most useful, popular ways to collect data Focuses on tools available to analyze and then communicate data – specifically univariate and bivariate analyses This versatile text is intended for dual uses – as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students in public and nonprofit administration and public policy, and as a practical guide for the average administrator. Both groups will learn how to develop proper research questions, define specific research purposes, and form hypotheses that avoid confusion in measurement and analysis. Imparting basic practical knowledge, it outlines effective approaches to gather accurate, relevant information and then effectively interpret and communicate it.
Understanding Research, Science and Technology Parks: Global Best Practices, Report of a Symposium
by National Research Council of the National AcademiesMany nations are currently adopting a variety of directed strategies to launch and support research parks
Understanding Restorative Justice: How Empathy Can Close the Gap Created by Crime
by Pete WallisThis unique book is a clear and detailed introduction that analyses how restorative justice nurtures empathy, exploring key themes such as responsibility, shame, forgiveness and closure. The core notion of the book is that when a crime is committed, it separates people, creating a ‘gap’. This can only be reduced or closed through information and insight about the other person, which have the potential to elicit empathy and compassion from both sides. The book explores this extraordinary journey from harm to healing using the structure of a timeline: from an offence, through the criminal justice process and into the heart of the restorative meeting. Using case studies, the book offers a fresh angle on a topic that is of growing interest both in the UK and internationally. It is ideal as a comprehensive introduction for those new to restorative justice and as a best practice guide for existing practitioners.
Understanding Revolution: A Multi-Paradigmatic Approach
by Kavous ArdalanThis book applies a multiparadigmatic philosophical frame of analysis to the topic of social revolution. Crossing two disciplines and lines of literature—social philosophy and social revolution—this book considers different aspects of social revolution and discusses each aspect from four diverse paradigmatic viewpoints: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. The four paradigms are founded upon different assumptions about the nature of social science and the nature of society. Each paradigm generates theories, concepts, and analytical tools that are different from those of other paradigms. An understanding of different paradigms leads to a more balanced understanding of the multi-faceted nature of the subject matter.In this book, the first chapter reviews the four paradigms. Using the Iranian Revolution as exemplar, the next few chapters provide paradigmatic explanations for a particular aspect of revolution: culture, religion, ideology. With this background, the book introduces a comprehensive approach to the understanding of revolution. The final chapter concludes by recommending further paradigmatic diversity. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers interested in social revolution, political sociology, and political theory.
Understanding Risks and Uncertainties in Energy and Climate Policy: Multidisciplinary Methods And Tools For A Low Carbon Society
by Haris Doukas Alexandros Flamos Jenny LieuThis open access book analyzes and seeks to consolidate the use of robust quantitative tools and qualitative methods for the design and assessment of energy and climate policies. In particular, it examines energy and climate policy performance and associated risks, as well as public acceptance and portfolio analysis in climate policy, and presents methods for evaluating the costs and benefits of flexible policy implementation as well as new framings for business and market actors. In turn, it discusses the development of alternative policy pathways and the identification of optimal switching points, drawing on concrete examples to do so. Lastly, it discusses climate change mitigation policies’ implications for the agricultural, food, building, transportation, service and manufacturing sectors.
Understanding Russian Politics
by Stephen WhiteA fresh and compelling interpretation of Russian politics by a leading authority, this textbook focuses on political developments in the world's largest country under Putin and Medvedev. Using a wealth of primary sources, it covers economic, social and foreign policy, and the 'system' of politics that has developed in recent years. Opposing arguments are presented and students are encouraged to reach their own judgements on key events and issues such as privatisation and corruption. This textbook tackles timely topics such as gender and inequality issues; organised religion; the economic krizis; and Russia's place in the international community. It uses numerous examples to place this powerful and richly-endowed country in context, with a focus on the place of ordinary people which shows how policy is translated to Russians' everyday lives.
