The Economics of Inequality, Discrimination, Poverty, and Mobility

The Economics of Inequality, Discrimination, Poverty, and Mobility
Author: Robert S. Rycroft
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2017-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317272315

If there was any question before, there is no longer a question today: inequality, discrimination, poverty, and mobility are prominent national issues. The notion of "The American Dream" has been sold to generations of young Americans as the idea that working hard and following your dreams will allow you to break through any barriers in your path and inevitably lead to success. However, recent findings on inequality, discrimination, poverty, and mobility show that "The American Reality" is very different. The second edition of this introductory-level text brings together the essential materials on what economists have to say about these findings and brings students up to date with current thinking. It covers several ground-shattering events, such as: the election of Barack Obama followed by Donald Trump; the passage of the Affordable Care Act and attempts to repeal it; and the publication of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century, among many others. With an emphasis on data, theory, and policy, this book tackles these issues by exploring three key questions in each chapter: What do the data tell us about what has been happening to the American economy? What are the economic theories needed to understand what has been happening? What are the policy ideas and controversies associated with these economic problems? Key controversies are highlighted in each chapter to drive classroom discussion, and end-of-chapter questions develop student understanding. This clearly written text is ideally suited to a wide variety of courses on contemporary economic conditions, inequality, and social economics in the United States.

Back to the Asylum

Back to the Asylum
Author: John Q. La Fond
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 281
Release: 1992
Genre: Medical policy
ISBN: 0195055209

Today, American mental health law and policy promote the restoring of "law and order" in the community rather than protecting civil liberties for the individual. This compelling book recounts how and why mental health law is being reshaped to safeguard society rather than mentally ill citizens. The authors, both experts in the field, convincingly demonstrate how rapidly changing American values ignited two very different visions of justice for the mentally ill. They argue that during the "Liberal era"-- from 1960 to 1980-- Americans staunchly supported civil liberties for all, particularly for disadvantaged citizens like the mentally ill. Also, criminal law provided ample opportunities for mentally ill offenders to avoid criminal punishment for their crimes, and restrictive civil commitment laws made it difficult to hospitalize the mentally disabled against their will. During the "Neoconservative era"--from 1980 on-- however, the public demanded new laws as a result of the rise in crime and the increasing number of homeless in communities. These changes make it much more difficult for mentally ill offenders to escape criminal blame and far easier to put disturbed citizens into hospitals against their will. Back to the Asylum accurately describes how this abrupt shift in from protecting individual rights to protecting the community has had a major impact on the mentally ill. It examines these legal changes in their broader social context and offers a provocative analysis of these law reforms. Finally, this timely work forecasts the future of mental health law and policy as America enters the twenty-first century.

Interpreting the Constitution

Interpreting the Constitution
Author: Kent Greenawalt
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2015-10-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0190265639

This third volume about legal interpretation focuses on the interpretation of a constitution, most specifically that of the United States of America. In what may be unique, it combines a generalized account of various claims and possibilities with an examination of major domains of American constitutional law. This demonstrates convincingly that the book's major themes not only can be supported by individual examples, but are undeniably in accord with the continuing practice of the United States Supreme Court over time, and cannot be dismissed as misguided. The book's central thesis is that strategies of constitutional interpretation cannot be simple, that judges must take account of multiple factors not systematically reducible to any clear ordering. For any constitution that lasts over centuries and is hard to amend, original understanding cannot be completely determinative. To discern what that is, both how informed readers grasped a provision and what were the enactors' aims matter. Indeed, distinguishing these is usually extremely difficult, and often neither is really discernible. As time passes what modern citizens understand becomes important, diminishing the significance of original understanding. Simple versions of textualist originalism neither reflect what has taken place nor is really supportable. The focus on specific provisions shows, among other things, the obstacles to discerning original understanding, and why the original sense of proper interpretation should itself carry importance. For applying the Bill of Rights to states, conceptions conceived when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted should take priority over those in 1791. But practically, for courts, to interpret provisions differently for the federal and state governments would be highly unwise. The scope of various provisions, such as those regarding free speech and cruel and unusual punishment, have expanded hugely since both 1791 and 1865. And questions such as how much deference judges should accord the political branches depend greatly on what provisions and issues are involved. Even with respect to single provisions, such as the Free Speech Clause, interpretive approaches have sensibly varied, greatly depending on the more particular subjects involved. How much deference judges should accord political actors also depends critically on the kind of issue involved.

Public Administration

Public Administration
Author: Lawrence C. Howard
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 520
Release: 1998-03-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0313018995

This is a complete and up-to-date revision of the classic text for public administration, implementing the rule of law as a fundamental issue in American democracy in pursuit of the common interest. It presents public administration as a tension between the necessary exercise of power and the search for responsiveness to achieve maximum accountability from public servants. The authors have initiated a new approach to the study of public administration by focusing on middle- and lower-level managers. These are positions that most public servants will occupy for the bulk of their professional careers. The book recognizes that most of the administration is in field offices, in state and local government, and in cooperation with the private and nonprofit sectors. It then focuses on power and its potential for influencing the behavior of the bureaucracy to perform its goal-oriented and balancing functions in a pluralistic open system. This leads to the relationship between theories about administration and the actual practice and how best results (imperative of accountability) are achieved in the increasingly globalized environment.

Diversity and Society

Diversity and Society
Author: Joseph F. Healey
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 569
Release: 2019-07-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1506389066

Adapted from the bestselling Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class by Joseph F. Healey and Andi Stepnick, Diversity and Society provides a brief overview of inter-group relations in the U.S. In ten succinct chapters, Healey and Stepnick explain concepts and theories about dominant-minority relations; examine historical and contemporary immigration to the U.S.; and narrate the experiences of the largest racial and ethnic minorities. The Sixth Edition of this bestseller explores a variety of experiences within groups, paying particular attention to the intersection of gender with race and ethnicity. While the focus is on minority groups in the U.S., the text also includes comparative, cross-national coverage of group relations in other societies. Updated with the most current trends and patterns in inter-group relations, this text presents empirical data in an accessible format to show you how minorities are inseparable from the larger American experience.