Central / national / federal government policies Books

Book SynopsisIn Imposing Standards, Martin Hearson shifts the focus of political rhetoric regarding international tax rules from tax havens and the Global North to the damaging impact of this regime on the Global South. Even when not exploited by tax dodgers, international tax standards place severe limits on the ability of developing countries to tax businesses, denying the Global South access to much-needed revenue. The international rules that allow tax avoidance by multinational corporations have dominated political debate about international tax in the United States and Europe, especially since the global financial crisis of 20072008.Hearson asks how developing countries willingly gave up their right to tax foreign companies, charting their assimilation into an OECD-led regime from the days of early independence to the present day. Based on interviews with treaty negotiators, policymakers and lobbyists, as well as observation at intergovernmental meetings,Trade ReviewMartin Hearson's Imposing Standards: The North-South Dimension to Global Tax Politics is a timely monograph that dives into the puzzling history of tax treaty negotiations between higher-income countries in the global North and lower-income countries in the global South during the last half-century. Imposing Standards is an important, well-written, and astutely argued book that casts light on a hitherto unexplored chapter in the history of global tax politics, contributes a novel theoretical approach, and establishes a new paradigm for the international tax discipline. * H-Net *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. The Problem with Tax Treaties 2. A History of Lower-income Countries in (and out of) Global Tax Governance 3. The Competition Discourse and North-South Relations 4. The International Tax Community and the Politics of Expertise 5. The United Kingdom 6. Zambia 7. Vietnam and Cambodia 8. Historical Legacies in a Rapidly Changing World

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Book SynopsisAt the dawn of the Atomic Age, Americans encountered troubling new questions brought about by the nuclear revolution: In a representative democracy, who is responsible for national public safety? How do citizens imagine themselves as members of the national collective when faced with the priority of individual survival? What do nuclear weapons mean for transparency and accountability in government? What role should scientific experts occupy within a democratic government? Nuclear weapons created a new arena for debating individual and collective rights. In turn, they threatened to destabilize the very basis of American citizenship.As Sarah E. Robey shows in Atomic Americans, people negotiated the contours of nuclear citizenship through overlapping public discussions about survival. Policymakers and citizens disagreed about the scale of civil defense programs and other public safety measures. As the public learned more about the dangers of nuclear fallout, criticTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Wars to Come 1. Stop "Play[ing] Pattycake with the Whole Issue": Citizen Calls for Civil Defense 2. "Between the Devil and the Deep": Civil Defense and the Early Cold War Political Landscape 3. The Man in the White Lab Coat: The Uses of Scientists and Scientific Authority 4. The Fallout from Fallout: The Peacetime Threat 5. Atomic America: The Expert Public and Nuclear Dissent Conclusion: Renouncing the Nuclear in Nuclear Citizenship

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Book SynopsisThe Downfall of the American Order? offers penetrating insight into the emerging global political economy at this moment of an increasingly chaotic world. For seventy-five years, the basic patterns of world politics and the contours of international economic activity took place in the shadow of American leadership and the institutions it designedan order designed to avoid the horrors of previous eras, including, most poignantly, two world wars and the Great Depression.But all things must pass. The global financial crisis of 2008, the legacy of two long, losing wars, and the polarizing and tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump all suggest that global affairs have reached a turning point. The implications of this are profound. The contributors to this book cast their eyes back on the order that once was, and look ahead to what might follow. In dialogue with each other''s appraisals and expectations, they differ in their assessments of the probTrade ReviewThis engaging collection of essays brings distinguished scholars of political economy together to explore the changing faces of economic liberalism within the U.S.-led postwar international order.The value of this volume is[...] in the richness of the debate about how orders, liberal and otherwise, are shaped and reshaped. * Foreign Affairs *Collectively, the contributions amount to a sophisticated and accessible analysis of the international political economy issues of our time. The contributors seem to share sympathies for embedded liberalism, so those searching for more radical perspectives should look elsewhere. Readers are left with a profound understanding of the liberal order's genesis, design, pitfalls, alterations and current challenges, and its possible futures. * International Affairs *[T]he book is a welcome addition to the scholarship grappling with the fate of the (eroding?) liberal international order today. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction, by Jonathan Kirshner and Peter J. Katzenstein 1. Keynes and the Elusive Middle Way, by Jonathan Kirshner 2. The End of Social Purpose? Great Transformations of American Order, by Mark Blyth 3. The Construction of Compromise and the Rise and Fallof Global Orders, by Peter Gourevitch 4. The Social Democratic Order and the Rise and Decay of Democracy in Western Europe, by Sheri Berman 5. California Dreaming: The Crisis and Rebirth of American Power in the 1970s and Its Consequences for World Order, by Francis J. Gavin 6. Of Learning and Forgetting: Centrism, Populism, and the Legitimacy Crisis of Globalization, by Rawi Abdelal 7. Post-American Moments in Contemporary Global Financial Governance, by Ilene Grabel 8. Corporate Globalization and the Liberal Order: Disembedding and Reembedding Governing Norms, by John Gerard Ruggie 9. Liberalism's Antinomy: Endings as Beginnings?, by Peter J. Katzenstein

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn engaging and readable book. This slim volume is recommended for all levels. * Choice *Andreas's insightful and rigorous study is an important contribution to the literature on globalization and transnational illicit trade. * American Political Science Review *This outstanding book is a much-needed addition to the literature on the policing of international boundaries. Because it is so well written and concise, it fits beautifully into political geography curricula at the undergraduate as well as at the graduate level. * The Professional Geographer *

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Book SynopsisIn this third edition of Border Games, Peter Andreas charts the rise and transformation in policing the flow of drugs and migrants across the US-Mexico border. Recent border crackdowns and wall-building campaigns, he argues, are not unprecedented. Rather, they are the outcome of an escalatory dynamic already in motionbut now played out on a far bigger stage, with higher stakes, and in new security and political contexts. Focusing on the power of symbolic politics and policy feedback effects, Andreas traces the logic behind such buildup. Border policing is an attractive political mechanism for handling the often unintended consequences of past policy choices, signaling a commitment to territorial integrity and projecting an image of territorial authority. Yet its negative aftermath is not only frequently glossed over; it also fuels further escalation. With new chapters on the border policies of the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, Border Trade ReviewAn engaging and readable book. This slim volume is recommended for all levels. * Choice *Andreas's insightful and rigorous study is an important contribution to the literature on globalization and transnational illicit trade. * American Political Science Review *This outstanding book is a much-needed addition to the literature on the policing of international boundaries. Because it is so well written and concise, it fits beautifully into political geography curricula at the undergraduate as well as at the graduate level. * The Professional Geographer *

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Book SynopsisIn Tea, James R. Fichter reveals that despite the so-called Boston Tea Party in 1773, two large shipments of tea from the East India Company survived and were ultimately drunk in North America. Their survival shaped the politics of the years ahead, impeded efforts to reimburse the company for the tea lost in Boston Harbor, and hinted at the enduring potency of consumerism in revolutionary politics.Tea protests were widespread in 1774, but so were tea advertisements and tea sales, Fichter argues. The protests were noisy and sometimes misleading performances, not clear signs that tea consumption was unpopular. Revolutionaries vilified tea in their propaganda and prohibited the importation and consumption of tea and British goods. Yet merchant ledgers reveal these goods were still widely sold and consumed in 1775. Colonists supported Patriots more than they abided by non-consumption. When Congress ended its prohibition against tea in 1776, it reasoned

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Book SynopsisGoverning the Displaced answers a straightforward question: how are refugees governed under capitalism in this moment of heightened global displacement? To answer this question, Ali Bhagat takes a dual case study approach to explore three dimensions of refugee survival in Paris and Nairobi: shelter, work, and political belonging. Bhagat''s book makes sense of a global refugee regime along the contradictory fault lines of passive humanitarianism, violent exclusion, and organized abandonment in the European Union and East Africa. Governing the Displaced highlights the interrelated and overlapping features of refugee governance and survival in these seemingly disparate places. In its intersectional engagement with theories of racial capitalism with respect to right-wing populism, labor politics, and the everyday forms of exclusion, the book is a timely and necessary contribution to the field of migration studies and to political economy.

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Book SynopsisDespite the progress of decades-old disability rights policy, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, threats continue to undermine the wellbeing of this population. The U.S. is, thus, a policy innovator and laggard in this regard. In Politics of Empowerment, David Pettinicchio offers a historically grounded analysis of the singular case of U.S. disability policy, countering long-held views of progress that privilege public demand as its primary driver. By the 1970s, a group of legislators and bureaucrats came to act as "political entrepreneurs." Motivated by personal and professional commitments, they were seen as experts leading a movement within the government. But as they increasingly faced obstacles to their legislative intentions, nascent disability advocacy and protest groups took the cause to the American people forming the basis of the contemporary disability rights movement. Drawing on extensive archival material, Pettinicchio redefines the relationship between grassroots advocacy and institutional politics, revealing a cycle of progress and backlash embedded in the American political system.Trade Review"David Pettinicchio has written a broad and ambitious study of the evolution of American disability policy and disability rights, incorporating changing policy approaches, governmental institutions, and social movement activities into his account. Drawing on legislative documents, policy debates, and sociological concepts, the book situates disability within broader social policy frameworks and political trends. It will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the interplay of disability policies, politics, and rights within the context of American policy-making." -- Richard K. Scotch, Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, and Political Economy * University of Texas at Dallas *"This excellent addition to the policy feedbacks literature shows how federal policy helped disabled activists become fully mobilized citizens. But progress is not always linear. Recurrent retrenchment efforts mean that the push for civil rights for the disabled is incomplete, and their economic citizenship not yet fully realized. A must-read for those interested in social movements and citizen participation." -- Andrea Louise Campbell, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science * MIT *"David Pettinicchio explains the odd but important development of disability politics and policy in the context of changing political alliances and definitions of civil rights. It's a compelling story, with lessons for advocates, policy makers, and anyone who wants to understand either group." -- David S. Meyer * University of California, Irvine *"Empirically, [this book] is a rigorous treatment of the successes and setbacks of the disability rights movement....A number of folks in our field...have discussed the importance of considering institutional actors, and what movement mobilization looks like from their point of view, rather than analyzing movements only from the perspective of movement actors. Pettinicchio does this admirably." -- Joshua A. Basseches * Mobilizing Ideas *"Politics of Empowerment is an important work that will both broaden the view of those interested specifically in the American disability rights movement and those more generally interested in social movements of all kinds." -- Stephen J. Meyers * Mobilization *"[A] meticulous historical and political account of the development of disability policy in the United States....I recommend this book to readers who are interested in understanding how people, politics, and governmental and organizational goals align to increase access and opportunity for marginalized groups." -- Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides * Contemporary Sociology *"Politics of Empowerment is a really, really good book. David Pettinicchio tells the story of disability policy in the United States with great care and close attention to detail....This book is both a specific history of disability policy as well as a broad story of the politics of social change....Politics of Empowerment is in many ways the best kind of scholarship: it generates new thinking and ideas, and it gives the rest of us a strong foundation to build upon." -- Jeremy R. Levine * American Journal of Sociology *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1The Political Evolution of Disability chapter abstractChapter 1 outlines the key tenets of the book's thesis: that disability rights entered into an already-defined agenda space revolving around social services and vocational rehabilitation. It did so by way of political entrepreneurs incrementally carving a path for rights to develop. These policies empowered a group of Americans once thought of exclusively as clients deserving of social services to be citizens entitled to civil rights. But, while it began as an elite-driven movement, disability rights would soon be threatened by policy rollbacks and retrenchment that ultimately mobilized a constituency to defend against these attacks. The political evolution of disability rights therefore provides an opportunity for contextualizing—in terms of time and space—the relationship between social movements, political entrepreneurship, policy shifts, and organizational transformations in the broader struggle for civil rights. 2It's Ability, Not Disability, That Counts chapter abstractChapter 2 further contextualizes the evolution of disability rights by examining the service-provision-dominated policy agenda in the first half of the twentieth century. Until the 1960s, a disability policy monopoly promoted a policy image emphasizing ability over disability—the idea that rehabilitation was necessary to overcome disability and create "good citizens." The chapter investigates the kinds of institutional constraints that prevented any significant policy reforms, requiring elites to pursue incremental policy changes. Political entrepreneurs championed the removal of architectural barriers, promoting equal access by using existing rhetoric about economic self-sufficiency through rehabilitation—and consequently laying the groundwork for rights to flourish. Ultimately, their efforts also helped frame the plight of a heterogeneous group as the common struggle of a community. 3Reshaping the Policy Agenda chapter abstractChapter 3 provides a systematic analysis of the kinds of institutional changes that helped political entrepreneurs extend the political discourse around disability to include civil rights. Beginning with the Great Society, the 1960s and 1970s saw an increasing number of congressional committees and administrative agencies involved in disability issues. While this helped gain disability a place on the agenda, it also generated conflict as different policy frameworks clashed. The chapter draws on the equal rights to transit debate as an example. Chapter 3 also points to the consequences of legislative change: that the way actors went about promoting a new logic around "the problem" of disability shaped policy outcomes, backlash, and most certainly the tools and motivations available to a political constituency to push for their rights. And, in mobilizing against political, economic, and social institutions, the disability rights movement necessarily challenged cultural understandings and meanings of disability. 4How Disability Advocacy Made Citizens out of Clients chapter abstractChapter 4 explains how disability organizations and policy coevolved. In the 1970s, the disability organizational sector underwent an advocacy explosion, as it adapted to a new rights-focused policy environment. Existing service-provision groups adopted political advocacy, alongside a proliferation of new advocacy organizations. The chapter illustrates the interdependent relationship between disability organizations and political entrepreneurs in protecting and advancing disability rights, especially when faced with growing backlash and political threats. Chapter 4 uses the transit debate, as well as educational mainstreaming, to situate the growing demand for advocacy as sympathetic elites confronted attempts to roll back rights. Changes in the disability voluntary sector encouraged the expansion of new mobilizing structures that would bring activists together. 5Politics Is Pressure chapter abstractChapter 5 looks at the rise of disability protest in the context of political threats to existing disability rights legislation. The disability rights movement in the government reflected critical structural and organizational transformations that politicized a constituency. Political entrepreneurs supplied the policy instruments around which disability groups helped mobilize everyday citizens with disabilities to champion their rights. The use of extra-institutional, disruptive tactics was not only necessary when institutional means became less available; it also drew public attention to the kinds of inequality disabled people faced. Educational mainstreaming, equal access to transit and Medicaid, and in-home care serve as salient examples of the decades-old unsettled issues that generated uncertainty and back-stepping, which fueled contentious politics and mobilized a movement. Chapter 5 points to this critical transformation in disability rights from an elite-driven movement in the government to a broader grassroots movement in the streets. 6Empowering the Government chapter abstractChapter 6 returns to the reasons why the disability rights struggle is, to this day, a story of unresolved policy entrenchment. The chapter highlights ongoing debates about integrating students with disabilities into regular classrooms and the continued fight over community-based care—key movement issues that are in deadlock. The same institutional configurations that allowed for policy innovation and political entrepreneurship also led to conflict, obstruction, retrenchment, and undesirable policy consequences. Indeed, the case of disability rights reveals the ways in which the duality in America's political institutions creates both the resources and the motivations for citizen action. The chapter speaks to current efforts to undermine policies like the ADA that are rooted in their political development, negotiation, compromise, and lack of enforcement. It also sheds light on the status of the disability rights movement today and the importance of citizen engagement in this civil rights struggle.