Understanding Russian Strategic Behavior: Imperial Strategic Culture and Putin’s Operational Code (Contemporary Security Studies)
by Graeme P. HerdThis book examines the extent to which Russia’s strategic behavior is the product of its imperial strategic culture and Putin’s own operational code. The work argues that, by conflating personalistic regime survival with national security, Putin ensures that contemporary Russian national interest, as expressed through strategic behavior, is the synthesis of a peculiar troika: a long-standing imperial strategic culture, rooted in a partially imagined past; the operational code of a counter-intelligence president and decision-making elite; and the realities of Russia as a hybrid state. The book first examines the role of structure and agency in shaping contemporary Russian strategic behavior. It then provides a conceptual understanding of strategic culture, and applies this to Tsarist and Soviet historical developments. The book’s analysis of the operational code, however, demonstrates that Putinism is more than the sum of the past. At the end, the book assesses Putin’s statecraft and stress-tests our assumptions about the exercise of contemporary power in Russia and the structure of Putin’s agency. This book will be of interest to students of Russian politics and foreign policy, strategic studies and international relations.
Understanding Salafism (The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy)
by Mohamed-Ali AdraouiThis book addresses the issue of one of the most visible and debated currents in contemporary radical Islam. It sheds light on the history, the fundamental principles, and the political and religious translations of Salafism and explains current events involving Salafist actors in an objective and dispassionate manner. The author explains with precision the different contemporary Salafist mobilizations by illustrating them with specific cases while shedding light on the main debates related to this mode of understanding of the Muslim religion, such as its potential role in triggering certain forms of violence, the way to compare it to other fundamentalist versions in other religions, or the way to describe, in terms of social sciences, the main concepts and discourses that can be observed in this current of Islam today.
Understanding School Choice in Canada
by Dianne Gereluk Lynn BosettiUnderstanding School Choice in Canada provides a nuanced and theoretical overview of the formation and rise of school choice policies in Canada. Drawing on twenty years of work, Lynn Bosetti and Dianne Gereluk analyze the philosophical, historical, political, and social principles that underpin the formation and implementation of school choice policies in the provinces and territories. Bosetti and Gereluk offer theoretical frameworks for considering the parameters of school choice policies that are aligned and attentive to Canadian educational contexts. This robust overview successfully shifts the debate away from ideology in order to facilitate an understanding that the spectrum of school choice policy in Canada is a response to the varying political challenges in society at large. This book is essential reading for those who desire a deeper understanding of school choice policies in Canada.
Understanding Security Practices in South Asia: Securitization Theory and the Role of Non-State Actors (Asian Security Studies)
by Monika Barthwal-DattaThis book explores the ways in which non-state actors (NSAs) in South Asia are involved in securitizing non-traditional security challenges in the region at the sub-state level. South Asia is the epicentre of some of the most significant international security challenges today. Yet, the complexities of the region’s security dynamics remain under-researched. While traditional security issues, such as inter-state war, border disputes and the threat of nuclear devastation in South Asia, remain high on the agendas of policy-makers and academics both within and beyond the region, scant attention has been paid to non-traditional or ‘new’ security challenges. Drawing on various case studies, this work offers an innovative analysis of how NSAs in South Asia are shaping security discourses in the region and tackling security challenges at the sub-state level. Through its critique of securitization theory, the book calls for a new approach to studying security practices in South Asia – one which considers NSAs as legitimate security actors. This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, Asian security, Asian politics, critical security studies, and IR in general.
Understanding Security Role Evolution of US, China, and India: Setting the Stage (International Politics in the Age of Disruption)
by Aditi MalhotraThis book revolves around the altering security roles of three pivotal powers – the US, China, and India. Each of these actors has experienced incremental changes in their external roles and behaviour over the last two decades, which are determined by the range of domestic and international factors. As each country works towards performing its revised security roles, the policymakers are subject to dilemmas and challenges that impact policy implementation and conduct. Using the framework of role theory, the book analyses the role evolution of these countries and elucidates its link with their security policies in the Indo-Pacific and on the global stage. In the process, it also examines the systemic and sub-systemic factors that determine the foreign and security behaviour of these critical Indo-Pacific countries. Accessibly written, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of international relations, security and intelligence studies, political science, and foreign policy. It will also be of great interest to policymakers, career bureaucrats, security and intelligence practitioners, and professionals working with think tanks and embassies.
