Download or read book Capitalism Democracy and Ralph s Pretty Good Grocery written by John Mueller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2001-07-30 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracy is overrated. Capitalism, on the other hand, doesn't get enough credit. In this provocative and engaging book, John Mueller argues that these mismatches between image and reality create significant political and economic problems--inspiring instability, inefficiency, and widespread cynicism. We would be far better off, he writes, if we recognized that neither system is ideal or disastrous and accepted instead the humdrum truth that both are "pretty good." And, to Mueller, that means good enough. He declares that what is true of Garrison Keillor's fictional store "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery" is also true of democracy and capitalism: if you can't get what you want there, "you can probably get along without it." Mueller begins by noting that capitalism is commonly thought to celebrate greed and to require discourtesy, deceit, and callousness. However, with examples that range from car dealerships and corporate boardrooms to the shop of an eighteenth-century silk merchant, Mueller shows that capitalism in fact tends to reward behavior that is honest, fair, civil, and compassionate. He argues that this gap between image and reality hampers economic development by encouraging people to behave dishonestly, unfairly, and discourteously to try to get ahead and to neglect the virtuous behavior that is an important source of efficiency and gain. The problem with democracy's image, by contrast, is that our expectations are too high. We are too often led by theorists, reformers, and romantics to believe that democracy should consist of egalitarianism and avid civic participation. In fact, democracy will always be chaotic, unequal, and marked by apathy. It offers reasonable freedom and security, but not political paradise. To idealize democracy, Mueller writes, is to undermine it, since the inevitable contrast with reality creates public cynicism and can hamper democracy's growth and development. Mueller presents these arguments with sophistication, wit, and erudition. He combines mastery of current political and economic literature with references to figures ranging from Plato to P. T. Barnum, from Immanuel Kant to Ronald Reagan, from Shakespeare to Frank Capra. Broad in scope and rich in detail, the book will provoke debate among economists, political scientists, and anyone interested in the problems (or non-problems) of modern democracy and capitalism.
Download or read book Democracy and Interest Groups written by G. Jordan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2007-08-24 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracy and Interest Groups assesses the contribution that interest groups make to the democratic involvement of citizens and the generation of social capital. The authors draw on new surveys of groups and members and more unusually with non-participants. It also makes use of in-depth interviews with campaign group leaders and organizers.
Download or read book Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom written by Matthew Fraser and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-02-16 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If you want to understand why Wikipedia is changing the world, this book is a must read." –Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia "This book is a must read for all - social activists, politicians or managers - who have an interest in understanding how our society is morphing." –Professor C.K. Prahalad, #1 Management Guru and author of Competing for the Future Synopsis The rise of social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo is changing the way we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, how we work and how we do business on a daily basis. Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom explores the powerful forces driving the social networking revolution, the impact of these profound changes, and the far reaching consequences of social networking. Detailing the way social networks affects both individuals and societies as a whole, the book offers a detailed focus on the ways social networking affects the world of business and work. The generation entering the workforce today - and entering boardrooms everywhere - is fully engaged with social networking and its uses. Rather than feeling threatened and paranoid, today's business leaders need to understand this phenomenon, accept that it won't go away, and embrace its power in the world of business. Excerpts from Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: "Your next CEO’s most impressive job credential might be status as an online gladiator, honing valuable leadership skills mercilessly slaying mortal enemies on World of Warcraft. Why not, the skills necessary to hack your way to the top levels of virtual games – especially a killer instinct – are excellent pre-requisites for managing complex organisations." "Many senior managers mistakenly believe Enterprise 2.0 is a product, like the latest Microsoft office suite. They don’t realise that Enterprise 2.0 is not a cost centre, but a “state of mind” – a revolutionary new way of managing companies and conducting business. Web 2.0 tools have no regard for “organisational boundaries, hierarchies, or job titles”. Try telling a senior executive that, henceforth, there will be no job titles, reporting lines, and organisational boundaries in the company – and watch the reaction closely." "When someone calls a meeting, he or she is asserting authority over those who are invited to attend. Meetings are exclusive and closed. In most corporations, who gets invited to a meeting – and who does not – sends a signal about who’s ‘in the loop’. Meetings are a form of social grooming inside organisations. Meetings impose vertical authority. They establish status hierarchies. The Enterprise 2.0 model is feared in corporations because it threatens status hierarchies." "Harnessing the dynamism of horizontal networks, Web 2.0 social media are bypassing institutional forms of social organisation and directly empowering people. This book has attempted to tell that story with illustrations, which, we hope, have offered intriguing and instructive insights into the powerful transformations we described. What has interested us most, indeed, is the transformative impact – or “e-ruptions” – of Web 2.0 social media on the three dynamics that gave this book its structure: identity, status and power."