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Book SynopsisFederal entitlement programs are strewn throughout the pages of U.S. history, springing from the noble purpose of assisting people who are destitute through no fault of their own. Yet as federal entitlement programs have grown, so too have their inefficiency and their cost. Neither tax revenues nor revenues generated by the national economy have been able to keep pace with their rising growth, bringing the national debt to a record peacetime level. The High Cost of Good Intentions is the first comprehensive history of these federal entitlement programs. Combining economics, history, political science, and law, John F. Cogan reveals how the creation of entitlements brings forth a steady march of liberalizing forces that cause entitlement programs to expand. This process—as visible in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as in the present day—is repeated until benefits are extended to nearly all who could be considered eligible, and in turn establishes a new base for future expansions. His work provides a unifying explanation for the evolutionary path that nearly all federal entitlement programs have followed over the past two hundred years, tracing both their shared past and the financial risks they pose for future generations.Trade Review"John Cogan's book is an extensively researched and unbiased examination of how well-intentioned federal entitlement programs have evolved to become our country's number one fiscal challenge. His timely historical work deepens our understanding of how entitlement programs have grown into a costly burden that we ultimately cannot afford. Cogan makes clear that slowing the growth of entitlements is essential and that meeting this challenge is more about simple arithmetic than ideology. This book should be read by anyone interested in addressing our nation's fiscal and economic future, regardless of their political persuasion." -- Sam Nunn * former U.S. Senator *"Finally someone has written a comprehensive history of America's efforts to help worthy groups of Americans: the elderly, the veteran, the less fortunate, and the very young. It is a history of ever more generous help to ever larger groups of people. You can agree or disagree with the merit of all these programs, but the cost is clear, and John Cogan shows why that cost has been either ignored or passed to future generations. The first step in fixing our entitlements is knowing their history. Cogan has now given us that history." -- Bill Bradley * former U.S. Senator *"John Cogan thoroughly reviews one of the greatest challenges facing our country: the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending. He provides a comprehensive view of the issue by looking at the history, the evolution, and the daunting numbers. Cogan brings his extraordinary knowledge and background in economics, fiscal policy, health care, and Social Security to bear in this book to give the reader a full understanding of the roots and the extent of this growing problem that must be tackled." -- Paul D. Ryan * Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives *"John Cogan lays bare the historic roots of the most important economic problem confronting American policymakers today: our runaway entitlements juggernaut. In the past half-century it has consumed ten percentage points of GDP, threatening productivity and economic growth. Cogan does not profess to have found an easy, short-term solution to runaway entitlement growth, but his masterful historical perspective does suggest what must be done sooner, rather than later. This is an important and splendid book." -- Alan Greenspan * former Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States (1987–2006) and former Chairman of the National Commission on Social Security Reform (1983) *"The High Cost of Good Intentions is a thoroughly researched, intellectually serious history of every major American entitlement program, from Revolutionary and Civil War pensions to Social Security, food stamps, and Obamacare. I know of no other work that offers such a comprehensive, readable history of the American welfare state." -- R. Shep Melnick * Claremont Review of Books *"John Cogan gives us a blockbuster treatise on the history of federal entitlement programs. Part education, part cautionary tale, this richly researched book is above all a fascinating and insightful saga on how and why federal entitlements grow. A valuable guide to the future." -- George P. Shultz, Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; former U.S. Secretary of State, Treasury * and Labor; and former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget *"John Cogan's history of federal entitlement programs warns us that the ice we skate on has grown thinner decade by decade....Cogan provides useful case studies of measures that were sensible, self-limiting, and freedom-enhancing like the GI Bill, and current ones that grow as each benefit expansion leads to future entitlements that leave worthy original goals no longer recognizable." -- World Magazine 2017 Books of the Year"[The book] will surely be of interest to academics, policymakers, and the members of the public with concern for the consequences of entitlements in the United States....[T]his is an easy book to recommend." -- Bill Dupor * National Association for Business Economics *"People often wonder how "the land of the free" acquired such a huge government that interferes with so many parts of our lives. Cogan has shown how that happened with entitlement programs, which are a huge part of government." -- David R. Henderson * Regulation *"John F. Cogan handles the historical details of myriad social programs with considerable competence...This book covers subjects missing from the historical literature and generalizes across cases in useful ways. It will surely aid historians as they write about the modern welfare state."––Edward D. Berkowitz, Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsContents and Abstracts1Introduction chapter abstractThe book addresses the question of how and why federal entitlement programs have grown so large and have become so far removed from the ideals on which they were founded. It presents a history of major federal entitlement programs from the beginning of the Republic to the present, showing how they evolved and explaining the forces that caused their evolution. The programs covered include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, other welfare programs, and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century veterans' disability pensions. These programs have sprung from the noble intention of providing assistance to people who are destitute through no fault of their own. As well-meaning and beneficial as many entitlements may be, they have come at a high cost, measured by lower national savings, higher public debt, and slower economic growth. Today, entitlements present the United States with a fiscal challenge unlike any other in the nation's history. 2Creating Legislative Precedents: Revolutionary War Pensions chapter abstractRevolutionary War pensions were the nation's first entitlement program. The program's evolution provides an early glimpse of Congress's tendency to liberalize entitlements and the forces that drive Congress. The original federal program limited annual pensions to Continental Army soldiers and seamen who became impoverished as a result of disabling wartime injuries or illness. Congress enlarged and expanded these benefits until, in the 1830s, they covered virtually all Revolutionary War seamen and soldiers, including volunteers and members of the state militia, and their widows, regardless of disability or income. Each liberalization was justified on the grounds that it was providing pensions to veterans who were no less worthy of assistance than veterans who were already receiving pensions. Each established a new base of benefits from which Congress considered subsequent liberalizations. Each was a result of political pressures generated by large federal budget surpluses. 3An Experiment with Government Trust Funds: Navy Pensions chapter abstractThe navy pension fund program was the federal government's first trust fund. It was financed by a single, dedicated source of revenue: prize money from the sale of captured enemy and pirate ships and their contents, commonly called "booty." The navy pension's early history provides a second example of Congress's tendency to liberalize entitlement program eligibility whenever surplus funds are available. However, in the case of navy pensions, it was surpluses of prize money in the trust fund rather than overall federal budget surpluses, that mattered. The trust fund's insolvency in 1840, the direct result of an ill-considered benefit expansion, serves as an early warning for Social Security and Medicare trust funds. 4The First Great Entitlement: Civil War Pensions chapter abstractThe Civil War pension program followed the same evolutionary path as earlier veterans' pensions, except on a far grander scale. The program evolved into a general disability and retirement program for virtually all Union soldiers. At the program's peak in 1896, pensions were provided to nearly 1 million Union soldiers and their survivors, and annual pension expenditures reached an extraordinary 40 percent of federal budget expenditures. The program's liberalizations were fueled by large federal budget surpluses. In the late nineteenth century, the Republican Party used generous Civil War pension benefits to gain electoral advantage. The pensions played an important role in the realignment of the American electorate behind the party in the 1890s. The pension program also spawned America's first national, single-issue lobby: the Grand Army of the Republic. The GAR exerted a powerful influence on pension legislation and served as a forerunner to large twentieth-century lobbying organizations. 5Repeating Past Mistakes: World War I Veterans' Benefits chapter abstractCongress enacted World War I disability pension programs with the objective of preventing a repeat of the Civil War pension program's excesses. The novel programs were designed to alleviate future political pressures to liberalize disability pensions as veterans aged. These programs proved to be no match for claims for benefits by ineligible veterans and the availability of large budget surpluses. Congress not only extended World War I veterans' pensions as it had previous wartime pensions; it did so at a much faster pace. Promises of benefits, called "bonus" payments, by a 1924 law spawned mass marches by veterans in cities throughout the country demanding their promised entitlement benefit. The most memorable of these was the 1932 Bonus Expeditionary Force march on Washington, D.C., which ended when troops under General Douglas McArthur's command drove the veterans from the city. 6Retrenchment: Roosevelt and the Veterans chapter abstractThe first year of the Roosevelt administration witnessed the largest reduction in an entitlement program in U.S. history. Franklin Roosevelt terminated pensions for 450,000 veterans and reduced the amount of monthly pensions for thousands of veterans who remained on the rolls. The story of how he achieved this result provides lessons for future presidents. The president made a strong moral and economic case for terminating veterans and used the budget crisis created by the Great Depression to prod Congress to give him the authority to cut pensions. Throughout the remainder of the president's first two terms, President Roosevelt used his veto power and other powers of the office of the president to sustain the vast majority of these reductions. 7The Birth of the Modern Entitlement State chapter abstractThe New Deal marks the beginning of the modern entitlement system. Until the New Deal, federal entitlements were restricted to people who had performed a specific government service, mainly veterans. The New Deal expanded federal entitlements to people in the population at large, state governments, and private businesses. The landmark Social Security program provided retirement benefits to industrial workers. New federal welfare programs entitled state governments to matching payments for their welfare programs. Unfortunately, important lessons from the government's experience with wartime veterans' pensions went unheeded. The New Deal entitlements also ushered in a new era for the federal courts. The Supreme Court allowed the New Deal entitlements to pass constitutional muster under the "general welfare" clause. Once federal entitlement rights had been granted, the courts adjudicated the nature and extent of these legal rights, eventually creating welfare entitlement rights where none had been legislated. 8The Consequences of Social Security Surpluses chapter abstractCongress again demonstrated its inability to withstand pressures to increase entitlement benefits when surplus funds are available. The 1935 Social Security Act called for the program to build up a large reserve fund during the program's early years that could be drawn on in later years to finance benefits in lieu of higher payroll taxes. The "large reserve" debate led congressional liberals and conservatives to join together in 1939 to use the surplus to raise benefit levels, add survivors' benefits, and delay a previously scheduled payroll tax increase from taking place. 9A New Kind of Entitlement: The GI Bill chapter abstractThe Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the GI Bill, introduced a new type of entitlement program: one that provided in-kind benefits rather than unrestricted cash assistance. The law provided World War II veterans with educational assistance and home, farm, and business loan guarantees. The new type of entitlement bestowed a legal right to reimbursement on persons and institutions that provide the benefits prescribed by the law, in addition to those who receive their services. The GI Bill was the forerunner of the numerous in-kind benefit entitlements enacted in the 1960s and 1970s to provide health care, nutrition, and social services for the elderly, the poor, and the disabled. 10Setting the Postwar Entitlement Agenda: 1946–1950 chapter abstractAt the war's end, the American entitlement state stood at a crucial policy juncture. The New Deal had set the building blocks of the modern American entitlement state firmly in place, but its future remained highly uncertain. President Truman set the course that entitlements would follow for the remainder of the twentieth century. Large Social Security accounting surpluses provided President Truman and congressional Democrats with the means to ensure that Social Security, instead of state old-age programs, became the primary vehicle for delivering assistance to the elderly. In 1950, Congress took a major step toward this end by sharply increasing Social Security benefits and significantly expanding coverage in the workforce. The benefit increase, timed to coincide with the 1950 congressional elections, demonstrated that Democrats had developed the practice of using a major entitlement program to gain electoral advantage into a finely honed skill. Republicans, after showing modest resistance, acquiesced. 111951–1964: Establishing Social Insurance Dominance chapter abstractFrom 1950 to the Great Society, congressional Republicans and Democrats joined together to ensure that Social Security replaced state-run old-age assistance as the first line of defense against poverty among the elderly. Monthly benefits were incrementally expanded, and coverage became nearly universal. Large Social Security accounting surpluses fueled the increases in the early 1950s despite the overall federal budget's often poor condition. Congress's use of Social Security to gain electoral advantage was raised to a fine art, as election-year benefit increases were strategically timed. The only new major new entitlement of the 1950s was the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Soon after it was established, the program followed the familiar path that had been blazed by nineteenth-century veterans' pensions, as eligibility was extended to "equally worthy" groups that had been excluded from the original program. 12The Great Turn in Welfare Policy: 1951–1964 chapter abstractWhile legislation during the years 1951 to 1964 incrementally expanded federal funding for state welfare programs, major fissures emerged in the New Deal's bedrock welfare policy principles of state autonomy and cash assistance. Federal welfare officials used the threat of withholding federal funds as a lever to limit state authority to set welfare eligibility rules. The threats were a response to state and local government actions, particularly those taken by southern state governments with a history of discriminatory treatment of African Americans, to curtail welfare eligibility. As tensions between the two levels of government mounted, Congress stepped in with legislation to strengthen federal authority. By the mid-1960s, the principle of state autonomy had been greatly eroded. At the same time, welfare officials began to question the wisdom of providing additional cash assistance to the poor and turned increasingly to providing in-kind benefits in lieu of additional cash assistance. 13The First Great Society chapter abstractThe Great Society program in 1965 marks the beginning of a remarkable ten-year period in which Congress expanded entitlements at a rapid rate unprecedented in U.S. history. Under President Johnson, new health care entitlement programs, Medicare and Medicaid, were created; Social Security disability was expanded to temporarily disabled workers; two large general increases in Social Security benefits were enacted; and the Aid for Dependent Children program experienced its largest expansion in its thirty-year history. Federal revenues from a rapidly expanding economy provided the fuel for this legislative blitzkrieg. The revenue surge, as with previous surges, made the desire to expand entitlement benefits irresistible. The period, one of great social upheaval, witnessed a new entitlement phenomenon: welfare mothers, urged on by government-funded activists, organized and marched on federal, state, and local governments to demand higher welfare benefits and fewer restrictions on eligibility. 14A Legal Right to Welfare chapter abstractThis legal view that welfare benefits were a gratuity and not an entitlement underwent a significant change in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. Three major Supreme Court decisions from 1969 to 1971 radically expanded the legal rights of welfare recipients and claimants. The Court (1) declared that long-standing state "suitable home" regulations violated federal law, (2) struck down state residence requirements for welfare as a violation of an individual's constitutional right to travel, and (3) ruled that welfare benefits were akin to property and were therefore protected by the Constitution's due process requirements. This last case established a legal entitlement right to welfare benefits. 15The Second Great Society chapter abstractDuring Richard Nixon's presidency, the food stamp program was nationalized, a permanent federal unemployment program was created, a new revenue-sharing program that entitled states and local governments to a share of federal revenue was established, and child nutrition programs were converted into an entitlement to school districts. Presidential proposals for a federally guaranteed annual income and national health insurance program failed. Fueled by pressure from large accounting surpluses in the Social Security trust fund, Congress raised Social Security benefits by 69 percent in four years and indexed Social Security benefits to inflation. But the flawed indexing formula set the program on a path to insolvency. The entitlement liberalizations from 1969 to 1975 caused federal entitlement spending to grow annually at a remarkable 10 percent inflation-adjusted rate. By 1975, entitlements accounted for nearly half of all federal spending. 16First Inklings of Fiscal Limits: 1975–1980 chapter abstractThe years of Jimmy Carter's presidency, plagued by large federal budget deficits from the prior dozen years of entitlement liberalizations, witnessed a dramatically slower pace of entitlement expansions. No new entitlements were written onto the federal statute books. Expansions were mainly limited to the food stamp program in which stamps were made free of charge. The major legislative action concerned Social Security. By 1977, the flawed indexing formula that had been written into the statute books in 1972 had pushed Social Security toward imminent insolvency. Congress responded by enacting a new wage replacement formula that, for the first and only time in the program's history, significantly reduced benefits that had been promised to workers. The reductions were not limited to people who would retire decades later. They were also reduced for workers who were in their late 50s at the time the law was enacted. 17A Temporary Slowdown: 1981–1989 chapter abstractPresident Reagan was the first president in U.S. history to attempt to comprehensively reduce entitlement spending. His efforts were part of a larger package of economic policies designed to restore noninflationary growth to the U.S. economy. The package produced a colossal battle with Congress. The first two years of furious combat dominated the business of Congress. Congress subjected almost every major entitlement program to at least some retrenchment. Fiercely contested budget battles continued for the next six years as Congress sought to return to its long-standing practice of incrementally expanding entitlements. The administration's implacable opposition and large budget deficits severely limited entitlement liberalizations. The entitlement restraint from 1981 to 1989 reversed a thirty-year upward trend. Yet despite the Reagan administration's achievements, the entitlement state in 1989 remained largely intact. Its largest programs had defied retrenchment. 18Recognition and Denial: 1989–2014 chapter abstractBy the early 1990s, federal officials recognized the true magnitude of the looming fiscal storm that entitlements had created. Yet the executive and legislative branches of government ignored the warnings. Both branches of government worked in concert to expand eligibility for Medicaid, the earned income tax credit, and food stamps and to expand Medicare to prescription drugs. These liberalizations mainly extended aid to "worthy" nonpoor persons. Congress and President Obama capped off the period by extending health insurance subsidies to people with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty line. Attempts to restrain federal spending proved fruitless. In one striking departure from these legislative patterns, Congress enacted reversed decades of federal welfare policy by eliminating an individual's entitlement to AFDC benefits and transferring program policymaking authority to the states. 19A Challenge Unlike Any Other in U.S. History chapter abstractFederal entitlements now distribute government aid on a scale that is unprecedented in history. Over half of all U.S. households receive entitlement assistance. Most entitlement spending serves purposes other than reducing the degree of poverty among the poor. The soaring growth in entitlement spending creates a unique fiscal challenge. History provides a guide to meeting the challenge, but a fundamental restructuring is needed. A restructuring must keep in mind that providing assistance to individuals who are impoverished through no fault of their own is a hallmark of a compassionate society. The book optimistically concludes by noting that the main elements for a change in entitlement policy are coming into place. There is widespread public skepticism that entitlements are delivering on their promises and that the country can afford to deliver on future promises. But mounting public pressure will ultimately force a change in government policies.

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Book SynopsisDuring the 2016 presidential election, both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders argued that elites were hurting the economy. But, drawing together evidence and theory from across economics, political science, and even finance, Garett Jones says otherwise. In 10% Less Democracy, he makes the case that the richest, most democratic nations would be better off if they slightly reduced accountability to the voting public, turning up the dial on elite influence. To do this, Jones builds on three foundational lines of evidence in areas where he has personal experience. First, as a former staffer in the U.S. Senate, he saw how senators voted differently as elections grew closer. Second, as a macroeconomist, Jones knows the merits of "independent" central banks, which sit apart from the political process and are controlled by powerful insiders. The consensus of the field is that this detached, technocratic approach has worked far better than more political and democratic banking systems. Third, his previous research on the effects of cognitive skills on political, social, and economic systems revealed many ways in which well-informed voters improve government. Discerning repeated patterns, Jones draws out practical suggestions for fine-tuning, focusing on the length of political terms, the independence of government agencies, the weight that voting systems give to the more-educated, and the value of listening more closely to a group of farsighted stakeholders with real skin in the game—a nation's sovereign bondholders. Accessible to political news junkies while firmly rooted and rigorous, 10% Less Democracy will fuel the national conversation about what optimal government looks like.Trade Review"10% Less Democracy is a joy to read. If you liked Freakonomics or Predictably Irrational, you'll love this book. It deserves to be read widely, widely discussed—and acted upon. A tour de force combining the best economic insight with real-world, practical applications. Every chapter demonstrates ways in which reducing democratic control over certain decisions reliably results in better outcomes for all. We should jettison our religious attachment to democracy and see it for what it is: a tool good only in moderation." -- Jason Brennan, author of Cracks in the Ivory Tower"How can we rescue democracy from the slough of despond into which it has fallen? In this lucidly written book, Garett Jones makes the case for a surprising answer: the best way to improve democracy is to have a bit less of it. It's only by handing power to technical experts, lengthening congressional terms, staggering elections, and reducing direct democracy that we can save the invaluable core of democracy from self-destruction." -- Adrian Wooldridge * co-author of Capitalism in America: An Economic History *"Invocation of 'democracy' is one of the most ill-defined canards of modern discourse. In this revisionist work, rooted in common sense, Jones shows that effective representative government does not in fact rest on pure democracy, but does rely on well-functioning elites. Definitely recommended." -- Tyler Cowen * Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mazon University, Author of Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero *"The belief in democracy is strong in most rich, democratic countries, even sacred. Why in the world would anyone propose ten percent less of it? The key is sharpening our thinking on what 'democracy' means. Once we allow a sharper definiteion, decision-making by the vote of all, we demystify 'democracy' and more sensibly assess its pluses and minuses. Jones' argument is persuasive and rests on global data." -- Charlotta Stern, Professor of Sociology, Stockholm University * Deputy Director of the Ratio Institute *"If a genie told me that James Madison had been reincarnated as another person and had written an update to the Federalist Papers, I'd say, 'It's Garett Jones and 10% Less Democracy, right?'" -- Tim Groseclose, Professor of Economics * George Mason University *"Mr Jones musters plenty of convincing evidence that fewer elections and more distance between voters and decisions make for better governance." -- The Economist"In his cheeky new book, 10% Less Democracy, the economist Garett Jones makes a counter-zeitgeist case for more 'epistocracy,' or rule by the knowledgeable. Recent weeks have rather made the case for him and altered that zeitgeist." -- Janan Ganesh * Financial Times *"Overall, the book embodies a courageous attempt to grapple with the weaknesses of democratic decision-making... Jones provides copious sparks to reflect on democratic practice by setting out the proposals, pondering their viability and defending their soundness. Stylistically, his reasoning proceeds orderly and fluidly, accompanying the reader with data and examples which contributes in making his thesis clear." -- Paolo Bodini * Ethical Theory and Moral Practice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Source of My Idea 1. The Big Benefits of a Small Dose of Democracy 2. Braver Politician 3. Central Bank "Independence" 4. The 2% Solution 5. This Chapter Does Not Apply to Your Country 6. Bondholders as a Separate and Coequal Branch of Government 7. Jonathan Rauch, Prophet of Political Realism 8. The Hard Case of the European Union 9. Singapore: Flourishing with 50% Less Democracy 10. Conclusion: Buying the Right Dose of Democracy

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Book SynopsisChina has undergone dramatic change in its economic institutions in recent years, but surprisingly little change politically. Somehow, the political institutions seem capable of governing a vastly more complex market economy and a rapidly changing labor force. One possible explanation, examined in Zouping Revisited, is that within the old organizational molds there have been subtle but profound changes to the ways these governing bodies actually work. The authors take as a case study the local government of Zouping County and find that it has been able to evolve significantly through ad hoc bureaucratic adaptations and accommodations that drastically change the operation of government institutions. Zouping has long served as a window into local-level Chinese politics, economy, and culture. In this volume, top scholars analyze the most important changes in the county over the last two decades. The picture that emerges is one of institutional agility and creativity as a new form of resilience within an authoritarian regime.Trade Review"A compelling and important book, Zouping Revisited amply demonstrates the political changes that have occurred—and persist—in China's countryside. Grounded in the soil of rural China, this book examines the startling ways old institutional structures are repurposed to perform new functions."—David M. Lampton, Johns Hopkins University"This is an important contribution to the literature on rural politics that highlights a central theme of governance that has creatively adapted to manage the economic and social transformation of Zouping from an agricultural to an industrial and commercial site. The book provides valuable insights into informal bargaining relationships among officials."—Thomas P. Bernstein, Columbia UniversityTable of Contents1. Change Within Continuity: Zouping County Government 2. Zouping in Historical Perspective 3. Creativity and Flexibility in County and Township Economic Governance 4. Directed Improvisation in Administrative Financing 5. The Evolution and Adaption of Business-Government Relations in Zouping 6. Non-Judicial Interpreters of "Legality" and the Development of Law in the Local State 7. The Role of the Organization Department in Political Selection 8. Reforming and Updating Cadre Training in Zouping's Communist Party Schools 9. Institutional Agility and Regime Adaptation

