Discussing how to use public policy to improve the quality of life for those at the bottom of the social hierarchy, this text makes the case for policy that expands employment and facilitates jobs, finances education and economic and cultural integration, rewards merit, and encourages voting and political participation. Political scientists from around the world measure the effect of democratization, religion, ethnicity, race, and mass media on internal conflict during the initial post-Cold War period, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin and North America. Some topics include the role of mass communication on Egyptian family planning, Russian nationalism, and the Guatemalan peace process.