Download or read book The Waning of Major War written by Raimo Vayrynen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a systematic effort by leading international scholars to map the trends in major-power warfare and explore whether it is waxing or waning. The main point of departure is that major-power war as a historical institution is in decline. This does not mean, though, that wars between states are in general disappearing. While there is some convergence in the conclusions by individual authors, they are by no means unanimous about the trend. The articles explore different causes and correlates of the declining trend in major-power warfare, including the impact of the international structure, nuclear weapons, international law, multilateral institutions, sovereignty and value changes.
Download or read book Assessing the Capitalist Peace written by Gerald Schneider and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Researchers have recently reinvigorated the idea that key features associated with a capitalist organization of the economy render nation states internally and externally more peaceful. According to this adage, the contract intensity of capitalist societies and the openness of the economy are among the main attributes that drive these empirical relationships. Studies on the Capitalist Peace supplement the broadly received examinations on the role that economic integration in the form of trade and foreign direct investment play in the pacification of states. Some proponents of the peace-through-capitalism thesis controversially contend that this relationship supersedes prominent explanations like Democratic Peace according to which democratic pairs of states face a reduced risk of conflict. This volume takes stock of this debate. Authors also evaluate the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship and offer an up-to-date idea history and classification of current research. Leading scholars comment on these theoretical propositions and empirical findings. This book is an extended and revised version of a special issue of International Interactions.
Download or read book The Legacy of State Socialism and the Future of Transformation written by David Lane and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking stock of the first decade of the transformation in the former Soviet bloc, this timely book explores the legacies of state socialism and attempts by once-communist countries to move toward a democratic, market-oriented system. Leading international scholars consider the ways traditions interact with other factors--both domestic and foreign--to influence the course of social, political, and economic change. With its blend of theory and case studies and its clear narrative, this book will be a valuable text for students of transition, Russian politics, and the transformation of Eastern Europe. Visit our website for sample chapters!
Download or read book Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior written by Russell J. Dalton and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 1010 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science is a ten-volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science. Each volume focuses on a particular part of the discipline, with volumes on Public Policy, Political Theory, Political Economy, Contextual Political Analysis, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Law and Politics, Political Behavior, Political Institutions, and Political Methodology. The project as a whole is under the General Editorship of Robert E. Goodin, with each volume being edited by a distinguished international group of specialists in their respective fields. The books set out not just to report on the discipline, but to shape it. The series will be an indispensable point of reference for anyone working in political science and adjacent disciplines. What does democracy expect of its citizens, and how do the citizenry match these expectations? This Oxford Handbook examines the role of the citizen in contemporary politics, based on essays from the world's leading scholars of political behavior research. The recent expansion of democracy has both given new rights and created new responsibilities for the citizenry. These political changes are paralleled by tremendous advances in our empirical knowledge of citizens and their behaviors through the institutionalization of systematic, comparative study of contemporary publics--ranging from the advanced industrial democracies to the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, to new survey research on the developing world. These essays describe how citizens think about politics, how their values shape their behavior, the patterns of participation, the sources of vote choice, and how public opinion impacts on governing and public policy. This is the most comprehensive review of the cross-national literature of citizen behavior and the relationship between citizens and their governments. It will become the first point of reference for scholars and students interested in these key issues.