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Book SynopsisMicrofinance is the business of giving small, collateral-free loans to poor borrowers that are paid back in frequent intervals with interest. While these for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) promise social and economic empowerment, they have mainly succeeded at enfolding the poor—especially women—into the vast circuits of global finance. Financializing Poverty ethnographically examines how the emergence of MFIs has allowed financial institutions in the city of Kolkata, India, to capitalize on the poverty of its residents. This book reveals how MFIs have restructured debt relationships in new ways. On the one hand, they have opened access to new streams of credit. However, as the network of finance increasingly incorporates the poor, the "inclusive" dimensions of microfinance are continuously met with rigid forms of credit risk management that reproduce the very inequality the loans are meant to alleviate. Moreover, despite being collateral-free loans, the use of life insurance to manage the high mortality rates of poor borrowers has led to the collateralization of life itself. Thus the newfound ability of the poor to use MFI loans has entrapped them in a system dependent not only on their circulation of capital, but on the poverty that threatens their lives.Trade Review"Among the many critics of the World Bank's mantra that financial inclusion will solve the problems of the poor, few voices are as impactful as Sohini Kar's. With gripping stories, ethnographically-informed nuance, and the theoretically sophisticated way in which it 'joins the dots,' her book doesn't typify microfinance as simply good or bad. Rather, it shows how debt enfolds people into globalized financial networks, transforming them into little more than balance sheet figures to be reckoned by calculators of financial risk."—Deborah James, The London School of Economics and Political Science"In this fresh investigation that should prove fascinating for specialists and generalists alike, Sohini Kar has beautifully rendered much hard-won and intensely illuminating ethnographic data into compelling and jargon-free prose. She convincingly pushes us to see an 'emergent ethic of capitalism,' embodied in a variety of creditor techniques for enfolding—and seeking profit from—a vast 'informal' economy humming along in India."—Gustav Peebles, The New School"Kar's book, an ethnographic study of borrowers, debt collectors, and loan managers in Kolkata, one of India's most populated cities, provides grounds for skepticism. Loans are meant to create sustainable businesses, but the precariousness of the borrowers' existence inevitably leads to funds being diverted to alternative, less-productive activities. When repayment becomes tenuous, problems arise among borrower groups and between borrowers and debt collectors....Highly recommended."—S. Paul, CHOICE"[Financializing Poverty] is a critical study of microfinance, but it is not an assessment of whether microfinance works for large populations.It is, rather, a study about whom it works for, and how.It is a study about society rather than the optimal design of an economic institution. And as such, it is an original and significant contribution to the literature."––Tirthankar Roy, H-Asia"In this incisive book, Sohini Kar seeks to link processes and events in the world of global and national finance to credit regimes that shape the lives of urban poor on the periphery....her ethnographic insights combine extremely well with literature on the political economy and anthropology of finance."—M. Vijayabaskar, Pacific AffairsTable of ContentsIntroduction: Enfolding the Poor 1. Entrepreneurship and Work at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" 2. From Social Banking to Financial Inclusion 3. The Reluctant Moneylender 4. The Domestication of Microfinance 5. Financial Risk and the Moral Economy of Credit 6. Insured Death, Precarious Life Epilogue:

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Book SynopsisThe global race for talent is on, with countries and businesses competing for the best and brightest. Talented individuals migrate much more frequently than the general population, and the United States has received exceptional inflows of human capital. This foreign talent has transformed U.S. science and engineering, reshaped the economy, and influenced society at large. But America is bogged down in thorny debates on immigration policy, and the world around the United States is rapidly catching up, especially China and India. The future is quite uncertain, and the global talent puzzle deserves close examination. To do this, William R. Kerr uniquely combines insights and lessons from business practice, government policy, and individual decision making. Examining popular ideas that have taken hold and synthesizing rigorous research across fields such as entrepreneurship and innovation, regional advantage, and economic policy, Kerr gives voice to data and ideas that should drive the next wave of policy and business practice. The Gift of Global Talent deftly transports readers from joyous celebrations at the Nobel Prize ceremony to angry airport protests against the Trump administration's travel ban. It explores why talented migration drives the knowledge economy, describes how universities and firms govern skilled admissions, explains the controversies of the H-1B visa used by firms like Google and Apple, and discusses the economic inequalities and superstar firms that global talent flows produce. The United States has been the steward of a global gift, and this book explains the huge leadership decision it now faces and how it can become even more competitive for attracting tomorrow's talent. Please visit www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/research/Pages/default.aspx to learn more about the book.Trade Review"This is a clear-eyed exposition of how talent moves around the world and why so much lands in the United States. Chock-full of compelling data, this book shows that the economic stakes in today's over-heated immigration debate couldn't be higher. This is a must-read for policy makers."—Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Governor of Arizona"This book is brilliant, lucid, and timely. William Kerr understands the value of talent, and demonstrates a wealth of it himself in his exploration of why and how smart people migrate and cluster. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand this crucial topic."—Robert Guest, Foreign Editor of The Economist, and author of Borderless Economics"America's small businesses are under pressure when it comes to accessing the skilled workers they need to compete. William Kerr brilliantly illuminates a framework for the critical conversation that we need to have if we want small businesses to continue to drive our nation's economic success."—Karen G. Mills, Former Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Cabinet Member under President Obama"If immigration is to provide sizable economic gains to a receiving country, the place to look is high-skill. William Kerr gives a comprehensive and objective summary of what we know about its economic impact. The book is an invaluable resource."—George J. Borjas, Harvard Kennedy School, and author of We Wanted Workers"The Gift of Global Talent offers key insights on how immigrant entrepreneurs spur U.S. economic growth, create American jobs, and help to further technological and scientific advancement in the U.S. It is an important addition to our national dialogue on immigration and should be required reading for policymakers."—Bobby Franklin, President and CEO, National Venture Capital Association"Its explanation of the role of high-skilled immigration and the reforms that are needed to maintain US competitiveness make this one of the most important books on policy of our time. As Kerr explains, knowledge and talent are now the world's most important resources."—Vivek Wadhwa, Carnegie Mellon University, author, The Driver in the Driverless Car"By showing how talent shapes economies and impacts organizations, Kerr has created a compelling, essential book for the C-suite, especially CHROs. In the competitive search for diversity and talent, companies will need to understand talent clusters and flow. This book provides valuable context as they develop their strategies."—Scott Rutherford, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company"The Gift of Global Talent crystalizes how much the American economy benefits from skilled foreign workers. For American innovation to thrive in the 21st century, we must attract the best minds out there, and Kerr's excellent book teaches us how to do just that."—Edward Glaeser, Harvard University and author, Triumph of the City"If you want to understand why Boston and Silicon Valley have created such vibrant ecosystems, read this book! All of the best and brightest don't work in the U.S., and we should do everything we can to attract and keep that talent. This is the fuel for future generations of startups."—Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder and CTO, HubSpot"As advanced technologies and artificial intelligence reshape business and the future of work, access to great and digitally expert talent is critical. Kerr's powerful book describes how leading companies and countries can attract and leverage this highly mobile and connected professional population for the broader benefit of their organizations and societies."—Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone Group"Kerr's pioneering research on talent coalesces in this essential new book. Talent clusters and an openness to them determine the wealth of cities, nations, and the global economy. A must-read for CEOs, policy makers, and mayors, this is the antidote to the populism threatening the world."—Richard Florida, University of Toronto, Editor-at-Large, CityLab, The Atlantic and author of The Rise of the Creative Class"Kerr's work, based on solid empirical evidence and free of political bias, is easily understandable as he navigates economic theory and public policy. Readers interested in business, economics, sociology, or political science will enjoy this balanced perspective on what Kerr calls the 'defining issue for our time.' Highly recommended."––R. Dupont, CHOICE"You've probably heard the idea that data, not oil, is the most valuable resource of the 21st century. If you read The Gift of Global Talent, and I think you should, you might conclude that skills are our most precious resource.As [the book] amply documents, the U.S. continues to put up barriers that prevent the most skilled and educated individuals from working (and studying) in the U.S."—Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed"An especially valuable aspect of [Kerr's] research is the fact that he does indeed effectively connect the academic, analytical approach to the book's subject matter with business- and practice-oriented conclusions, including some very interesting predictions and policy recommendations. In addition, Kerr relies on his family experience (p. 174). He thus has a deep personal knowledge of the subject matter and offers an important human perspective in regard to the issue of brain drain as well as migration in general."—Andrei V. Korobkov, Contemporary SociologyTable of ContentsIntroduction: Why Global Talent Matters to You 1. Talent on the Move 2. The Economics of Talent Clusters 3. Innovation in the United States 4. Points Versus Firms 5. The Education Pathway 6. Talent Clusters to Rule Them All 7. The New HR Challenge 8. Global Diffusion Remade 9. Revenge of the Nerds Conclusions: Fragile U.S. Leadership

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Book SynopsisMany Americans believe that foreign military intervention is central to protecting our domestic freedoms. But Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall urge engaged citizens to think again. Overseas, our government takes actions in the name of defense that would not be permissible within national borders. Emboldened by the relative weakness of governance abroad, the U.S. government is able to experiment with a broader range of social controls. Under certain conditions, these policies, tactics, and technologies are then re-imported to America, changing the national landscape and increasing the extent to which we live in a police state. Coyne and Hall examine this pattern—which they dub "the boomerang effect"—considering a variety of rich cases that include the rise of state surveillance, the militarization of domestic law enforcement, the expanding use of drones, and torture in U.S. prisons. Synthesizing research and applying an economic lens, they develop a generalizable theory to predict and explain a startling trend. Tyranny Comes Home unveils a new aspect of the symbiotic relationship between foreign interventions and domestic politics. It gives us alarming insight into incidents like the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri and the Snowden case—which tell a common story about contemporary foreign policy and its impact on our civil liberties.Trade Review"Clearly and boldly argued, this is an excellent contribution to our understanding of the economics of interventionism."—Joshua Hall, West Virginia University, and coauthor of Economic Freedom of the World Report"Many people believe that U.S. 'peacekeeping' efforts abroad help to protect American civil liberties at home. Coyne and Hall show just how mistaken that view is. I know of no other work that makes such a clear connection between foreign intervention and the erosion of domestic civil liberties."—Randall Holcombe, Florida State University"Coyne and Hall brilliantly reveal that a fatal coarsening comes with the rise of an empire. One can only respond with the cant phrase, heard often in these latter days, which would be better applied to peaceful, intellectual exchanges than to the corrupting enterprise of foreign intervention: 'Thank you for your service.'"—Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago"An old German saying claims that losing a war is bad, but winning a war is worse. Coyne and Hall document one way in which that is the case: the architecture of social control created by militarism is easily adapted to domestic life. Tyranny Comes Home illustrates this phenomena in the United States, while offering a path to reclaiming the 'Great Republic.'"—Michael Munger, Duke University"Tyranny Comes Home argues that a nation cannot act brutally in the world and still respect the rights and liberties of its own people. It is a wonderfully insightful look at the connections between the violence of American foreign policy and our shrinking democracy at home."—Stephen Kinzer, Watson Institute, Brown University, Columnist, The Boston Globe, and author of The True Flag"An adept and engaging examination of the processes by which militaristic policy abroad can lead to the loss of civil liberties at home."—John Mueller, Ohio State University and Cato Institute"Anyone who believes that decades of thoughtless military interventionism have enhanced America's well-being needs to read Tyranny Comes Home. Coyne and Hall deftly show how incessant foreign meddling undermines the very domestic freedoms it is intended to preserve. A powerful, original indictment of America's warrior state ideology."—Michael J. Glennon, author of National Security and Double Government"A number of America's founding fathers expressed the view that foreign military ventures would come at a high cost. In Tyranny Comes Home, Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall put this warning to the test: How have America's wars of choice and its colonial experiments affected the homeland and the power of the presidency? And what does economic theory have to say about the transformation from state to empire? Their analysis makes for an engrossing read, a remarkably demonstration of the foresight that went into the Constitution, and a stark depiction of the dangers that it faces today."—Scott Horton, Contributing Editor, Harper's Magazine"Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall have built a highly original and penetrating argument on a neglected topic that demands attention in the age of endless war. Their thorough analysis, understanding of history, and fresh correlations are insightful and a pleasure to read. We need more of this kind of creative bridge building."—John Tirman, MIT Center for International Studies"America's disastrous wars have taken a horrendous toll. Yet, Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall powerfully demonstrate that the costs are even higher than we have recognized. Tyranny Comes Home is a brilliant and important book that transcends partisanship. The authors' call for anti-militarism and patriotism built on a critical attitude towards the security state can help to rescue America's democracy."—Jeffrey D. Sachs, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University"This is an important and provocative exploration of an overlooked cost of militaristic foreign policy: domestic freedom. This well-researched and lively book is a must read for those concerned with the preservation of individual liberty and the perils of permanent war." -- Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner"Using cases ranging from militarizing police, using drones for surveillance, and exercising elements of torture in American prisons, Coyne and Hall lend an economic lens to their research to show how foreign interventions and domestic policy decisions are becoming increasingly intertwined—in their eyes at a significant cost to the American public....[T]he authors raise questions about how a country can act violently throughout the world while still claiming to respect the liberties and rights of its own citizens."—W. Miller, Choice"Coyne's and Hall's book is a great, conceptually holistic investigation into how the state can threaten our liberty. Economists regularly recognize the unintended consequences of domestic policy; Coyne and Hall have explained the unintended consequences of foreign policy, and their costs.—Jerrod A. Laber, The American Conservative"This was an excellent expository text that I do believe was one of the most educational I have read in some time, and I thoroughly recommend it to students and practitioners of foreign policy, international relations, intelligence studies and strategic studies."—Courtney J. O'Connor, London School of Economics Review of Books"[An] eye-opening account that should be read by every engaged citizen who cares about the future of the nation and global affairs."—Miriam Cohen, The Vienna CircleTable of Contents1. Mark Twain's Ominous Warning 2. The Boomerang Effect: How Social Control Comes Home 3. A Perfect Storm: Why America Is Susceptible 4. Surveillance 5. The Militarization of Police 6. Drones 7. Torture Conclusion: Reclaiming the Great Republic

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Book SynopsisMicrofinance is the business of giving small, collateral-free loans to poor borrowers that are paid back in frequent intervals with interest. While these for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) promise social and economic empowerment, they have mainly succeeded at enfolding the poor—especially women—into the vast circuits of global finance. Financializing Poverty ethnographically examines how the emergence of MFIs has allowed financial institutions in the city of Kolkata, India, to capitalize on the poverty of its residents. This book reveals how MFIs have restructured debt relationships in new ways. On the one hand, they have opened access to new streams of credit. However, as the network of finance increasingly incorporates the poor, the "inclusive" dimensions of microfinance are continuously met with rigid forms of credit risk management that reproduce the very inequality the loans are meant to alleviate. Moreover, despite being collateral-free loans, the use of life insurance to manage the high mortality rates of poor borrowers has led to the collateralization of life itself. Thus the newfound ability of the poor to use MFI loans has entrapped them in a system dependent not only on their circulation of capital, but on the poverty that threatens their lives.Trade Review"Among the many critics of the World Bank's mantra that financial inclusion will solve the problems of the poor, few voices are as impactful as Sohini Kar's. With gripping stories, ethnographically-informed nuance, and the theoretically sophisticated way in which it 'joins the dots,' her book doesn't typify microfinance as simply good or bad. Rather, it shows how debt enfolds people into globalized financial networks, transforming them into little more than balance sheet figures to be reckoned by calculators of financial risk."—Deborah James, The London School of Economics and Political Science"In this fresh investigation that should prove fascinating for specialists and generalists alike, Sohini Kar has beautifully rendered much hard-won and intensely illuminating ethnographic data into compelling and jargon-free prose. She convincingly pushes us to see an 'emergent ethic of capitalism,' embodied in a variety of creditor techniques for enfolding—and seeking profit from—a vast 'informal' economy humming along in India."—Gustav Peebles, The New School"Kar's book, an ethnographic study of borrowers, debt collectors, and loan managers in Kolkata, one of India's most populated cities, provides grounds for skepticism. Loans are meant to create sustainable businesses, but the precariousness of the borrowers' existence inevitably leads to funds being diverted to alternative, less-productive activities. When repayment becomes tenuous, problems arise among borrower groups and between borrowers and debt collectors....Highly recommended."—S. Paul, CHOICE"[Financializing Poverty] is a critical study of microfinance, but it is not an assessment of whether microfinance works for large populations.It is, rather, a study about whom it works for, and how.It is a study about society rather than the optimal design of an economic institution. And as such, it is an original and significant contribution to the literature."––Tirthankar Roy, H-Asia"In this incisive book, Sohini Kar seeks to link processes and events in the world of global and national finance to credit regimes that shape the lives of urban poor on the periphery....her ethnographic insights combine extremely well with literature on the political economy and anthropology of finance."—M. Vijayabaskar, Pacific AffairsTable of ContentsIntroduction: Enfolding the Poor 1. Entrepreneurship and Work at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" 2. From Social Banking to Financial Inclusion 3. The Reluctant Moneylender 4. The Domestication of Microfinance 5. Financial Risk and the Moral Economy of Credit 6. Insured Death, Precarious Life Epilogue:

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Book SynopsisIn Discreet Power, Christina Garsten and Adrienne Sörbom undertake an ethnographic study of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Accessing one of the primary agenda-setting organizations of our day, they draw on interviews and participant observation to examine how the WEF wields its influence. They situate the WEF within an emerging system of "discretionary governance," in which actors craft ideas and entice formal authorities and top leaders in order to garner significant sway. Yet in spite of its image as a powerful, exclusive brain trust, the WEF has no formal mandate to implement its positions. It must convince others to advance chosen causes and enact suggestions, rendering its position quite fragile. Garsten and Sörbom argue that the WEF must be viewed relationally as a brokering organization that lives between the market and political spheres and that extends its reach through associated individuals and groups.They place the WEF in the context of a broader shift, arguing that while this type of governance opens up novel ways of dealing with urgent global problems, it challenges core democratic values.Trade Review"Between raw forces of the global economy and disordered world politics lie organizations that are neither political nor economic. The World Economic Forum is central among these structures. Garsten and Sörbom give a most impressive depiction and analysis of its role—responsible but undemocratic—in what is now called global governance."—John W. Meyer, Stanford University"This is an outstanding exemplar of a very difficult genre in the craft of ethnography: working within the highest reaches of elite organization. The challenge lies less in limited access than in not reinforcing our deep-seated stereotypes of what goes on in such groups. This work is distinguished by its observational quality and derived expression of the stakes and issues at hand."—George Marcus, University of California, Irvine"In this informative study, Carsten and Sörbom explore both the inner workings and the communication strategies of the World Economic Forum....[T]he authors conclude that the WEF does perform a useful service, even if it is biased toward elite perceptions."—Richard N. Cooper, Foreign AffairsTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Disentangling Discretionary Governance 2. Liquid Mandate 3. Setting Precedence 4. The Status Machinery 5. Mobilizing for the Future 6. Political Sway Conclusion: A New Narrative for Future Globalization?

