Charting Transnational Democracy

Charting Transnational Democracy
Author: J. Leatherman
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2005-08-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1403981086

This collection explores transnational peace and social-justice movements, their implications for international relations, and their potential for democratizing global governance. Contributors examine case studies on issue areas including human rights, security, environments and social/economic justice.

Sovereignty, Democracy, and Global Civil Society

Sovereignty, Democracy, and Global Civil Society
Author: Elisabeth Jay Friedman
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0791483843

Sovereignty, Democracy, and Global Civil Society explores the growing power of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) by analyzing a microcosm of contemporary global state-society relations at UN World Conferences. The intense interactions between states and NGOs at conferences on the environment, human rights, women's issues, and other topics confirm the emergence of a new transnational democratic sphere of activity. Employing both regional and global case studies, the book charts noticeable growth in the ability of NGOs to build networks among themselves and effect change within UN processes. Using a multidimensional understanding of state sovereignty, the authors find that states use sovereignty to shelter not only material interests but also cultural identity in the face of external pressure. This book is unique in its analysis of NGO activities at the international level as well as the complexity of nation-states' responses to their new companions in global governance.

Discipline and Punishment in Global Politics

Discipline and Punishment in Global Politics
Author: J. Leatherman
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2008-06-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230612792

Global politics is a crowded stage of players competing for power and authority. Who is in charge of what? How do they stay in charge and what are the effects? This volume raises these questions in case studies on regimes of torture and surveillance in women's rights, border control, media, global capital and religion.

Transnational Migration and Human Security

Transnational Migration and Human Security
Author: Thanh-Dam Truong
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2011-06-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3642127576

The volume places the migration-development-security nexus in the field of transnational studies. Rather than treating these three categories as self-evident, the essays excavate aspects of power and privilege built into their governing frameworks and conflicting rationales apparent in practices of control. Bringing together diverse experiences and case studies, the volume highlights the problematic nature of maintaining distinct and disconnected frameworks of governance. It argues for a new approach that demonstrates the significance and usefulness of comparative ethics in conceptualising migration from a human-centered and gendered perspective in order to address the multi-facetted and multi-dimensional nature and meanings of "security".

Democracy as Problem Solving

Democracy as Problem Solving
Author: Xavier De Souza Briggs
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2008-07-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262262010

Case studies from around the world and theoretical discussion show how the capacity to act collectively on local problems can be developed, strengthening democracy while changing social and economic outcomes. Complexity, division, mistrust, and “process paralysis” can thwart leaders and others when they tackle local challenges. In Democracy as Problem Solving, Xavier de Souza Briggs shows how civic capacity—the capacity to create and sustain smart collective action—can be developed and used. In an era of sharp debate over the conditions under which democracy can develop while broadening participation and building community, Briggs argues that understanding and building civic capacity is crucial for strengthening governance and changing the state of the world in the process. More than managing a contest among interest groups or spurring deliberation to reframe issues, democracy can be what the public most desires: a recipe for significant progress on important problems. Briggs examines efforts in six cities, in the United States, Brazil, India, and South Africa, that face the millennial challenges of rapid urban growth, economic restructuring, and investing in the next generation. These challenges demand the engagement of government, business, and nongovernmental sectors. And the keys to progress include the ability to combine learning and bargaining continuously, forge multiple forms of accountability, and find ways to leverage the capacity of the grassroots and what Briggs terms the “grasstops,” regardless of who initiates change or who participates over time. Civic capacity, Briggs shows, can—and must—be developed even in places that lack traditions of cooperative civic action.

Democracy's Think Tank

Democracy's Think Tank
Author: Brian S. Mueller
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2021-07-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0812299604

In Democracy's Think Tank, Brian S. Mueller places the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) at the center of a network of activists involved in making the world safe for diversity. Unlike defense intellectuals at the RAND Corporation and other think tanks responsible for formulating military strategy, the "peace intellectuals" at IPS developed blueprints for an alternative to the U.S.-led world order. As the Iron Curtain fell across Eastern Europe, a triumphalist Cold War narrative emerged proclaiming victory for freedom, democracy, and free enterprise over totalitarianism. Yet for the peace intellectuals at IPS, the occasion did not merit celebration. Since its doors opened in 1963, IPS refused to embrace American exceptionalism and waged a battle against the Cold War and its liberal anti-communist supporters. As IPS founders Marcus Raskin and Richard Barnet saw it, in the process of fighting communism and preserving the liberal capitalist order, Cold War liberals had forsaken democracy. Democracy's Think Tank tells the story of IPS's crusade to resurrect democracy at home and abroad. Borrowing from populist, progressive, and New Left traditions, IPS challenged elite expertise and sought to restore power to "the people." To this end, IPS, in the words of journalist I. F. Stone, served as the "institute for the rest of us." Mueller tells the story of IPS's involvement in a broad range of grassroots campaigns aimed at ending the Cold War and increasing participatory democracy in the United States and across the globe. Contemporary observers seeking an alternative to American empire in the twenty-first century will find Democracy's Think Tank offers several possible paths toward a more democratic order.

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan
Author: J. Cooper
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2012-10-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137283661

A new exploration of the relationship between the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan administrations in domestic policy. Using recently released documentary material and extensive research interviews, James Cooper demonstrates how specific policy transfer between these 'political soul mates' was more limited than is typically assumed.

The Environment and International Relations

The Environment and International Relations
Author: Kate O'Neill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2009-01-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139476181

This exciting textbook introduces students to the ways in which the theories and tools of International Relations can be used to analyse and address global environmental problems. Kate O'Neill develops an historical and analytical framework for understanding global environmental issues, and identifies the main actors and their roles, allowing students to grasp the core theories and facts about global environmental governance. She examines how governments, international bodies, scientists, activists and corporations address global environmental problems including climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion and trade in hazardous wastes. The book represents a new and innovative theoretical approach to this area, as well as integrating insights from different disciplines, thereby encouraging students to engage with the issues, to equip themselves with the knowledge they need, and to apply their own critical insights. This will be invaluable for students of environmental issues both from political science and environmental studies perspectives.

Global Politics in the 21st Century

Global Politics in the 21st Century
Author: Robert J. Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 859
Release: 2013-09-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1107469589

Objective, critical, optimistic, and with a global focus, this textbook combines international relations theory, history, up-to-date research, and current affairs to give students a comprehensive, unbiased understanding of international politics. It integrates theory and traditional approaches with globalization and research on such topics as terrorism, new economic superpowers, and global communications and social networking to offer unusual breadth and depth for an undergraduate course. The text is enhanced by box features and 'Close Up' sections with context and further information; 'Critical Case Studies' highlighting controversial and complex current affairs that show how the world works in practice; and questions to stimulate discussion, review key concepts, and encourage further study. Unlike any other textbook, Global Politics in the 21st Century demonstrates the significance and interconnectivity of globalization and new security challenges in the twenty-first century and illuminates the role of leadership in transnational crises.

Contemporary Diplomacy in Action

Contemporary Diplomacy in Action
Author: Alastair Masser
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2021-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1838604634

Effective diplomacy remains fundamental to the conduct of international relations in the twenty-first century, as we seek to define and manage a challenging new world order peacefully. New Perspectives on Diplomacy highlights the importance of diplomacy in political and military crises, featuring details of life as a diplomat, the importance of alliance building, managing failure and diplomatic negotiations with armed groups. Using regional case studies from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Asia, the second volume demonstrates that the importance of diplomacy and diplomats remains undiminished.