Download or read book Democracy Equality and Justice written by John E. Hill and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on extensive written records of the thought of John Adams and Adam Smith, the father of modern capitalism, Dr. John E. Hill argues that these two great men advocated a balanced, values-based, and just political economy.
Download or read book Cooperation Without Trust written by Karen S. Cook and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2005-06-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some social theorists claim that trust is necessary for the smooth functioning of a democratic society. Yet many recent surveys suggest that trust is on the wane in the United States. Does this foreshadow trouble for the nation? In Cooperation Without Trust? Karen Cook, Russell Hardin, and Margaret Levi argue that a society can function well in the absence of trust. Though trust is a useful element in many kinds of relationships, they contend that mutually beneficial cooperative relationships can take place without it. Cooperation Without Trust? employs a wide range of examples illustrating how parties use mechanisms other than trust to secure cooperation. Concerns about one's reputation, for example, could keep a person in a small community from breaching agreements. State enforcement of contracts ensures that business partners need not trust one another in order to trade. Similarly, monitoring worker behavior permits an employer to vest great responsibility in an employee without necessarily trusting that person. Cook, Hardin, and Levi discuss other mechanisms for facilitating cooperation absent trust, such as the self-regulation of professional societies, management compensation schemes, and social capital networks. In fact, the authors argue that a lack of trust—or even outright distrust—may in many circumstances be more beneficial in creating cooperation. Lack of trust motivates people to reduce risks and establish institutions that promote cooperation. A stout distrust of government prompted America's founding fathers to establish a system in which leaders are highly accountable to their constituents, and in which checks and balances keep the behavior of government officials in line with the public will. Such institutional mechanisms are generally more dependable in securing cooperation than simple faith in the trustworthiness of others. Cooperation Without Trust? suggests that trust may be a complement to governing institutions, not a substitute for them. Whether or not the decline in trust documented by social surveys actually indicates an erosion of trust in everyday situations, this book argues that society is not in peril. Even if we were a less trusting society, that would not mean we are a less functional one. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Series on Trust
Download or read book On Line Citizenship written by Eleonora Maria and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-06-09 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On Line Citizenship discusses the evolutionary trends of cities in terms of e-government in the present and future technological scenario. The focus is on the transformation of the relationships between city administrations and citizens due to Information and Communication Technology. On a broad perspective, the book intends to present opportunities and threats in the development of on line citizenship in the framework of the European Union. On Line Citizenship gathers original contributions and documents presented at the International Conference On Line Citizenship - Emerging Technologies for European Cities promoted by Telecities-Eurocities and the City of Venice in co-operation with Venice International University and sponsored by SUN Microsystems, held in Venice, May 30-31, 2003. The work is complemented by multimedia presentations and speeches from the conference, available at http://it.sun.com/eventi/online_citizenship (reserved area).
Download or read book Safety Reliability Risk and Life Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructures written by George Deodatis and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2014-02-10 with total page 1112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Safety, Reliability, Risk and Life-Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructures contains the plenary lectures and papers presented at the 11th International Conference on STRUCTURAL SAFETY AND RELIABILITY (ICOSSAR2013, New York, NY, USA, 16-20 June 2013), and covers major aspects of safety, reliability, risk and life-cycle performance of str
Download or read book Democratic Elitism written by Heinrich Best and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joseph Schumpeter's competitive theory of democracy often labeled democratic elitism - has struck many as an apt and insightful description of how representative democracy works, even though convinced democrats detect an elitist thrust they find disturbing. But neither Schumpeter nor subsequent defenders of democratic elitism have paid enough attention to actual behaviors of leaders and elites. Attention has been riveted on how adequately democratic elitism captures the relationship between governors and governed in its insistence that competitive elections prevent the relationship from being one-way, that is, leaders and elites largely unaccountable to passive and submissive voters. Why and how leaders and elites create and sustain competitive elections, what happens if their competitions become excessively stage-managed or belligerent how, in short, leaders and elites really act - are some of the issues this book addresses.