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Book SynopsisIntelligence and security communities have access to an overwhelming amount of information. More data is better in an information-hungry world, but too much data paralyzes individual and institutional abilities to process and use information effectively. Robert Mandel calls this phenomenon "global data shock." He investigates how information overload affects strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise, as well as the larger consequences for international security. This book provides not only an accessible framework for understanding global data shock and its consequences, but also a strategy to prepare for and respond to information overload. Global Data Shock explores how information overload facilitates deception, eroding international trust and cooperation in the post-Cold War era. A sweeping array of case studies illustrates the role of data shock in shaping global events from the 1990 Iraqi attack on Kuwait to Brexit. When strategists try to use an overabundance of data to their advantage, Mandel reveals, it often results in unanticipated and undesirable consequences. Too much information can lead to foreign intelligence failures, security policy incoherence, mass public frustrations, curtailment of democratic freedoms, and even international political anarchy. Global Data Shock addresses the pressing need for improved management of information and its strategic deployment.Trade Review"The prevalence of awful mistakes historically made statesmen assume they would do better if they had more information. Robert Mandel brings sharply into focus the very modern and surprising problem that more information turns out to be as much a curse as a cure, and creatively examines the implications for a wide range of policy challenges." -- Richard K. Betts, Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies * Columbia University *"This pertinent, well-written, and timely book addresses authoritatively and comprehensively the critical tension between the benefits of access to multitudinous data and the potentially pernicious consequences of being overwhelmed by it. Global Data Shock offers remedies to this vicious problem and should be required reading for policy analysts, students, and practitioners." -- Yaacov Vertzberger * The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *"Robert Mandel offers a cautionary tale for technophiles who believe the combination of supercomputers and limitless data will end ambiguity in international affairs. Global Data Shock stakes out its position clearly: people are the weak link in the human-machine interface and information overload makes that link increasingly tenuous, creating unprecedented opportunities for deception in international relations." -- James J. Wirtz * Naval Postgraduate School *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThis introduction identifies the study's central puzzles; delimits the scope of the discussion (including its geographical scope, its time frame, and substantive issues covered); explains what makes the analysis unique and provocative; and highlights the linkages between this investigation and broader security questions. The necessary background is provided to clarify why studying global data shock, incorporating the security impact of information overload on strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise, is such a critical issue now. There is also an explanation of why it is so important to incorporate the perspectives of both manipulation initiators and manipulation targets in this analysis. 1Global Information Overload chapter abstractThis chapter summarizes the roots and current nature of globally exploding information overload. It begins by summarizing contrasting reactions to the information explosion, providing a comparative pre-Internet-Age retrospective to demonstrate how much more intense the security impacts have been in recent decades, discussing "big data analysis" promises and perils, and exploring mass public global data shock fears and concerns. The chapter then analyzes in detail the major barriers to information interpretation, including data quantity/quality distortions involving escalating information overload and security information unreliability; receiver processing limitations involving human cognitive frailty and organizational decision inflexibility; and system value heterogeneity involving global cultural diversity and international political anarchy. This chapter sets the stage for the resulting increase in strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise discussed in the next chapter. 2Global Strategic Manipulation chapter abstractThis chapter explores the linkages between information overload and the increasingly evident patterns of strategic manipulation in today's world, involving ambiguity, deception, and surprise. It specifically examines how information overload can intensify and expand the range of strategic manipulation across national boundaries. It then reviews strategic manipulation goals, comparing those of offensive manipulation initiators and those of defensive manipulation responders; the general dynamics of strategic manipulation and the specific dynamics of strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise; and a comprehensive assessment of strategic manipulation costs and benefits. This chapter completes the picture of why both intelligence analysts and private citizens are currently experiencing global data shock, overwhelmed with data that they cannot properly interpret and cannot find appropriate ways to manage. 3Global Data Shock Case Studies chapter abstractThis chapter presents ten global case studies highlighting distinctive security challenges for coping with global data shock, for both initiators using offensive manipulation and targets defending against manipulation under information overload. The cases are organized by theme—whether the primary form of manipulation exhibited by initiators is strategic ambiguity, manipulation, or surprise. Highlighting strategic ambiguity are the 2017 foreign security policy style of American president Donald Trump, the 2016 Brexit vote to leave the European Union, and the 2002-2003 nondiscovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Highlighting strategic deception are the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia. Highlighting strategic surprise are the 2007 Israeli destruction of the Syrian al-Kibar nuclear plant, the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan, the 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the United States, and the 1990 Iraqi attack on Kuwait. 4Emerging Case Patterns chapter abstractThis chapter reviews the patterns emerging from the ten global case studies about initiator manipulation facilitation under information overload and target manipulation vulnerability under information overload, including patterns specific to strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise and patterns specific to manipulation initiators and manipulation targets. Then it summarizes the trend in post-manipulation tensions, eroding trust and predictability among longtime allies. Next, it provides a detailed analysis of under what circumstances (1) information overload most promotes strategic manipulation; (2) initiators' offensive manipulation and targets' defensive response are most effective; (3) strategic manipulation is most legitimate; and (4) strategic manipulation is most dangerous. Finally, the chapter highlights notable general case lessons informing global data shock management, and it explains the countermanipulation conundrum that makes such management so challenging. 5Managing Global Data Shock chapter abstractThis chapter suggests ways to help to manage information overload and to assist both initiators and targets to manage strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise. Creative thinking is vital to cope with foreign data interpretation and strategic manipulation, including combining fluid, innovative, and responsive measures, avoiding "stick-in-the-mud" repetitive use; discovering or creating new information and communication channels; and engaging in more systematic advanced contingency planning. The first step is to avoid the many forms of global data shock mismanagement, which are chronicled in detail regarding information overload, initiator offensive manipulation, and target defensive responses. Then the chapter provides a probing comparative prioritization of general management strategies, showing decisive advantages for some approaches over others. Next it provides specific policy recommendations for improving offensive manipulation and defensive responses under information overload, followed by specific advice for specifically addressing strategic ambiguity, manipulation, and surprise. Conclusion chapter abstractThis conclusion wraps up the book by identifying how global data shock stymies the universal search for meaning; how the rise of informal influence in international relations connects to the growth of strategic manipulation; how ethical concerns arise from the international use of strategic manipulation; how a paradox surrounds the desirability of information transparency on a global scale; how ominous dangers surround future global data shock trends; and how better human-computer, state-to-state, and citizen-government collaboration is needed to cope with global data shock. The emphasis is on taking responsibility to address this seemingly intractable problem rather than avoiding confronting it or fatalistically accepting it.

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Book SynopsisDuring the Cold War, the U.S. built a series of alliances with Asian nations to erect a bulwark against the spread of communism and provide security to the region. Despite pressure to end bilateral alliances in the post-Cold War world, they persist to this day, even as new multilateral institutions have sprung up around them. The resulting architecture may aggravate rivalries as the U.S., China, and others compete for influence. However, Andrew Yeo demonstrates how Asia's complex array of bilateral and multilateral agreements may ultimately bring greater stability and order to a region fraught with underlying tensions. Asia's Regional Architecture transcends traditional international relations models. It investigates change and continuity in Asia through the lens of historical institutionalism. Refuting claims regarding the demise of the liberal international order, Yeo reveals how overlapping institutions can promote regional governance and reduce uncertainty in a global context. In addition to considering established institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, he discusses newer regional arrangements including the East Asia Summit, Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Belt and Road Initiative. This book has important implications for how policymakers think about institutional design and regionalism in Asia and beyond. Trade Review"Andrew Yeo has written an informed, nuanced, and vivid account of Asia's regional architecture. His historical institutionalist framework captures well the richness and diversity of efforts at cooperation among regional actors. A welcome and significant contribution to the literature." -- Victor D. Cha, D.S. Song-KF Professor and Chairholder, School of Foreign Service and Government Department * Georgetown University *"This innovative and important book puts changes in Asia's regional architecture into a broad historical and institutional perspective. In an era of unilateral transactional American diplomacy, Andrew Yeo reminds us of how and why the complex patchwork of past bilateral and multilateral security and economic arrangements will shape our and Asia's future." -- Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies * Cornell University *"Andrew Yeo offers a rich account of how Asia's security and economic architecture has evolved since 1945. Asia's Regional Architecture convincingly explains stability and change, and the eclectic approach ties all the empirical evidence together." -- Ralf Emmers, Professor and Associate Dean at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies * Nanyang Technological University *"Yeo has written a book with indisputable value for understanding international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 'big tent' approach to theoretically analyzing historical events also should appeal to a range of scholars and policymakers. With Asia's centrality to many events in global politics, Yeo's research should find its way onto the bookshelves of regional specialists, scholars of both alliance politics and international institutions, and students with an interest in learning about the complexities of Asian diplomacy." -- Stephen Herzog * H-Diplo *"[Bilateralism] and multilateralism in Asia have been extensively researched since the end of the Cold War....Yeo contributes to the literature by bringing all of this material together and analyzing it through the application of a less well-known conceptual framework—historical institutionalism. To my knowledge, this has never before been attempted, making the book both original and innovative. The end result is that Asia's Regional Architecture takes a long-term view that enriches the existing analysis and provides a sense of perspective." -- Ralph Emmers * Asia Policy *"Yeo offers a discussion that, more than most, tries to account for Asia's different moving parts....Asia's Regional Architecture is a worthwhile contribution to the debate about Asian security and especially the U.S. role in the region." -- Alice D. Ba * Asia Policy *[Yeo] provides detailed yet succinct accounts of the main political, economic, and security regional institutions in Asia. A plethora of insights are contained in this book....[Its] broad definition of institutions—ranging from ASEAN-led regional multilateral frameworks to U.S.-led bilateral security alliances—opens up new research questions regarding the interactive dynamics within regional institutions." -- Kei Koga * Asia Policy *"Asia's Regional Architecture provides a comprehensive and timely account of the evolution, development, and operation of the various institutions that compose the region's security architecture....Yeo's use of historical institutionalism makes this text a coherent, dynamic, and theoretically insightful account of the beginning, development, and future of Asia's architecture." -- Renato Cruz de Castro * Asia Policy *"Yeo offers a refreshing perspective through the use of the historical-institutionalist framework....This book should be required reading, not only for students, analysts and experts of East Asian affairs, but also for present and future US administration officials to understand the consequential role the US has played and will continue to play in the East Asian order and for regional stability." -- Bhubhindar Singh * Asian Studies Review *"Yeo's book serves as an outstanding primer on how the institutional landscape developed the way it did and why. It is an absolutely essential addition to the literature on regionalism and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific, and comes highly recommended for students, scholars, and practitioners alike." -- Thomas Wilkins * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1Asia's Regional Architecture: A Historical Institutional Perspective chapter abstractThis chapter presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the development of Asia's regional architecture. Drawing on historical institutionalism, the chapter discusses how endogenous processes of change, as well as mechanisms of continuity, have produced a layering of bilateral, trilateral, mini-lateral, and multilateral institutions in Asia. The chapter also discusses the limitations of theories of rational institutional design, and the role ideas and institutions play in shaping actors' choices. 2Bilateralism, Multilateralism, and the Making of an Alliance Consensus chapter abstractChapter 2 recounts the origins of bilateralism in Asia and the legitimization of the US-led hub-and-spokes system among Asian elites during the Cold War. It also outlines the rise of ASEAN in the 1960s. Exploring postwar US alliances forged with the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Thailand, I demonstrate how material threats, institutions, and ideas interact to produce an alliance consensus among political elites in Asia. Despite periodic domestic opposition to US alliances, and the weakness of ASEAN, the hub-and-spokes system and ASEAN become entrenched over time. 3Change and Continuity: 1989–1997 chapter abstractThis chapter demonstrates elements of change and continuity in Asia's regional architecture between the waning years of the Cold War and the Asian financial crisis. Despite the external shock of the Cold War, I argue that the path to change is best captured by endogenous processes of change where mechanisms of change and continuity intersect. The first part of the chapter chronicles the development of two multilateral institutions: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the ASEAN Regional Forum. The second part demonstrates the continuity of bilateral alliances, focusing on the US-Japan and US-Philippines alliance. 4Rising Regionalism: 1998–2007 chapter abstractChapter 4 describes the rising phenomena of East Asian regionalism in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and demonstrates how debates between inclusive and exclusive variations of Asian regionalism played out in the development of the regional architecture. The chapter traces the establishment of the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit, and the Six-Party Talks. Taken together, these three institutions signified greater political will behind regional multilateralism but also revealed the contentious nature of institution building. The discussion of multilateral developments is juxtaposed to an analysis of the US–South Korea and US-Thailand alliances, and their resilience in an era of greater multilateralism and expanding regionalism. 5Complex Patchwork: 2008–2017 chapter abstractThis chapter demonstrates how the complex patchwork of overlapping institutions in Asia is largely a product of historical institutional processes. Between bilateralism and multilateralism, a variety of mini-laterals, preferential trade agreements, and track II dialogues have grown to become an important part of the institutional landscape. Policy makers turned to these additional informal outlets to advance regional economic and security goals. The chapter describes US alliance relationships with Australia and the Philippines during the period of the US pivot to Asia, as well as the growth of new security partnerships with Singapore and Vietnam. It also explores trilateral relations and the rise of multilateral trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). 6America First, China's Rise, and Regional Order chapter abstractChapter 6 explores developments in Asia's regional architecture under the Trump government and the rising influence of China under Xi Jinping. The chapter draws explicit connections between Asia's current regional architecture and the future of Asian order. It makes the case that institutions in Asia, particularly US bilateral alliances, are more resilient than presumed. It then draws on the historical institutionalism and regime complexity literatures to describe how the complex patchwork both complicates and advances institutional cooperation. The chapter concludes by offering a more optimistic outlook regarding the complex patchwork and its potential for improving regional governance. 7Conclusion: Theory, Policy, and the Relevance of Historical Institutionalism and Asia chapter abstractChapter 7 recaps the book's finding that processes of continuity and change have occurred simultaneously, transforming an under-institutionalized region into a complex patchwork of overlapping institutions. The chapter then draws lessons from historical institutionalism for international relations theory and its significance for Asia policy and strategy. The book concludes with recommendations for US policy makers given rising tensions in US-Sino relations and potential institutional competition between Beijing and Washington. In particular, it advocates policy makers to adopt a zero-sum framework and continue building and supporting the regional architecture in ways which reinforce, but also look beyond its bilateral alliances.

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Book SynopsisIntelligence and security communities have access to an overwhelming amount of information. More data is better in an information-hungry world, but too much data paralyzes individual and institutional abilities to process and use information effectively. Robert Mandel calls this phenomenon "global data shock." He investigates how information overload affects strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise, as well as the larger consequences for international security. This book provides not only an accessible framework for understanding global data shock and its consequences, but also a strategy to prepare for and respond to information overload. Global Data Shock explores how information overload facilitates deception, eroding international trust and cooperation in the post-Cold War era. A sweeping array of case studies illustrates the role of data shock in shaping global events from the 1990 Iraqi attack on Kuwait to Brexit. When strategists try to use an overabundance of data to their advantage, Mandel reveals, it often results in unanticipated and undesirable consequences. Too much information can lead to foreign intelligence failures, security policy incoherence, mass public frustrations, curtailment of democratic freedoms, and even international political anarchy. Global Data Shock addresses the pressing need for improved management of information and its strategic deployment.Trade Review"The prevalence of awful mistakes historically made statesmen assume they would do better if they had more information. Robert Mandel brings sharply into focus the very modern and surprising problem that more information turns out to be as much a curse as a cure, and creatively examines the implications for a wide range of policy challenges." -- Richard K. Betts, Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies * Columbia University *"This pertinent, well-written, and timely book addresses authoritatively and comprehensively the critical tension between the benefits of access to multitudinous data and the potentially pernicious consequences of being overwhelmed by it. Global Data Shock offers remedies to this vicious problem and should be required reading for policy analysts, students, and practitioners." -- Yaacov Vertzberger * The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *"Robert Mandel offers a cautionary tale for technophiles who believe the combination of supercomputers and limitless data will end ambiguity in international affairs. Global Data Shock stakes out its position clearly: people are the weak link in the human-machine interface and information overload makes that link increasingly tenuous, creating unprecedented opportunities for deception in international relations." -- James J. Wirtz * Naval Postgraduate School *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThis introduction identifies the study's central puzzles; delimits the scope of the discussion (including its geographical scope, its time frame, and substantive issues covered); explains what makes the analysis unique and provocative; and highlights the linkages between this investigation and broader security questions. The necessary background is provided to clarify why studying global data shock, incorporating the security impact of information overload on strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise, is such a critical issue now. There is also an explanation of why it is so important to incorporate the perspectives of both manipulation initiators and manipulation targets in this analysis. 1Global Information Overload chapter abstractThis chapter summarizes the roots and current nature of globally exploding information overload. It begins by summarizing contrasting reactions to the information explosion, providing a comparative pre-Internet-Age retrospective to demonstrate how much more intense the security impacts have been in recent decades, discussing "big data analysis" promises and perils, and exploring mass public global data shock fears and concerns. The chapter then analyzes in detail the major barriers to information interpretation, including data quantity/quality distortions involving escalating information overload and security information unreliability; receiver processing limitations involving human cognitive frailty and organizational decision inflexibility; and system value heterogeneity involving global cultural diversity and international political anarchy. This chapter sets the stage for the resulting increase in strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise discussed in the next chapter. 2Global Strategic Manipulation chapter abstractThis chapter explores the linkages between information overload and the increasingly evident patterns of strategic manipulation in today's world, involving ambiguity, deception, and surprise. It specifically examines how information overload can intensify and expand the range of strategic manipulation across national boundaries. It then reviews strategic manipulation goals, comparing those of offensive manipulation initiators and those of defensive manipulation responders; the general dynamics of strategic manipulation and the specific dynamics of strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise; and a comprehensive assessment of strategic manipulation costs and benefits. This chapter completes the picture of why both intelligence analysts and private citizens are currently experiencing global data shock, overwhelmed with data that they cannot properly interpret and cannot find appropriate ways to manage. 3Global Data Shock Case Studies chapter abstractThis chapter presents ten global case studies highlighting distinctive security challenges for coping with global data shock, for both initiators using offensive manipulation and targets defending against manipulation under information overload. The cases are organized by theme—whether the primary form of manipulation exhibited by initiators is strategic ambiguity, manipulation, or surprise. Highlighting strategic ambiguity are the 2017 foreign security policy style of American president Donald Trump, the 2016 Brexit vote to leave the European Union, and the 2002-2003 nondiscovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Highlighting strategic deception are the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia. Highlighting strategic surprise are the 2007 Israeli destruction of the Syrian al-Kibar nuclear plant, the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan, the 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the United States, and the 1990 Iraqi attack on Kuwait. 4Emerging Case Patterns chapter abstractThis chapter reviews the patterns emerging from the ten global case studies about initiator manipulation facilitation under information overload and target manipulation vulnerability under information overload, including patterns specific to strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise and patterns specific to manipulation initiators and manipulation targets. Then it summarizes the trend in post-manipulation tensions, eroding trust and predictability among longtime allies. Next, it provides a detailed analysis of under what circumstances (1) information overload most promotes strategic manipulation; (2) initiators' offensive manipulation and targets' defensive response are most effective; (3) strategic manipulation is most legitimate; and (4) strategic manipulation is most dangerous. Finally, the chapter highlights notable general case lessons informing global data shock management, and it explains the countermanipulation conundrum that makes such management so challenging. 5Managing Global Data Shock chapter abstractThis chapter suggests ways to help to manage information overload and to assist both initiators and targets to manage strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise. Creative thinking is vital to cope with foreign data interpretation and strategic manipulation, including combining fluid, innovative, and responsive measures, avoiding "stick-in-the-mud" repetitive use; discovering or creating new information and communication channels; and engaging in more systematic advanced contingency planning. The first step is to avoid the many forms of global data shock mismanagement, which are chronicled in detail regarding information overload, initiator offensive manipulation, and target defensive responses. Then the chapter provides a probing comparative prioritization of general management strategies, showing decisive advantages for some approaches over others. Next it provides specific policy recommendations for improving offensive manipulation and defensive responses under information overload, followed by specific advice for specifically addressing strategic ambiguity, manipulation, and surprise. Conclusion chapter abstractThis conclusion wraps up the book by identifying how global data shock stymies the universal search for meaning; how the rise of informal influence in international relations connects to the growth of strategic manipulation; how ethical concerns arise from the international use of strategic manipulation; how a paradox surrounds the desirability of information transparency on a global scale; how ominous dangers surround future global data shock trends; and how better human-computer, state-to-state, and citizen-government collaboration is needed to cope with global data shock. The emphasis is on taking responsibility to address this seemingly intractable problem rather than avoiding confronting it or fatalistically accepting it.