Understanding Shiite Leadership
by Shaul Mishal Ori Goldberg"In this book, Shaul Mishal and Ori Goldberg explore the ways in which Shiite leaderships in Iran and Lebanon approach themselves and their world. Contrary to the violent and radical image of religious leaderships in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanese Hizballah, the political vision and practice of these leaderships view the world as a middle ground, shying away from absolutist and extremist tendencies. The political leadership assumed by Shiite religious scholars in Iran and Lebanon has transformed Shiite Islam from a marginalized minority to a highly politicized avant garde of Muslim presence, revitalized the practice and causes of political Islam in its struggle for legitimacy and authority, and reshaped the politics of the Middle East and the globe in its image. Utilizing approaches from social theory, history, theology, and literary criticism, the book presents these leaderships as pragmatic, interpretative entities with the potential to form fruitful relationships between Shiite leadership and the non-Shiite world"--
Understanding Small-Island Developing States: Fragility and External Shocks
by Amelia U. Santos-Paulino Mark McGillivray Wim NaudéSmall island developing states (SIDS) are characterised by high economic, geographical and social vulnerability. These states are perceived as economically vulnerable, exhibiting poor economic performance, and embedding low levels of achieved well-being on most criteria. SIDS, which occupy very large parts of the world, face idiosyncratic development challenges largely owing to their susceptibility to external shocks. Still, these countries are all too often overlooked in the development research literature.Arising from a UNU-WIDER research project, this book provides in-depth research on the international dimensions of SIDS development experiences. Using a wealth of data, as well as case studies, the main topics examined comprise: aid, policies and growth; the costs of neglect, in terms of losses owing to a country falling into the fragile states group, of that country and those in its region; the composition of trade and the impact of external shocks, and the impact of remittances. The studies jointly provide valuable insights for small islands and other developing countries in the pursuit of sustainable growth and development.This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Studies.
Understanding social citizenship: Themes and perspectives for policy and practice (Understanding Welfare: Social Issues, Policy and Practice)
by Peter DwyerThis updated and revised edition of Understanding social citizenship is still the only citizenship textbook written from a social policy perspective. It provides students with an understanding of the concept of citizenship in relation to UK, EU and global welfare institutions; covers a range of welfare debates and issues; explores inclusion and exclusion; combines analysis and discussion of social policies and uses easy-to-digest text boxes. The revised second edition contains new topical sections on 'Cameron's Conservatism' and the EU and A8/10 migration in the UK. The book is essential reading for undergraduates in social policy, sociology, social work, politics and citizenship, A/AS level students and their teachers, and those on access courses, foundation degrees and teacher training courses.
Understanding Social Movements
by Greg MartinThis book offers a new and fresh approach to understanding social movements. It provides interdisciplinary perspectives on social and cultural protest and contentious politics. It considers major theories and concepts, which are presented in an accessible and engaging format. Historical and contemporary case studies and examples from a variety of different countries are provided throughout, including the American civil rights movement, Greenpeace, Pussy Riot, indigenous peoples movements, liberation theology, Occupy, Tea Party, and the Arab Spring. The book presents specific chapters outlining the early origins of social movement studies, and more recent theoretical and conceptual developments. It considers key ideas from resource mobilization theory, the political process model, and new social movement approaches. It provides an expansive commentary on the role of culture in social protest, and looks at substantive areas in chapters dedicated to religious movements, geography and struggles over space, media and movements, and global activism. Understanding Social Movements will be a useful resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students across disciplines wanting to be introduced to or extend their knowledge of the field. The book will also prove invaluable for lecturers and academic researchers interested in studying social movements.