Download or read book On Capitalism written by and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2007-07-12 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This important interdisciplinary work suggests a number of economic as well as sociological reasons why modern capitalism is such a uniquely dynamic force.
Download or read book The Paradox of Democratic Capitalism written by David F. Prindle and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-08-25 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A truly interdisciplinary enterprise, The Paradox of Democratic Capitalism examines the interplay of ideas about politics, economics, and law in American society from the pre-revolutionary era to the eve of the September 11 attacks. David F. Prindle argues that while the United States was founded on liberalism, there is constant tension between two ideals of the liberal tradition: capitalism and democracy. Tracing the rise of natural law doctrine from neoclassical economics, Prindle examines the influence of economic development in late medieval society on the emergence of classical liberalism in early America and likens that influence to the impact of orthodox economics on contemporary American society. Prindle also evaluates political, economic, and legal ideas through the lens of his own beliefs. He warns against the emerging extremes of liberal ideology in contemporary American politics, where the right's definition of capitalism excludes interference from democratic publics and the left's definition of democracy excludes a market-based economy.
Download or read book Democracy for Realists written by Christopher H. Achen and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why our belief in government by the people is unrealistic—and what we can do about it Democracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a provocative alternative view grounded in the actual human nature of democratic citizens. Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels deploy a wealth of social-scientific evidence, including ingenious original analyses of topics ranging from abortion politics and budget deficits to the Great Depression and shark attacks, to show that the familiar ideal of thoughtful citizens steering the ship of state from the voting booth is fundamentally misguided. They demonstrate that voters—even those who are well informed and politically engaged—mostly choose parties and candidates on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties, not political issues. They also show that voters adjust their policy views and even their perceptions of basic matters of fact to match those loyalties. When parties are roughly evenly matched, elections often turn on irrelevant or misleading considerations such as economic spurts or downturns beyond the incumbents' control; the outcomes are essentially random. Thus, voters do not control the course of public policy, even indirectly. Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Now with new analysis of the 2016 elections, Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government.
Download or read book Hydro Environmental Analysis written by James L. Martin and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2013-12-04 with total page 5742 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on fundamental principles, Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments presents in-depth information about freshwater environments and how they are influenced by regulation. It provides a holistic approach, exploring the factors that impact water quality and quantity, and the regulations, policy and management methods that are necessary to maintain this vital resource. It offers a historical viewpoint as well as an overview and foundation of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics affecting the management of freshwater environments. The book concentrates on broad and general concepts, providing an interdisciplinary foundation. The author covers the methods of measurement and classification; chemical, physical, and biological characteristics; indicators of ecological health; and management and restoration. He also considers common indicators of environmental health; characteristics and operations of regulatory control structures; applicable laws and regulations; and restoration methods. The text delves into rivers and streams in the first half and lakes and reservoirs in the second half. Each section centers on the characteristics of those systems and methods of classification, and then moves on to discuss the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of each. In the section on lakes and reservoirs, it examines the characteristics and operations of regulatory structures, and presents the methods commonly used to assess the environmental health or integrity of these water bodies. It also introduces considerations for restoration, and presents two unique aquatic environments: wetlands and reservoir tailwaters. Written from an engineering perspective, the book is an ideal introduction to the aquatic and limnological sciences for students of environmental science, as well as students of environmental engineering. It also serves as a reference for engineers and scientists involved in the management, regulation, or restoration of freshwater environments.
Download or read book Political Democracy Trust and Social Justice written by Charles F. Andrain and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2006 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rigorous explanation of connections among confidence in government institutions, popular support for democracy, and social justice in societies around the world.