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Book SynopsisDespite the progress of decades-old disability rights policy, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, threats continue to undermine the wellbeing of this population. The U.S. is, thus, a policy innovator and laggard in this regard. In Politics of Empowerment, David Pettinicchio offers a historically grounded analysis of the singular case of U.S. disability policy, countering long-held views of progress that privilege public demand as its primary driver. By the 1970s, a group of legislators and bureaucrats came to act as "political entrepreneurs." Motivated by personal and professional commitments, they were seen as experts leading a movement within the government. But as they increasingly faced obstacles to their legislative intentions, nascent disability advocacy and protest groups took the cause to the American people forming the basis of the contemporary disability rights movement. Drawing on extensive archival material, Pettinicchio redefines the relationship between grassroots advocacy and institutional politics, revealing a cycle of progress and backlash embedded in the American political system.Trade Review"David Pettinicchio has written a broad and ambitious study of the evolution of American disability policy and disability rights, incorporating changing policy approaches, governmental institutions, and social movement activities into his account. Drawing on legislative documents, policy debates, and sociological concepts, the book situates disability within broader social policy frameworks and political trends. It will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the interplay of disability policies, politics, and rights within the context of American policy-making." -- Richard K. Scotch, Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, and Political Economy * University of Texas at Dallas *"This excellent addition to the policy feedbacks literature shows how federal policy helped disabled activists become fully mobilized citizens. But progress is not always linear. Recurrent retrenchment efforts mean that the push for civil rights for the disabled is incomplete, and their economic citizenship not yet fully realized. A must-read for those interested in social movements and citizen participation." -- Andrea Louise Campbell, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science * MIT *"David Pettinicchio explains the odd but important development of disability politics and policy in the context of changing political alliances and definitions of civil rights. It's a compelling story, with lessons for advocates, policy makers, and anyone who wants to understand either group." -- David S. Meyer * University of California, Irvine *"Empirically, [this book] is a rigorous treatment of the successes and setbacks of the disability rights movement....A number of folks in our field...have discussed the importance of considering institutional actors, and what movement mobilization looks like from their point of view, rather than analyzing movements only from the perspective of movement actors. Pettinicchio does this admirably." -- Joshua A. Basseches * Mobilizing Ideas *"Politics of Empowerment is an important work that will both broaden the view of those interested specifically in the American disability rights movement and those more generally interested in social movements of all kinds." -- Stephen J. Meyers * Mobilization *"[A] meticulous historical and political account of the development of disability policy in the United States....I recommend this book to readers who are interested in understanding how people, politics, and governmental and organizational goals align to increase access and opportunity for marginalized groups." -- Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides * Contemporary Sociology *"Politics of Empowerment is a really, really good book. David Pettinicchio tells the story of disability policy in the United States with great care and close attention to detail....This book is both a specific history of disability policy as well as a broad story of the politics of social change....Politics of Empowerment is in many ways the best kind of scholarship: it generates new thinking and ideas, and it gives the rest of us a strong foundation to build upon." -- Jeremy R. Levine * American Journal of Sociology *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1The Political Evolution of Disability chapter abstractChapter 1 outlines the key tenets of the book's thesis: that disability rights entered into an already-defined agenda space revolving around social services and vocational rehabilitation. It did so by way of political entrepreneurs incrementally carving a path for rights to develop. These policies empowered a group of Americans once thought of exclusively as clients deserving of social services to be citizens entitled to civil rights. But, while it began as an elite-driven movement, disability rights would soon be threatened by policy rollbacks and retrenchment that ultimately mobilized a constituency to defend against these attacks. The political evolution of disability rights therefore provides an opportunity for contextualizing—in terms of time and space—the relationship between social movements, political entrepreneurship, policy shifts, and organizational transformations in the broader struggle for civil rights. 2It's Ability, Not Disability, That Counts chapter abstractChapter 2 further contextualizes the evolution of disability rights by examining the service-provision-dominated policy agenda in the first half of the twentieth century. Until the 1960s, a disability policy monopoly promoted a policy image emphasizing ability over disability—the idea that rehabilitation was necessary to overcome disability and create "good citizens." The chapter investigates the kinds of institutional constraints that prevented any significant policy reforms, requiring elites to pursue incremental policy changes. Political entrepreneurs championed the removal of architectural barriers, promoting equal access by using existing rhetoric about economic self-sufficiency through rehabilitation—and consequently laying the groundwork for rights to flourish. Ultimately, their efforts also helped frame the plight of a heterogeneous group as the common struggle of a community. 3Reshaping the Policy Agenda chapter abstractChapter 3 provides a systematic analysis of the kinds of institutional changes that helped political entrepreneurs extend the political discourse around disability to include civil rights. Beginning with the Great Society, the 1960s and 1970s saw an increasing number of congressional committees and administrative agencies involved in disability issues. While this helped gain disability a place on the agenda, it also generated conflict as different policy frameworks clashed. The chapter draws on the equal rights to transit debate as an example. Chapter 3 also points to the consequences of legislative change: that the way actors went about promoting a new logic around "the problem" of disability shaped policy outcomes, backlash, and most certainly the tools and motivations available to a political constituency to push for their rights. And, in mobilizing against political, economic, and social institutions, the disability rights movement necessarily challenged cultural understandings and meanings of disability. 4How Disability Advocacy Made Citizens out of Clients chapter abstractChapter 4 explains how disability organizations and policy coevolved. In the 1970s, the disability organizational sector underwent an advocacy explosion, as it adapted to a new rights-focused policy environment. Existing service-provision groups adopted political advocacy, alongside a proliferation of new advocacy organizations. The chapter illustrates the interdependent relationship between disability organizations and political entrepreneurs in protecting and advancing disability rights, especially when faced with growing backlash and political threats. Chapter 4 uses the transit debate, as well as educational mainstreaming, to situate the growing demand for advocacy as sympathetic elites confronted attempts to roll back rights. Changes in the disability voluntary sector encouraged the expansion of new mobilizing structures that would bring activists together. 5Politics Is Pressure chapter abstractChapter 5 looks at the rise of disability protest in the context of political threats to existing disability rights legislation. The disability rights movement in the government reflected critical structural and organizational transformations that politicized a constituency. Political entrepreneurs supplied the policy instruments around which disability groups helped mobilize everyday citizens with disabilities to champion their rights. The use of extra-institutional, disruptive tactics was not only necessary when institutional means became less available; it also drew public attention to the kinds of inequality disabled people faced. Educational mainstreaming, equal access to transit and Medicaid, and in-home care serve as salient examples of the decades-old unsettled issues that generated uncertainty and back-stepping, which fueled contentious politics and mobilized a movement. Chapter 5 points to this critical transformation in disability rights from an elite-driven movement in the government to a broader grassroots movement in the streets. 6Empowering the Government chapter abstractChapter 6 returns to the reasons why the disability rights struggle is, to this day, a story of unresolved policy entrenchment. The chapter highlights ongoing debates about integrating students with disabilities into regular classrooms and the continued fight over community-based care—key movement issues that are in deadlock. The same institutional configurations that allowed for policy innovation and political entrepreneurship also led to conflict, obstruction, retrenchment, and undesirable policy consequences. Indeed, the case of disability rights reveals the ways in which the duality in America's political institutions creates both the resources and the motivations for citizen action. The chapter speaks to current efforts to undermine policies like the ADA that are rooted in their political development, negotiation, compromise, and lack of enforcement. It also sheds light on the status of the disability rights movement today and the importance of citizen engagement in this civil rights struggle.

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Book SynopsisFederal entitlement programs are strewn throughout the pages of U.S. history, springing from the noble purpose of assisting people who are destitute through no fault of their own. Yet as federal entitlement programs have grown, so too have their inefficiency and their cost. Neither tax revenues nor revenues generated by the national economy have been able to keep pace with their rising growth, bringing the national debt to a record peacetime level. The High Cost of Good Intentions is the first comprehensive history of these federal entitlement programs. Combining economics, history, political science, and law, John F. Cogan reveals how the creation of entitlements brings forth a steady march of liberalizing forces that cause entitlement programs to expand. This process—as visible in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as in the present day—is repeated until benefits are extended to nearly all who could be considered eligible, and in turn establishes a new base for future expansions. His work provides a unifying explanation for the evolutionary path that nearly all federal entitlement programs have followed over the past two hundred years, tracing both their shared past and the financial risks they pose for future generations.Trade Review"John Cogan's book is an extensively researched and unbiased examination of how well-intentioned federal entitlement programs have evolved to become our country's number one fiscal challenge. His timely historical work deepens our understanding of how entitlement programs have grown into a costly burden that we ultimately cannot afford. Cogan makes clear that slowing the growth of entitlements is essential and that meeting this challenge is more about simple arithmetic than ideology. This book should be read by anyone interested in addressing our nation's fiscal and economic future, regardless of their political persuasion." -- Sam Nunn * former U.S. Senator *"Finally someone has written a comprehensive history of America's efforts to help worthy groups of Americans: the elderly, the veteran, the less fortunate, and the very young. It is a history of ever more generous help to ever larger groups of people. You can agree or disagree with the merit of all these programs, but the cost is clear, and John Cogan shows why that cost has been either ignored or passed to future generations. The first step in fixing our entitlements is knowing their history. Cogan has now given us that history." -- Bill Bradley * former U.S. Senator *"John Cogan thoroughly reviews one of the greatest challenges facing our country: the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending. He provides a comprehensive view of the issue by looking at the history, the evolution, and the daunting numbers. Cogan brings his extraordinary knowledge and background in economics, fiscal policy, health care, and Social Security to bear in this book to give the reader a full understanding of the roots and the extent of this growing problem that must be tackled." -- Paul D. Ryan * Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives *"John Cogan lays bare the historic roots of the most important economic problem confronting American policymakers today: our runaway entitlements juggernaut. In the past half-century it has consumed ten percentage points of GDP, threatening productivity and economic growth. Cogan does not profess to have found an easy, short-term solution to runaway entitlement growth, but his masterful historical perspective does suggest what must be done sooner, rather than later. This is an important and splendid book." -- Alan Greenspan * former Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States (1987–2006) and former Chairman of the National Commission on Social Security Reform (1983) *"The High Cost of Good Intentions is a thoroughly researched, intellectually serious history of every major American entitlement program, from Revolutionary and Civil War pensions to Social Security, food stamps, and Obamacare. I know of no other work that offers such a comprehensive, readable history of the American welfare state." -- R. Shep Melnick * Claremont Review of Books *"John Cogan gives us a blockbuster treatise on the history of federal entitlement programs. Part education, part cautionary tale, this richly researched book is above all a fascinating and insightful saga on how and why federal entitlements grow. A valuable guide to the future." -- George P. Shultz, Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; former U.S. Secretary of State, Treasury * and Labor; and former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget *"John Cogan's history of federal entitlement programs warns us that the ice we skate on has grown thinner decade by decade....Cogan provides useful case studies of measures that were sensible, self-limiting, and freedom-enhancing like the GI Bill, and current ones that grow as each benefit expansion leads to future entitlements that leave worthy original goals no longer recognizable." -- World Magazine 2017 Books of the Year"[The book] will surely be of interest to academics, policymakers, and the members of the public with concern for the consequences of entitlements in the United States....[T]his is an easy book to recommend." -- Bill Dupor * National Association for Business Economics *"People often wonder how "the land of the free" acquired such a huge government that interferes with so many parts of our lives. Cogan has shown how that happened with entitlement programs, which are a huge part of government." -- David R. Henderson * Regulation *"John F. Cogan handles the historical details of myriad social programs with considerable competence...This book covers subjects missing from the historical literature and generalizes across cases in useful ways. It will surely aid historians as they write about the modern welfare state."––Edward D. Berkowitz, Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsContents and Abstracts1Introduction chapter abstractThe book addresses the question of how and why federal entitlement programs have grown so large and have become so far removed from the ideals on which they were founded. It presents a history of major federal entitlement programs from the beginning of the Republic to the present, showing how they evolved and explaining the forces that caused their evolution. The programs covered include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, other welfare programs, and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century veterans' disability pensions. These programs have sprung from the noble intention of providing assistance to people who are destitute through no fault of their own. As well-meaning and beneficial as many entitlements may be, they have come at a high cost, measured by lower national savings, higher public debt, and slower economic growth. Today, entitlements present the United States with a fiscal challenge unlike any other in the nation's history. 2Creating Legislative Precedents: Revolutionary War Pensions chapter abstractRevolutionary War pensions were the nation's first entitlement program. The program's evolution provides an early glimpse of Congress's tendency to liberalize entitlements and the forces that drive Congress. The original federal program limited annual pensions to Continental Army soldiers and seamen who became impoverished as a result of disabling wartime injuries or illness. Congress enlarged and expanded these benefits until, in the 1830s, they covered virtually all Revolutionary War seamen and soldiers, including volunteers and members of the state militia, and their widows, regardless of disability or income. Each liberalization was justified on the grounds that it was providing pensions to veterans who were no less worthy of assistance than veterans who were already receiving pensions. Each established a new base of benefits from which Congress considered subsequent liberalizations. Each was a result of political pressures generated by large federal budget surpluses. 3An Experiment with Government Trust Funds: Navy Pensions chapter abstractThe navy pension fund program was the federal government's first trust fund. It was financed by a single, dedicated source of revenue: prize money from the sale of captured enemy and pirate ships and their contents, commonly called "booty." The navy pension's early history provides a second example of Congress's tendency to liberalize entitlement program eligibility whenever surplus funds are available. However, in the case of navy pensions, it was surpluses of prize money in the trust fund rather than overall federal budget surpluses, that mattered. The trust fund's insolvency in 1840, the direct result of an ill-considered benefit expansion, serves as an early warning for Social Security and Medicare trust funds. 4The First Great Entitlement: Civil War Pensions chapter abstractThe Civil War pension program followed the same evolutionary path as earlier veterans' pensions, except on a far grander scale. The program evolved into a general disability and retirement program for virtually all Union soldiers. At the program's peak in 1896, pensions were provided to nearly 1 million Union soldiers and their survivors, and annual pension expenditures reached an extraordinary 40 percent of federal budget expenditures. The program's liberalizations were fueled by large federal budget surpluses. In the late nineteenth century, the Republican Party used generous Civil War pension benefits to gain electoral advantage. The pensions played an important role in the realignment of the American electorate behind the party in the 1890s. The pension program also spawned America's first national, single-issue lobby: the Grand Army of the Republic. The GAR exerted a powerful influence on pension legislation and served as a forerunner to large twentieth-century lobbying organizations. 5Repeating Past Mistakes: World War I Veterans' Benefits chapter abstractCongress enacted World War I disability pension programs with the objective of preventing a repeat of the Civil War pension program's excesses. The novel programs were designed to alleviate future political pressures to liberalize disability pensions as veterans aged. These programs proved to be no match for claims for benefits by ineligible veterans and the availability of large budget surpluses. Congress not only extended World War I veterans' pensions as it had previous wartime pensions; it did so at a much faster pace. Promises of benefits, called "bonus" payments, by a 1924 law spawned mass marches by veterans in cities throughout the country demanding their promised entitlement benefit. The most memorable of these was the 1932 Bonus Expeditionary Force march on Washington, D.C., which ended when troops under General Douglas McArthur's command drove the veterans from the city. 6Retrenchment: Roosevelt and the Veterans chapter abstractThe first year of the Roosevelt administration witnessed the largest reduction in an entitlement program in U.S. history. Franklin Roosevelt terminated pensions for 450,000 veterans and reduced the amount of monthly pensions for thousands of veterans who remained on the rolls. The story of how he achieved this result provides lessons for future presidents. The president made a strong moral and economic case for terminating veterans and used the budget crisis created by the Great Depression to prod Congress to give him the authority to cut pensions. Throughout the remainder of the president's first two terms, President Roosevelt used his veto power and other powers of the office of the president to sustain the vast majority of these reductions. 7The Birth of the Modern Entitlement State chapter abstractThe New Deal marks the beginning of the modern entitlement system. Until the New Deal, federal entitlements were restricted to people who had performed a specific government service, mainly veterans. The New Deal expanded federal entitlements to people in the population at large, state governments, and private businesses. The landmark Social Security program provided retirement benefits to industrial workers. New federal welfare programs entitled state governments to matching payments for their welfare programs. Unfortunately, important lessons from the government's experience with wartime veterans' pensions went unheeded. The New Deal entitlements also ushered in a new era for the federal courts. The Supreme Court allowed the New Deal entitlements to pass constitutional muster under the "general welfare" clause. Once federal entitlement rights had been granted, the courts adjudicated the nature and extent of these legal rights, eventually creating welfare entitlement rights where none had been legislated. 8The Consequences of Social Security Surpluses chapter abstractCongress again demonstrated its inability to withstand pressures to increase entitlement benefits when surplus funds are available. The 1935 Social Security Act called for the program to build up a large reserve fund during the program's early years that could be drawn on in later years to finance benefits in lieu of higher payroll taxes. The "large reserve" debate led congressional liberals and conservatives to join together in 1939 to use the surplus to raise benefit levels, add survivors' benefits, and delay a previously scheduled payroll tax increase from taking place. 9A New Kind of Entitlement: The GI Bill chapter abstractThe Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the GI Bill, introduced a new type of entitlement program: one that provided in-kind benefits rather than unrestricted cash assistance. The law provided World War II veterans with educational assistance and home, farm, and business loan guarantees. The new type of entitlement bestowed a legal right to reimbursement on persons and institutions that provide the benefits prescribed by the law, in addition to those who receive their services. The GI Bill was the forerunner of the numerous in-kind benefit entitlements enacted in the 1960s and 1970s to provide health care, nutrition, and social services for the elderly, the poor, and the disabled. 10Setting the Postwar Entitlement Agenda: 1946–1950 chapter abstractAt the war's end, the American entitlement state stood at a crucial policy juncture. The New Deal had set the building blocks of the modern American entitlement state firmly in place, but its future remained highly uncertain. President Truman set the course that entitlements would follow for the remainder of the twentieth century. Large Social Security accounting surpluses provided President Truman and congressional Democrats with the means to ensure that Social Security, instead of state old-age programs, became the primary vehicle for delivering assistance to the elderly. In 1950, Congress took a major step toward this end by sharply increasing Social Security benefits and significantly expanding coverage in the workforce. The benefit increase, timed to coincide with the 1950 congressional elections, demonstrated that Democrats had developed the practice of using a major entitlement program to gain electoral advantage into a finely honed skill. Republicans, after showing modest resistance, acquiesced. 111951–1964: Establishing Social Insurance Dominance chapter abstractFrom 1950 to the Great Society, congressional Republicans and Democrats joined together to ensure that Social Security replaced state-run old-age assistance as the first line of defense against poverty among the elderly. Monthly benefits were incrementally expanded, and coverage became nearly universal. Large Social Security accounting surpluses fueled the increases in the early 1950s despite the overall federal budget's often poor condition. Congress's use of Social Security to gain electoral advantage was raised to a fine art, as election-year benefit increases were strategically timed. The only new major new entitlement of the 1950s was the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Soon after it was established, the program followed the familiar path that had been blazed by nineteenth-century veterans' pensions, as eligibility was extended to "equally worthy" groups that had been excluded from the original program. 12The Great Turn in Welfare Policy: 1951–1964 chapter abstractWhile legislation during the years 1951 to 1964 incrementally expanded federal funding for state welfare programs, major fissures emerged in the New Deal's bedrock welfare policy principles of state autonomy and cash assistance. Federal welfare officials used the threat of withholding federal funds as a lever to limit state authority to set welfare eligibility rules. The threats were a response to state and local government actions, particularly those taken by southern state governments with a history of discriminatory treatment of African Americans, to curtail welfare eligibility. As tensions between the two levels of government mounted, Congress stepped in with legislation to strengthen federal authority. By the mid-1960s, the principle of state autonomy had been greatly eroded. At the same time, welfare officials began to question the wisdom of providing additional cash assistance to the poor and turned increasingly to providing in-kind benefits in lieu of additional cash assistance. 13The First Great Society chapter abstractThe Great Society program in 1965 marks the beginning of a remarkable ten-year period in which Congress expanded entitlements at a rapid rate unprecedented in U.S. history. Under President Johnson, new health care entitlement programs, Medicare and Medicaid, were created; Social Security disability was expanded to temporarily disabled workers; two large general increases in Social Security benefits were enacted; and the Aid for Dependent Children program experienced its largest expansion in its thirty-year history. Federal revenues from a rapidly expanding economy provided the fuel for this legislative blitzkrieg. The revenue surge, as with previous surges, made the desire to expand entitlement benefits irresistible. The period, one of great social upheaval, witnessed a new entitlement phenomenon: welfare mothers, urged on by government-funded activists, organized and marched on federal, state, and local governments to demand higher welfare benefits and fewer restrictions on eligibility. 14A Legal Right to Welfare chapter abstractThis legal view that welfare benefits were a gratuity and not an entitlement underwent a significant change in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. Three major Supreme Court decisions from 1969 to 1971 radically expanded the legal rights of welfare recipients and claimants. The Court (1) declared that long-standing state "suitable home" regulations violated federal law, (2) struck down state residence requirements for welfare as a violation of an individual's constitutional right to travel, and (3) ruled that welfare benefits were akin to property and were therefore protected by the Constitution's due process requirements. This last case established a legal entitlement right to welfare benefits. 15The Second Great Society chapter abstractDuring Richard Nixon's presidency, the food stamp program was nationalized, a permanent federal unemployment program was created, a new revenue-sharing program that entitled states and local governments to a share of federal revenue was established, and child nutrition programs were converted into an entitlement to school districts. Presidential proposals for a federally guaranteed annual income and national health insurance program failed. Fueled by pressure from large accounting surpluses in the Social Security trust fund, Congress raised Social Security benefits by 69 percent in four years and indexed Social Security benefits to inflation. But the flawed indexing formula set the program on a path to insolvency. The entitlement liberalizations from 1969 to 1975 caused federal entitlement spending to grow annually at a remarkable 10 percent inflation-adjusted rate. By 1975, entitlements accounted for nearly half of all federal spending. 16First Inklings of Fiscal Limits: 1975–1980 chapter abstractThe years of Jimmy Carter's presidency, plagued by large federal budget deficits from the prior dozen years of entitlement liberalizations, witnessed a dramatically slower pace of entitlement expansions. No new entitlements were written onto the federal statute books. Expansions were mainly limited to the food stamp program in which stamps were made free of charge. The major legislative action concerned Social Security. By 1977, the flawed indexing formula that had been written into the statute books in 1972 had pushed Social Security toward imminent insolvency. Congress responded by enacting a new wage replacement formula that, for the first and only time in the program's history, significantly reduced benefits that had been promised to workers. The reductions were not limited to people who would retire decades later. They were also reduced for workers who were in their late 50s at the time the law was enacted. 17A Temporary Slowdown: 1981–1989 chapter abstractPresident Reagan was the first president in U.S. history to attempt to comprehensively reduce entitlement spending. His efforts were part of a larger package of economic policies designed to restore noninflationary growth to the U.S. economy. The package produced a colossal battle with Congress. The first two years of furious combat dominated the business of Congress. Congress subjected almost every major entitlement program to at least some retrenchment. Fiercely contested budget battles continued for the next six years as Congress sought to return to its long-standing practice of incrementally expanding entitlements. The administration's implacable opposition and large budget deficits severely limited entitlement liberalizations. The entitlement restraint from 1981 to 1989 reversed a thirty-year upward trend. Yet despite the Reagan administration's achievements, the entitlement state in 1989 remained largely intact. Its largest programs had defied retrenchment. 18Recognition and Denial: 1989–2014 chapter abstractBy the early 1990s, federal officials recognized the true magnitude of the looming fiscal storm that entitlements had created. Yet the executive and legislative branches of government ignored the warnings. Both branches of government worked in concert to expand eligibility for Medicaid, the earned income tax credit, and food stamps and to expand Medicare to prescription drugs. These liberalizations mainly extended aid to "worthy" nonpoor persons. Congress and President Obama capped off the period by extending health insurance subsidies to people with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty line. Attempts to restrain federal spending proved fruitless. In one striking departure from these legislative patterns, Congress enacted reversed decades of federal welfare policy by eliminating an individual's entitlement to AFDC benefits and transferring program policymaking authority to the states. 19A Challenge Unlike Any Other in U.S. History chapter abstractFederal entitlements now distribute government aid on a scale that is unprecedented in history. Over half of all U.S. households receive entitlement assistance. Most entitlement spending serves purposes other than reducing the degree of poverty among the poor. The soaring growth in entitlement spending creates a unique fiscal challenge. History provides a guide to meeting the challenge, but a fundamental restructuring is needed. A restructuring must keep in mind that providing assistance to individuals who are impoverished through no fault of their own is a hallmark of a compassionate society. The book optimistically concludes by noting that the main elements for a change in entitlement policy are coming into place. There is widespread public skepticism that entitlements are delivering on their promises and that the country can afford to deliver on future promises. But mounting public pressure will ultimately force a change in government policies.

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Book SynopsisToday, the concept of "the refugee" as distinct from other migrants looms large. Immigration laws have developed to reinforce a dichotomy between those viewed as voluntary, often economically motivated, migrants who can be legitimately excluded by potential host states, and those viewed as forced, often politically motivated, refugees who should be let in. In Crossing, Rebecca Hamlin argues against advocacy positions that cling to this distinction. Everything we know about people who decide to move suggests that border crossing is far more complicated than any binary, or even a continuum, can encompass. Drawing on cases of various "border crises" across Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East, Hamlin outlines major inconsistencies and faulty assumptions on which the binary relies. The migrant/refugee binary is not just an innocuous shorthand—indeed, its power stems from the way in which it is painted as apolitical. In truth, the binary is a dangerous legal fiction, politically constructed with the ultimate goal of making harsh border control measures more ethically palatable to the public. This book is a challenge to all those invested in the rights and study of migrants to move toward more equitable advocacy for all border crossers.Trade Review"Crossing is a theoretically rich, historically informed, and empirically sweeping corrective to misleading narratives about forced versus voluntary migration and the legal realities they generate. Rebecca Hamlin excavates the deep harms done by imposing distorting categories on the diverse realities of migrant lives and shows us how better language and laws will benefit everyone."—Elizabeth F. Cohen, Syracuse University"A remarkable book. Hamlin applies deep insight and meticulous research to explore the expedient but misleading wisdom that sharply distinguishes refugees from migrants. This is essential reading for anyone eager for a pathbreaking and surely influential perspective on migration in the twenty-first century."—Hiroshi Motomura, UCLA School of Law"Hamlin's book indeed wakes interest for these aspects: what is that space called 'beyond binaries' like and how are we to navigate it without use of other concepts that make sense in relation to their origin?"—Aina Backman, Anthropology Book Forum"In this book, Rebecca Hamlin has skillfully brought into view the manifold consequences of the persistent migrant/refugee binary on policy, advocacy, and scholarship. Illuminating both its origins and effects, and offering impulses for challenging it, Crossing is set to become a key point of reference for those seeking to deconstruct the problematic binary 'migrant/refugee' logic – and potentially paves the way for a deconstruction of the logic of the border itself."—Silvester Schlebrügge, Ethnic and Racial StudiesTable of Contents1. The Migrant/Refugee Binary 2. Uneven Sovereignties 3. Academic Study 4. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 5. The Global South 6. Arrivals in Europe 7. American Public Discourse 8. Beyond Binary Thinking

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Book SynopsisCan there be good social policy? This book describes what happens to Indigenous policy when it targets the supposedly 'wild people' of regional and remote Australia. Tess Lea explores naturalized policy: policy unplugged, gone live, ramifying in everyday life, to show that it is policies that are wild, not the people being targeted. Lea turns the notion of unruliness on its head to reveal a policy-driven world dominated by short term political interests and their erratic, irrational effects, and by the less obvious protection of long-term interests in resource extraction and the liberal settler lifestyles this sustains. Wild Policy argues policies are not about undoing the big causes of enduring inequality, and do not ameliorate harms terribly well either—without yielding all hope. Drawing on efforts across housing and infrastructure, resistant media-making, health, governance and land tenure battles in regional and remote Australia, Wild Policy looks at how the logics of intervention are formulated and what this reveals in answer to the question: why is it all so hard? Lea offers readers a layered, multi-relational approach called policy ecology to probe the related question, 'what is to be done?' Lea's case material will resonate with analysts across the world who deal with infrastructures, policy, technologies, mining, militarization, enduring colonial legacies, and the Anthropocene.Trade Review"By naming the arbitrary, anarchic nature of policy, Tess Lea turns the notion of unruliness on its head. The sheer effectiveness of the writing speaks to her ethnographic skill in delineating bureaucratic purpose: the result is a stunning re-visioning whose implications will reach far beyond what stimulated it." -- Marilyn Strathern * University of Cambridge *"Wild Policy offers an extraordinary contribution to the anthropology of policy, settler colonialism, and infrastructural inequality. Tess Lea's profound accomplishment rests on her sharp, ethnographically innovative account of policy as a milieu, its attention to the uneven ground of policy's materiality, and its appreciation for the work involved in wresting some good from policy's consequential detritus." -- Daniel Fisher * University of California, Berkeley *"Lea is an acute observer of the everyday practices that characterise the wild, disorderly, and strange cultural world of the interventionist settler-colonial state....this is courageous scholarship. Wild Policy's blast of originality compelled me." -- Eve Vincent * Sydney Review of Books *"[There] is a poetics in Lea's anthologising of policies, one that is profoundly moored in land and relations. The efficacy and power of Lea's work, be [it] destabilising or advocating, lies in their specific and relational mode of engagement with human and more-than-human worlds." -- Jamie Wang * Sydney Environment Institute *"Wild Policy provides a nuanced take on how policy is formulated and implemented in ways that exclude Indigenous experience, and seeks to rectify this through the interludes that present Indigenous knowledge apart from scholarly theorization." -- Claire Ross and Alexander Howes * Political and Legal Anthropology Review *

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Book SynopsisThe backlash against globalization and the rise of cultural anxiety has led to considerable re-thinking among social scientists. This book provides multiple theoretical, historical, and methodological orientations to examine these issues. While addressing the rise of populism worldwide, the volume provides explanations that cover periods of both cultural turbulence and stability. Issues addressed include populism and cultural anxiety, class, religion, arts and cultural diversity, global environment norms, international trade, and soft power. The interdisciplinary scholarship from well-known scholars questions the oft-made assumption in political economy that holds culture "constant," which in practice means marginalizing it in the explanation. The volume conceptualizes culture as a repertoire of values and alternatives. Locating human interests in underlying cultural values does not make political economy's strategic or instrumental calculations of interests redundant: the instrumental logic follows a social context and a distribution of cultural values, while locating forms of decision-making that may not be rational.Trade Review"This book offers a multifaceted approach to problems of social order, inclusion, difference, value, and values. During a time when there is a tendency to simplify complex problems with reductive recipes, slogans, and tweets, Cultural Values in Political Economy is a timely contribution to reviving and rethinking our collective approach to political economy." -- Paolo Quattrone * Alliance Manchester Business School *"Understanding the ever-changing relationship between culture, economy, and politics is among the herculean tasks of the social sciences. With Cultural Values in Political Economy, J.P. Singh has collected excellent essays by leading scholars that revisit this relationship in the context of 21st-century shifts." -- Helmut K. Anheier, Hertie School * Berlin *"This masterful collection illuminates many of the all-important interfaces between culture and economy. Distinguished authors from diverse fields show how economies order cultural values, and how cultural change can reshape economic policies. These insights have never been more important than in these times when cultures and economies are being challenged." -- W. Lance Bennett, University of Washington * Seattle *"Topics include social class dynamics, religious values, cultural anxiety, the humanities and cultural diversity, the global environment and the green revolution, worldwide trade patterns, and the soft power of persuasion as employed by some countries to influence the policies of other nations.The latter is particularly salient in the conduct of relationships by major powers among developing nations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, where international education agendas and the development of natural resources are frequently contested... Recommended." -- S. Prisco III * CHOICE *"Understanding the relationship between culture, economy, and politics is an essential future task in the development of the social sciences, and the book edited by J. P. Singh is an important and timely contribution to this challenging research agenda." -- Trine Bille * International Journal of Cultural Policy *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsForeword: Cultural Mediations and Political Economy chapter abstractCulture is often treated as a marginal or residual factor in explanations of economic and political behavior. The foreword argues that to understand the interconnected role of values, interests, and agency in the study of global transactions in political economy, culture needs to be seen as independent, generative, and future oriented. By taking this richer approach to culture, many phenomena that escape the net of rational choice theory become more understandable, especially in a world of new connections, mobilizations, and innovations in the political sphere. 1Introduction: Cultural Values in Political Economy chapter abstractAn intrinsic part of culture is its history. However, at any given time, different cultural values are sifted through this history and mobilized for collective action. This chapter provides a context for understanding the role of cultural values in political economy examined in this book. Conceptually, the book attempts to provide an interdisciplinary and comprehensive understanding of cultural values imbricated in political economy and the way to move from collective to individual interests, and vice versa. These theoretical moorings allow the authors to operationalize culture through a variety of methods including historical, ethnographic, case-study, and quantitative evidence. Part I provides the conceptual foundations that engender the cultural assumptions held implicit or constant in a few analyses and explains the contexts under which cultures transform interests. Part II presents chapters that examine the processes of cultural interactions that flow from underlying values. 2Culture and Preference Formation chapter abstractEconomists take preferences to be comparative evaluations of alternatives that incorporate every factor the agent takes to influence her choices other than beliefs and constraints. Rational choice is determined by rational preferences among the alternatives that agents believe to be feasible and, to a reasonable degree of approximation, the theory of rational choice does double duty as a theory of actual choice. It may seem impossible to employ the economist's model to make sense of the influence of culture or of the mechanisms of cultural change because the economist's model treats norms and ideals as merely different influences on preferences. Yet, as this chapter argues, nothing in the economist's model rules out incorporating additional mechanisms of preference formation and change. Moreover, it argues that doing so is helpful both in understanding the interactions between culture and action and in articulating a more detailed and promising theory of rational choice. 3Value and Values in Economics and Culture chapter abstractIssues of value and valuation are fundamental to any consideration of the relationships between economics and culture. This chapter discusses these relationships at both macro and micro levels. First, we consider the possible connections between the cultural values of different societies and their national economic performance. Then, turning to a functional sense of culture, the chapter argues that in addressing questions of the value of art and culture, it is essential to distinguish between economic value and cultural value, in which the latter refers to aspects of value that are not expressible in monetary terms. Illustrations are drawn from studies of the value of the visual arts, literature, and music. Next, we consider culture in international economic relations, discussing value and valuation in the areas of intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity, and sustainable development. The chapter concludes with a plea for more dialogue at an interdisciplinary level. 4Creating a Culture of Environmental Responsibility chapter abstractThis chapter explores possibilities for creating a new culture of environmental responsibility, drawing mainly on recent work in environmental political theory and philosophy. It begins from the assumption that culture—conceived as a repertoire of shared values—is crucial to understanding the interests that people feel themselves to have and that cultural values can powerfully influence long-term changes in society. If we want to improve environmental outcomes, we will need a new culture of environmental responsibility. Key to establishing this culture is novel ways of thinking about what responsibility means and creating new political and economic practices to support it. 5Cosmopolitans and Parochials: Economy, Culture, and Political Conflict chapter abstractBoth political economy and culture have been marshalled as explanations for parochialism and cosmopolitanism, opposing orientations that influence contemporary politics and foreign policy. Simple models based on international economic position do not adequately explain parochial attitudes on such issues as Brexit or immigration. Cosmopolitan attitudes are linked to a particular, often local, cultural infrastructure (information environment, educational institutions, and transnational experience). In explaining both parochial and cosmopolitan attitudes and action, the effects of globalization on local culture and politics are of central importance. The link from economy to political behavior and outcomes is created by divergent locational effects of globalization and the local cultures they produce: globalized urban environments versus disadvantaged hinterlands that perceive themselves as left behind. International political economy must illuminate this link between economy and culture, which has important public policy implications. 6Crossing Borders: Culture, Identity, and Access to Higher Education chapter abstractThrough the adoption of a semiotic approach to culture, this chapter aims to assist in the development of a cultural explanation of global political culture. A semiotic approach asserts that meaning is assigned by participants to social patterns and behaviors found in society. The experience of boundary spaces offers a laboratory of sorts for revealing the contours of culture and cultural differences, including class differences. It is the experience of stepping out of a comfort zone and into alien space, a place where one does not necessarily know what goes with what, that is most revealing. Habituated roles create the contours of borders and boundaries that come with attendant expectations and customs associated with nation, class, race, gender, and age, among other identities. 7Ideology, Economic Interests, and American Exceptionalism: The Case of Export Credit chapter abstractThis chapter analyzes the sources and implications of American exceptionalism in the area of export credit. For virtually all major economies, export credit is an important industrial policy tool to promote economic growth. Remarkably, however, while its rivals are dramatically increasing their use of export credit, the United States has become a major outlier. An ideologically driven campaign led by the Tea Party sharply constrained the operations of the US Export-Import Bank: the bank was shut down entirely for five months in 2015 and subsequently limited to financing only minor transactions for nearly four years. This chapter argues that American exceptionalism on export credit cannot be understood without reference to culture, specifically the market fundamentalist ideology of the Tea Party, which has led to a conception of national economic interests and preferences that departs radically from other states. 8Strangest of Bedfellows: Why the Religious Right Embraced Trump and What That Means for the Movement chapter abstractThis chapter outlines the connection and disconnection between cultural and material factors in the rise of the religious right in the United States. This social movement comprises socially conservative and politically active born-again and evangelical Christians, as well as some ultraconservative Catholics. This movement comes out of a unique subculture that is suspicious of mainstream political and social institutions and that rejects many of the conventional norms of a democratic society. At once, this subculture claims moral superiority in what it considers a corrupted society while pursuing access to levers of power in order to conform the mainstream culture more to its own idealized image of the United States. Religious conservatives were the key to electing Donald J. Trump as president, and this chapter explores linkages of social and cultural issues to the broader economic factors that played a substantial role in religious conservative support for his election. 9Applying the Soft Power Rubric: How Study Abroad Data Reveals International Cultural Relations chapter abstractA country's ability to attract foreign students to its universities is one common way to understand its soft power in the international community. Applying the Soft Power Rubric to empirical data, this chapter reveals the preferences of students who go abroad and uncovers South Africa's and Malaysia's roles as rising regional hubs and France's slowing growth as a global hub, which complicate our understanding of North-South or core-periphery postcolonial relations. The rubric reconceives soft power as when foreigners transform their thinking from "us" and "them" to a collective "we," emphasizing the perspective of the countries at the periphery rather than at the core, unveiling important networks of cultural relations, offering a path forward to bring cultural data into empirical modeling, and pointing to fruitful areas for future work. The chapter also offers a contrast with others in this book that emphasize a reaction against globalization.

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Book SynopsisHow one law tells the story of America's modern criminal justice movement In late 2018, the First Step Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump just hours before a government shutdown. It was one of few major pieces of federal criminal justice reform since the 1970s to move toward reversing the incarceration frenzy that had characterized United States policy. While it did not amount to revolutionary reform, in Reform Nation, Colleen P. Eren investigates it as a symbol for the larger movement's trajectory. Its unlikely passage during a period of political polarization was testament to the power of a new constellation of advocates, stakeholders, and strange bedfellow alliances. These intriguing and complex dynamics are indicative of a longer, twenty-year shift in which the movement became nationalized and mainstreamed. Using in-depth interviews with major players in the national movement, formerly incarcerated activists, celebrities, and donors, this is the first book to turn the mirror back on the criminal justice reform movement itself—the frames used, the voices heard, the capital activated among elite participants, and the bitter controversies. This snapshot in time raises much larger questions about how our democratic processes inform criminal justice policy, and where we are going in the decades to come.Trade Review"A critical look behind the scenes at the way 'criminal justice reform' has blossomed into not just a movement but also, at times, a kind of industry. Eren's book is vital to our understanding of how change happens—and doesn't."—Baz Dreisinger, author, Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World"Reform Nation is well-timed for the current moment in criminal justice reform. Colleen Eren captures the political and social dynamics of recent years and lays out a compelling set of issues and challenges for the reform movement moving forward."—Marc Mauer, Senior Advisor, The Sentencing Project"Reform Nation is an invaluable and timely gift. This lively, behind-the scenes narrative brilliantly documents the emergence of a broad, bipartisan, and highly effective justice reform coalition. Energized by the leadership of justice-impacted individuals, this coalition brings together business leaders, philanthropists, civil rights advocates, religious organizations and strange-bedfellow politicians. By comparing this political development with other social movements, and contrasting this consensus with the realities of our deeply divided democracy, Eren elevates her narrative to that rare scholarly voice that speaks to the challenges of the moment. Reform Nation offers reasons for hope and caution at a time when our forward momentum faces new winds of opposition. This book should serve as a new guide for the justice reform movement in the next chapter of a long struggle."—Jeremy Travis, Senior Fellow at the Justice Lab at Columbia University, President Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice"Eren's book is a masterful account of how grassroots activism on a cause that very few people really cared about blossomed into a win for not just better treatment of people convicted of certain crimes but a better use of tax dollars. She blends original interviews with major players in the reform movement with great storytelling and a sociological framework that illuminates the complexities of all reform efforts."—Nick Gillespie, ReasonTable of Contents1. The First Step Act Puzzle 2. Mainstreamization and the Movement 3. Billionaires, Philanthropy, and Reform 4. Celebrity Activism and Reform 5. Reform®: Corporate Social Activism and Reform 6. Strange Bedfellows 7. Formerly Incarcerated Activists and the Future of Criminal Justice Reform

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Book SynopsisIn 2001, Ethiopian Television aired a documentary about a small, rural village called Awra Amba, where women ploughed, men worked in the kitchen, and so-called harmful traditional practices did not exist. The documentary radically challenged prevailing images of Ethiopia as a gender-conservative and aid-dependent place, and Awra Amba became a symbol of gender equality and sustainable development in Ethiopia and beyond. Village Gone Viral uses the example of Awra Amba to consider the widespread circulation and use of modeling practices in an increasingly transnational and digital policy world. With a particular focus on traveling models—policy models that become "viral" through various vectors, ranging from NGOs and multilateral organizations to the Internet—Marit Tolo Østebø critically examines the hidden dimensions of models and model making. While a policy model may be presented as a "best practice," one that can be scaled up and successfully applied to other places, the local impacts of the model paradigm are far more ambivalent—potentially increasing social inequalities, reinforcing social stratification, and concealing injustice. With this book, Østebø ultimately calls for a reflexive critical anthropology of the production, circulation, and use of models as instruments for social change.Trade Review"Through innovative research in Ethiopia and beyond, Marit Tolo Østebø exposes the hidden dimensions of how policy models gain traction and with what consequences. Village Gone Viral follows the global circuits of a 'model' African village and the impact on its place of origin to offer original insights, well-written and relevant to wide audiences." -- Victoria Bernal * University of California, Irvine *"With this lively and engaging book, Marit Tolo Østebø not only provides a convincing and compelling account from a 'model village' in contemporary Ethiopia. She also enriches the anthropology of development with new theoretical tools and updates it with concepts appropriate for the Internet age. Highly recommended." -- Thomas Hylland Eriksen * University of Oslo *"Marit Tolo Østebø's engaged, excellently researched, and accessible Village Gone Viral stands out for its detailed examination of how circulating policy models are translated into everyday village life. Wherever in the world readers are, they will quickly feel familiar with what goes on in the seemingly remote village of Awra Amba." -- Richard Rottenburg * Wits University *"This thoughtful study is a distinctive addition to the theoretically complex literature on the anthropology of policy...Village Gone Viralgains depth and relevancy by acknowledging the importance of recognizing actions of inequality, exclusion, and injustice as evidence of flaws in an ideal social model, which can detrimentally impact any international application. Recommended." -- R. B. Ridinger * CHOICE *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThe Introduction opens with a vignette that illustrates the traveling nature of policy models. This is followed by an outline of the book's overall argument and objectives and a brief synopsis of how models, in various forms, increasingly are used as policy instruments and in efforts aimed at generating social and behavioral change. I then introduce viral assemblage, a theoretical and analytical concept that can help us make sense of how ideas and models travel in an increasingly transnational and digital world. Finally, I move to a methodological section where, in addition to situating myself in the field, I discuss how the concept of viral assemblage can also help us make sense of the methods, processes, and products that we, as anthropologists, engage in and create. 1The Village chapter abstractIn Chapter 1, I first outline key characteristics of the Awra Amba community and its history, as commonly conveyed and globally known. I then transition to an ethnographic vignette that draws on one of my first visits to the community. In addition to introducing some of the ambivalences, paradoxes, and silences that spurred me to explore beyond and behind the official narrative, this account illustrates some of the methodological and ethical dilemmas I have faced while researching Awra Amba. The chapter ends with a discussion of these ambiguities. 2Ethiopia—The Real Wakanda? chapter abstractIn Chapter 2, I situate Awra Amba in a broader historical and political context. As I detail how development and gender-related policies have evolved in and been implemented in Ethiopia, I pay particular attention to the prominent role that models, in various forms, have played in shaping the political ideologies and policies of the various Ethiopian regimes. The current government has positioned itself as an independent developmental state, setting conditions for donor involvement. Nevertheless, I show how Ethiopia's development policies have been, and continue to be, influenced by global currents and policies. This is clearly reflected in the way that gender and women's rights issues are framed in the Ethiopian context. 3The Emergence of a Traveling Model chapter abstractBy situating Awra Amba within the broader model village paradigm and in relation to a nearby expert-initiated model village, Chapter 3 deconstructs the different parts that constitute the Awra Amba model and the various ways models come into being. I draw on Clifford Geertz's distinction between models for and models of and Richard Rottenburg's concept of traveling models to show how multiple models emerge in the Awra Amba case. I suggest that the power of the traveling model—its capacity to go viral—is conditioned on the existence of a representative model, which is produced and performed at a specific place or location and reflects the ideologies and emotional sentiments of its interacting audience, who picks it up and facilitates its circulation. In other words, the model for and a corresponding model of enable and produce the traveling model. 4Alayhim—A Potential Disruption chapter abstractWith a particular focus on Awra Amba's contested history, Chapter 4 further explores the dynamics of model making. I argue that model making within the global policy world, similar to that in fields such as science and economics, can best be understood as a process of idealization—of ordering a complex assemblage. This is a process in which actors who benefit from the model and its status as an ideal type accentuate certain desirable elements of a perceived reality, while erasing or silencing elements that create unwanted complexity. In the Awra Amba case, the disruptive elements are most clearly captured in its partly hidden past—in the community's historical and ideological links to a Sufi community known as Alayhim. I end the chapter with an analysis of why Alayhim, just like a virus, represents a threatening and potentially disruptive element. 5Modes of Transmission chapter abstractIn Chapter 5, I discuss the vehicles and infrastructure—the multiple pathways and the networks of actors and vectors—that have facilitated the spread of the Awra Amba model as a transnational model for gender equality and sustainable development. To use an epidemiological term, we can think of this as the traveling model's modes of transmission. While the Awra Amba case illustrates that the exchange of ideas between conventional policy actors during policy tours, workshops, and seminars remains important in terms of facilitating a model's virality, it also points to the importance of looking beyond conventional policy actors and infrastructure. The constant emergence of new actors, partnerships, and technologies in our increasingly globalized and digitalized world has radically changed the ways policy ideas and models come into being and then travel. 6Going Viral chapter abstractWhy do some models go viral, while others do not? What is it that has compelled the various vectors and carriers in the Awra Amba assemblage to pick up and spread the community's stories and values? These are the questions I explore in Chapter 6, where I expand current academic conversations on policy mobility and traveling models, examining stories told by people who have been "infected" by Awra Amba and as a result are transmitting and circulating the model. These stories reveal that affect and desire play a key role in fueling a model's virality. This is an aspect that the existing literature on policy mobility and traveling models has overlooked. 7Conditional Virality chapter abstractWith an empirical focus on Lyfta and the company's flagship product, The Awra Amba Experience, Chapter 7 sheds light on how emotions and empathy both fuel and limit Awra Amba's virality. Driven by a passion to foster global citizenship and empathy and to counter the negative and stereotypical images that dominate mainstream media, Lyfta's producers very consciously draw on the logics of affect in the creation and marketing of their product. Yet, the stories they have produced rely on and reify the stereotypes they intend to challenge. While it is often assumed that empathy is key to greater social justice, the commercialization of The Awra Amba Experience, along with the "othering" that underpins Lyfta's documentaries, produce exclusionary practices. This shows that empathy not only is insufficient for understanding power structures but it can also sustain and create them. 8Being a Model chapter abstractHow "authentic" are the official Awra Amba narratives? Is Awra Amba a place where gender equality is real? Chapter 8 sheds light on the effects that being chosen or identified as a model have on the model itself. I show how becoming a model has led to increased recognition, benefits, and preferential treatment for the community, contributing to infrastructural and economic improvements. Yet, it is also clear that the model status comes at a price: obligations, responsibilities, and pressures to engage in representational and performative strategies aimed at maintaining, controlling, and stabilizing the Awra Amba narrative. The community's status as a model limits the possibility of questioning and challenging inequalities and injustices, shaping a community that only partly reflects the idealized model for a just, gender-equal, and peaceful society depicted in common representations of Awra Amba. Conclusion: Infected chapter abstractThe Conclusion opens with an ethnographic, self-reflective vignette that describes how I myself, eventually, became "infected" with the Awra Amba virus. By linking my fascination with Lyfta's products—particularly The Awra Amba Experience—to a pedagogical model I use in the classroom, I show how this infection was conditioned on and linked to my own identity and desires as an educator. Finally, I return to the meta-normative concerns that animate my work, drawing out the lessons to be learned from this case study and the relevance of viral assemblage for a context-sensitive, critical anthropology of traveling models.

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Book SynopsisIn 2001, Ethiopian Television aired a documentary about a small, rural village called Awra Amba, where women ploughed, men worked in the kitchen, and so-called harmful traditional practices did not exist. The documentary radically challenged prevailing images of Ethiopia as a gender-conservative and aid-dependent place, and Awra Amba became a symbol of gender equality and sustainable development in Ethiopia and beyond. Village Gone Viral uses the example of Awra Amba to consider the widespread circulation and use of modeling practices in an increasingly transnational and digital policy world. With a particular focus on traveling models—policy models that become "viral" through various vectors, ranging from NGOs and multilateral organizations to the Internet—Marit Tolo Østebø critically examines the hidden dimensions of models and model making. While a policy model may be presented as a "best practice," one that can be scaled up and successfully applied to other places, the local impacts of the model paradigm are far more ambivalent—potentially increasing social inequalities, reinforcing social stratification, and concealing injustice. With this book, Østebø ultimately calls for a reflexive critical anthropology of the production, circulation, and use of models as instruments for social change.Trade Review"Through innovative research in Ethiopia and beyond, Marit Tolo Østebø exposes the hidden dimensions of how policy models gain traction and with what consequences. Village Gone Viral follows the global circuits of a 'model' African village and the impact on its place of origin to offer original insights, well-written and relevant to wide audiences." -- Victoria Bernal * University of California, Irvine *"With this lively and engaging book, Marit Tolo Østebø not only provides a convincing and compelling account from a 'model village' in contemporary Ethiopia. She also enriches the anthropology of development with new theoretical tools and updates it with concepts appropriate for the Internet age. Highly recommended." -- Thomas Hylland Eriksen * University of Oslo *"Marit Tolo Østebø's engaged, excellently researched, and accessible Village Gone Viral stands out for its detailed examination of how circulating policy models are translated into everyday village life. Wherever in the world readers are, they will quickly feel familiar with what goes on in the seemingly remote village of Awra Amba." -- Richard Rottenburg * Wits University *"This thoughtful study is a distinctive addition to the theoretically complex literature on the anthropology of policy...Village Gone Viralgains depth and relevancy by acknowledging the importance of recognizing actions of inequality, exclusion, and injustice as evidence of flaws in an ideal social model, which can detrimentally impact any international application. Recommended." -- R. B. Ridinger * CHOICE *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThe Introduction opens with a vignette that illustrates the traveling nature of policy models. This is followed by an outline of the book's overall argument and objectives and a brief synopsis of how models, in various forms, increasingly are used as policy instruments and in efforts aimed at generating social and behavioral change. I then introduce viral assemblage, a theoretical and analytical concept that can help us make sense of how ideas and models travel in an increasingly transnational and digital world. Finally, I move to a methodological section where, in addition to situating myself in the field, I discuss how the concept of viral assemblage can also help us make sense of the methods, processes, and products that we, as anthropologists, engage in and create. 1The Village chapter abstractIn Chapter 1, I first outline key characteristics of the Awra Amba community and its history, as commonly conveyed and globally known. I then transition to an ethnographic vignette that draws on one of my first visits to the community. In addition to introducing some of the ambivalences, paradoxes, and silences that spurred me to explore beyond and behind the official narrative, this account illustrates some of the methodological and ethical dilemmas I have faced while researching Awra Amba. The chapter ends with a discussion of these ambiguities. 2Ethiopia—The Real Wakanda? chapter abstractIn Chapter 2, I situate Awra Amba in a broader historical and political context. As I detail how development and gender-related policies have evolved in and been implemented in Ethiopia, I pay particular attention to the prominent role that models, in various forms, have played in shaping the political ideologies and policies of the various Ethiopian regimes. The current government has positioned itself as an independent developmental state, setting conditions for donor involvement. Nevertheless, I show how Ethiopia's development policies have been, and continue to be, influenced by global currents and policies. This is clearly reflected in the way that gender and women's rights issues are framed in the Ethiopian context. 3The Emergence of a Traveling Model chapter abstractBy situating Awra Amba within the broader model village paradigm and in relation to a nearby expert-initiated model village, Chapter 3 deconstructs the different parts that constitute the Awra Amba model and the various ways models come into being. I draw on Clifford Geertz's distinction between models for and models of and Richard Rottenburg's concept of traveling models to show how multiple models emerge in the Awra Amba case. I suggest that the power of the traveling model—its capacity to go viral—is conditioned on the existence of a representative model, which is produced and performed at a specific place or location and reflects the ideologies and emotional sentiments of its interacting audience, who picks it up and facilitates its circulation. In other words, the model for and a corresponding model of enable and produce the traveling model. 4Alayhim—A Potential Disruption chapter abstractWith a particular focus on Awra Amba's contested history, Chapter 4 further explores the dynamics of model making. I argue that model making within the global policy world, similar to that in fields such as science and economics, can best be understood as a process of idealization—of ordering a complex assemblage. This is a process in which actors who benefit from the model and its status as an ideal type accentuate certain desirable elements of a perceived reality, while erasing or silencing elements that create unwanted complexity. In the Awra Amba case, the disruptive elements are most clearly captured in its partly hidden past—in the community's historical and ideological links to a Sufi community known as Alayhim. I end the chapter with an analysis of why Alayhim, just like a virus, represents a threatening and potentially disruptive element. 5Modes of Transmission chapter abstractIn Chapter 5, I discuss the vehicles and infrastructure—the multiple pathways and the networks of actors and vectors—that have facilitated the spread of the Awra Amba model as a transnational model for gender equality and sustainable development. To use an epidemiological term, we can think of this as the traveling model's modes of transmission. While the Awra Amba case illustrates that the exchange of ideas between conventional policy actors during policy tours, workshops, and seminars remains important in terms of facilitating a model's virality, it also points to the importance of looking beyond conventional policy actors and infrastructure. The constant emergence of new actors, partnerships, and technologies in our increasingly globalized and digitalized world has radically changed the ways policy ideas and models come into being and then travel. 6Going Viral chapter abstractWhy do some models go viral, while others do not? What is it that has compelled the various vectors and carriers in the Awra Amba assemblage to pick up and spread the community's stories and values? These are the questions I explore in Chapter 6, where I expand current academic conversations on policy mobility and traveling models, examining stories told by people who have been "infected" by Awra Amba and as a result are transmitting and circulating the model. These stories reveal that affect and desire play a key role in fueling a model's virality. This is an aspect that the existing literature on policy mobility and traveling models has overlooked. 7Conditional Virality chapter abstractWith an empirical focus on Lyfta and the company's flagship product, The Awra Amba Experience, Chapter 7 sheds light on how emotions and empathy both fuel and limit Awra Amba's virality. Driven by a passion to foster global citizenship and empathy and to counter the negative and stereotypical images that dominate mainstream media, Lyfta's producers very consciously draw on the logics of affect in the creation and marketing of their product. Yet, the stories they have produced rely on and reify the stereotypes they intend to challenge. While it is often assumed that empathy is key to greater social justice, the commercialization of The Awra Amba Experience, along with the "othering" that underpins Lyfta's documentaries, produce exclusionary practices. This shows that empathy not only is insufficient for understanding power structures but it can also sustain and create them. 8Being a Model chapter abstractHow "authentic" are the official Awra Amba narratives? Is Awra Amba a place where gender equality is real? Chapter 8 sheds light on the effects that being chosen or identified as a model have on the model itself. I show how becoming a model has led to increased recognition, benefits, and preferential treatment for the community, contributing to infrastructural and economic improvements. Yet, it is also clear that the model status comes at a price: obligations, responsibilities, and pressures to engage in representational and performative strategies aimed at maintaining, controlling, and stabilizing the Awra Amba narrative. The community's status as a model limits the possibility of questioning and challenging inequalities and injustices, shaping a community that only partly reflects the idealized model for a just, gender-equal, and peaceful society depicted in common representations of Awra Amba. Conclusion: Infected chapter abstractThe Conclusion opens with an ethnographic, self-reflective vignette that describes how I myself, eventually, became "infected" with the Awra Amba virus. By linking my fascination with Lyfta's products—particularly The Awra Amba Experience—to a pedagogical model I use in the classroom, I show how this infection was conditioned on and linked to my own identity and desires as an educator. Finally, I return to the meta-normative concerns that animate my work, drawing out the lessons to be learned from this case study and the relevance of viral assemblage for a context-sensitive, critical anthropology of traveling models.

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Book SynopsisToday, the concept of "the refugee" as distinct from other migrants looms large. Immigration laws have developed to reinforce a dichotomy between those viewed as voluntary, often economically motivated, migrants who can be legitimately excluded by potential host states, and those viewed as forced, often politically motivated, refugees who should be let in. In Crossing, Rebecca Hamlin argues against advocacy positions that cling to this distinction. Everything we know about people who decide to move suggests that border crossing is far more complicated than any binary, or even a continuum, can encompass. Drawing on cases of various "border crises" across Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East, Hamlin outlines major inconsistencies and faulty assumptions on which the binary relies. The migrant/refugee binary is not just an innocuous shorthand—indeed, its power stems from the way in which it is painted as apolitical. In truth, the binary is a dangerous legal fiction, politically constructed with the ultimate goal of making harsh border control measures more ethically palatable to the public. This book is a challenge to all those invested in the rights and study of migrants to move toward more equitable advocacy for all border crossers.Trade Review"Crossing is a theoretically rich, historically informed, and empirically sweeping corrective to misleading narratives about forced versus voluntary migration and the legal realities they generate. Rebecca Hamlin excavates the deep harms done by imposing distorting categories on the diverse realities of migrant lives and shows us how better language and laws will benefit everyone."—Elizabeth F. Cohen, Syracuse University"A remarkable book. Hamlin applies deep insight and meticulous research to explore the expedient but misleading wisdom that sharply distinguishes refugees from migrants. This is essential reading for anyone eager for a pathbreaking and surely influential perspective on migration in the twenty-first century."—Hiroshi Motomura, UCLA School of Law"Hamlin's book indeed wakes interest for these aspects: what is that space called 'beyond binaries' like and how are we to navigate it without use of other concepts that make sense in relation to their origin?"—Aina Backman, Anthropology Book Forum"In this book, Rebecca Hamlin has skillfully brought into view the manifold consequences of the persistent migrant/refugee binary on policy, advocacy, and scholarship. Illuminating both its origins and effects, and offering impulses for challenging it, Crossing is set to become a key point of reference for those seeking to deconstruct the problematic binary 'migrant/refugee' logic – and potentially paves the way for a deconstruction of the logic of the border itself."—Silvester Schlebrügge, Ethnic and Racial StudiesTable of Contents1. The Migrant/Refugee Binary 2. Uneven Sovereignties 3. Academic Study 4. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 5. The Global South 6. Arrivals in Europe 7. American Public Discourse 8. Beyond Binary Thinking

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Book SynopsisThe fourth edition of this classic work provides a systematic, comparative assessment of the efforts of major immigrant-receiving countries and the European Union to manage migration, paying particular attention to the dilemmas of immigration control and immigrant integration. Retaining its comprehensive coverage of nations built by immigrants—the so-called settler societies of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand— the new edition explores how former imperial powers—France, Britain and the Netherlands—struggle to cope with the legacies of colonialism, how social democracies like Germany and the Scandinavian countries balance the costs and benefits of migration while maintaining strong welfare states, and how more recent countries of immigration in Southern Europe—Italy, Spain, and Greece—cope with new found diversity and the pressures of border control in a highly integrated European Union. The fourth edition offers up-to-date analysis of the comparative politics of immigration and citizenship, the rise of reactive populism and a new nativism, and the challenge of managing migration and mobility in an age of pandemic, exploring how countries cope with a surge in asylum seeking and the struggle to integrate large and culturally diverse foreign populations. Trade Review"Comprehensively revised, this classic work is still a must read for anyone involved in migration issues. Addressing the dilemmas of migration control, especially the "liberal paradox," a term first coined by James Hollifield, each chapter skillfully discusses how migration states wrestle with these dilemmas and how societies are transformed by immigration."—Pieter Bevelander, Professor at Malmö University and Director of the Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare"Migration is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. The fourth edition of Controlling Immigration surpasses prior ones in scope and content. The book provides a valuable comparative perspective on immigration policies in both emerging and traditional countries of immigration. A must read for academics and policymakers alike."—Susan Martin, Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University"Updated in light of a rise of populist nationalisms, a global pandemic, and a surge in forced migrations, the fourth edition of Controlling Immigration is more indispensable than ever. Its distinguished contributors provide comprehensive overviews and vital analyses of immigration issues. As the severe gap between immigration policy goals and achievements continues to deepen, scholars, policymakers, and citizens need the knowledge this volume provides."—Rogers M. Smith, Professor of Political Science at the University of PennsylvaniaTable of Contents1. The Dilemmas of Immigration Control in Liberal Democracies —James F. Hollifield, Philip L. Martin, Pia Orrenius, and François Héran, with commentaries by Leo Lucassen and Christian Joppke 2. The United States: Whither the Nation of Immigrants? —Philip L. Martin and Pia Orrenius, with commentaries by Desmond King and Daniel J. Tichenor 3. Canada: Continuity and Change in Immigration for Nation-Building —Jeffrey G. Reitz with commentary by Antje Ellermann 4. Australia and New Zealand: Classical Migration States? —Alan Gamlen and Henry Sherrell, with commentary by Matthew Gibney 5. Immigration and the Republican Tradition in France —James F. Hollifield and François Héran, with commentaries by Catherine Wihtol de Wenden and Jean Beaman 6. UK Immigration and Nationality Policy: Radical and Radically Uninformed Change —Randall Hansen, with commentary by Desmond King 7. Germany: Managing Migration in the Twenty-first Century —Philip L. Martin and Dietrich Thränhardt, with commentaries by Friedrich Heckmann and Ingrid Tucci 8. The Netherlands: From Consensus to Contention in a Migration State —Willem Maas, with commentaries by Leo Lucassen and Michael Sharpe 9. Governing Immigration in the Scandinavian Welfare States —Grete Brochmann, with commentaries by Kristof Tamas and Lars Trägårdh 10. Immigration and Integration in Switzerland: Shifting Evolutions in a Multicultural Republic —Gianni d'Amato, with commentary by Christian Joppke 11. Italy: Immigration Policy —Ted Perlmutter with commentaries by Giuseppe Sciortino and Camille Schmoll 12. Spain: The Uneasy Transition from Labor Exporter to Labor Importer and the New Challenges Ahead —Miryam Hazàn and Rut Bermejo Casado, with commentary by Blanca Garcés-Macareñas 13. Greece and Turkey: From State-Building and Developmentalism to Immigration and Crisis Management —Fiona Adamson and Gerasimos Tsourapas, with commentaries by Hélène Thiollet and Riva Kastoryano 14. Japan and South Korea —Erin Chung, with commentaries by Midori Okabe and Michael Sharpe 15. The European Union: From Politics to Politicization —Andrew Geddes and Leila Hadj-Abdou, with commentary by Virginie Guiraudon

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Book SynopsisHow one law tells the story of America's modern criminal justice movement In late 2018, the First Step Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump just hours before a government shutdown. It was one of few major pieces of federal criminal justice reform since the 1970s to move toward reversing the incarceration frenzy that had characterized United States policy. While it did not amount to revolutionary reform, in Reform Nation, Colleen P. Eren investigates it as a symbol for the larger movement's trajectory. Its unlikely passage during a period of political polarization was testament to the power of a new constellation of advocates, stakeholders, and strange bedfellow alliances. These intriguing and complex dynamics are indicative of a longer, twenty-year shift in which the movement became nationalized and mainstreamed. Using in-depth interviews with major players in the national movement, formerly incarcerated activists, celebrities, and donors, this is the first book to turn the mirror back on the criminal justice reform movement itself—the frames used, the voices heard, the capital activated among elite participants, and the bitter controversies. This snapshot in time raises much larger questions about how our democratic processes inform criminal justice policy, and where we are going in the decades to come.Trade Review"A critical look behind the scenes at the way 'criminal justice reform' has blossomed into not just a movement but also, at times, a kind of industry. Eren's book is vital to our understanding of how change happens—and doesn't."—Baz Dreisinger, author, Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World"Reform Nation is well-timed for the current moment in criminal justice reform. Colleen Eren captures the political and social dynamics of recent years and lays out a compelling set of issues and challenges for the reform movement moving forward."—Marc Mauer, Senior Advisor, The Sentencing Project"Reform Nation is an invaluable and timely gift. This lively, behind-the scenes narrative brilliantly documents the emergence of a broad, bipartisan, and highly effective justice reform coalition. Energized by the leadership of justice-impacted individuals, this coalition brings together business leaders, philanthropists, civil rights advocates, religious organizations and strange-bedfellow politicians. By comparing this political development with other social movements, and contrasting this consensus with the realities of our deeply divided democracy, Eren elevates her narrative to that rare scholarly voice that speaks to the challenges of the moment. Reform Nation offers reasons for hope and caution at a time when our forward momentum faces new winds of opposition. This book should serve as a new guide for the justice reform movement in the next chapter of a long struggle."—Jeremy Travis, Senior Fellow at the Justice Lab at Columbia University, President Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice"Eren's book is a masterful account of how grassroots activism on a cause that very few people really cared about blossomed into a win for not just better treatment of people convicted of certain crimes but a better use of tax dollars. She blends original interviews with major players in the reform movement with great storytelling and a sociological framework that illuminates the complexities of all reform efforts."—Nick Gillespie, ReasonTable of Contents1. The First Step Act Puzzle 2. Mainstreamization and the Movement 3. Billionaires, Philanthropy, and Reform 4. Celebrity Activism and Reform 5. Reform®: Corporate Social Activism and Reform 6. Strange Bedfellows 7. Formerly Incarcerated Activists and the Future of Criminal Justice Reform

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Book SynopsisAs the world faces another water crisis, it is easy to understand why this precious and highly-disputed resource could determine the fate of entire nations. In reality, however, water conflicts rarely result in violence and more often lead to collaborative governance, however precarious. In this comprehensive and accessible text, David Feldman introduces readers to the key issues, debates, and challenges in water politics today. Its ten chapters explore the processes that determine how this unique resource captures our attention, the sources of power that determine how we allocate, use, and protect it, and the purposes that direct decisions over its cost, availability, and access. Drawing on contemporary water controversies from every continent – from Flint, Michigan to Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Beijing –the book argues that cooperation and more equitable water management are imperative if the global community is to adequately address water challenges and their associated risks, particularly in the developing world. While alternatives for enhancing water supply, including waste-water re-use, desalination, and conservation abound, without inclusive means of addressing citizens' concerns, their adoption faces severe hurdles that can impede cooperation and generate additional conflicts. Trade Review"Most of what is challenging about ensuring clean water for cities, agriculture, industry, and ecosystems comes down to politics. In this highly readable book David Feldman provides a comprehensive introduction to water politics based on his extensive experience consulting on water issues across the world. It will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and practitioners concerned with water security and management issues today." - Denise Fort, University of New Mexico "A scholarly tour de force by one the world’s leading authorities on water politics that sets the benchmark for studies on this subject. Feldman’s broad-ranging analysis, draws on a wealth of new empirical material to critically examine water politics in multiple contexts across differing scales, from the local to the global. For scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners focused on governing such disputes, this book is a must-read." - David Benson, University of ExeterTable of ContentsForeword Figures and tables Chapter 1: Why Water Politics Matters Chapter 2: Contested Waters: The Politics of Supply Chapter 3: Clean, Green, and Costly: Water Quality Chapter 4: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus Chapter 5: Drought, Flood, and Everything In-Between Chapter 6: Water Rights and Water Wrongs Chapter 7: International Cooperation Chapter 8: Water Conflicts Chapter 9: Tapping into Toilets: New Sources of Water Chapter 10: Toward a Water Sensitive Future Glossary References Index

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Book SynopsisAs the world faces another water crisis, it is easy to understand why this precious and highly-disputed resource could determine the fate of entire nations. In reality, however, water conflicts rarely result in violence and more often lead to collaborative governance, however precarious. In this comprehensive and accessible text, David Feldman introduces readers to the key issues, debates, and challenges in water politics today. Its ten chapters explore the processes that determine how this unique resource captures our attention, the sources of power that determine how we allocate, use, and protect it, and the purposes that direct decisions over its cost, availability, and access. Drawing on contemporary water controversies from every continent – from Flint, Michigan to Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Beijing –the book argues that cooperation and more equitable water management are imperative if the global community is to adequately address water challenges and their associated risks, particularly in the developing world. While alternatives for enhancing water supply, including waste-water re-use, desalination, and conservation abound, without inclusive means of addressing citizens' concerns, their adoption faces severe hurdles that can impede cooperation and generate additional conflicts. Trade Review"Most of what is challenging about ensuring clean water for cities, agriculture, industry, and ecosystems comes down to politics. In this highly readable book David Feldman provides a comprehensive introduction to water politics based on his extensive experience consulting on water issues across the world. It will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and practitioners concerned with water security and management issues today." Denise Fort, University of New Mexico "A scholarly tour de force by one the world�s leading authorities on water politics that sets the benchmark for studies on this subject. Feldman�s broad-ranging analysis, draws on a wealth of new empirical material to critically examine water politics in multiple contexts across differing scales, from the local to the global. For scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners focused on governing such disputes, this book is a must-read." David Benson, University of ExeterTable of ContentsContents Foreword Figures and tables Chapter 1: Why Water Politics Matters Chapter 2: Contested Waters: The Politics of Supply Chapter 3: Clean, Green, and Costly: Water Quality Chapter 4: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus Chapter 5: Drought, Flood, and Everything In-Between Chapter 6: Water Rights and Water Wrongs Chapter 7: International Cooperation Chapter 8: Water Conflicts Chapter 9: Tapping into Toilets: New Sources of Water Chapter 10: Toward a Water Sensitive Future Glossary References Index

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Book SynopsisModern societies set limits, on everything from how fast motorists can drive to how much waste factory owners can dump in our rivers. But incomes in our deeply unequal world have no limits. Could capping top incomes tackle rising inequality more effectively than conventional approaches? In this engaging book, leading analyst Sam Pizzigati details how egalitarians worldwide are demonstrating that a “maximum wage” could be both economically viable and politically practical. He shows how, building on local initiatives, governments could use their tax systems to enforce fair income ratios across the board. The ultimate goal? That ought to be, Pizzigati argues, a world without a super rich. He explains why we need to create that world — and how we could speed its creation.Trade Review“Sam Pizzigati brilliantly explains how high taxation of the very rich dissuaded them from exploiting the rest of us so much in the past, how we lost that protection, and what we need to do to win it back today. A work of genius.”Danny Dorling, University of Oxford“Pizzigati raises an urgent question: How long can we endure the burden of the super rich, who suppress the wages of the majority, drive up the costs of everything, and concentrate political power in their own hands? Fortunately he has an answer, and it cries out for enactment.”Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and DimedTable of Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction/ Moderation in All Things, Even Income 1/ Defining Excess 2/ The Magic of Maximum Multiples 3/ A Society without a Super Rich 4/ Pipe Dream or Politically Practical Project? 5/ Evolving toward Equity Notes

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Book SynopsisModern societies set limits, on everything from how fast motorists can drive to how much waste factory owners can dump in our rivers. But incomes in our deeply unequal world have no limits. Could capping top incomes tackle rising inequality more effectively than conventional approaches? In this engaging book, leading analyst Sam Pizzigati details how egalitarians worldwide are demonstrating that a “maximum wage” could be both economically viable and politically practical. He shows how, building on local initiatives, governments could use their tax systems to enforce fair income ratios across the board. The ultimate goal? That ought to be, Pizzigati argues, a world without a super rich. He explains why we need to create that world — and how we could speed its creation.Trade Review“Sam Pizzigati brilliantly explains how high taxation of the very rich dissuaded them from exploiting the rest of us so much in the past, how we lost that protection, and what we need to do to win it back today. A work of genius.”Danny Dorling, University of Oxford“Pizzigati raises an urgent question: How long can we endure the burden of the super rich, who suppress the wages of the majority, drive up the costs of everything, and concentrate political power in their own hands? Fortunately he has an answer, and it cries out for enactment.”Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and DimedTable of Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction/ Moderation in All Things, Even Income 1/ Defining Excess 2/ The Magic of Maximum Multiples 3/ A Society without a Super Rich 4/ Pipe Dream or Politically Practical Project? 5/ Evolving toward Equity Notes

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Book SynopsisUnions face a once in a generation opportunity for renewal. Decades of decline have been compounded by a global elite who increasingly generate profit from financial engineering in ways that side-step labour and undermine the power of organised workers. However, as this economic system begins to falter, there are signs of a renewed union movement emerging. Debt-laden firms – from supermarkets and nursery chains to outsourcing giants – are collapsing, and workers are organising to determine what comes next. Unionised bank cashiers are refusing to push predatory loans, teachers are striking against the exploitative housing market, and manufacturing workers are pooling redundancy pay to buy-out plants and become worker owners. Alice Martin and Annie Quick argue that these are seeds of union renewal. To be effective in an age of finance, the union movement must set its ambitions beyond narrow wage-bargaining, and towards the financial systems that have infiltrated workplaces and impoverished communities. By doing so, they can play a critical role in ushering in a new, democratic economy. No-one committed to economic justice can afford to miss this urgent, highly original book and its radical vision for unions.Trade Review“Unions Renewed is a must-read for all in the labour movement who believe that winning working class power extends beyond government, and must be built from organising in our communities and workplaces, democratising our economy and, necessarily, our trade unions.”Nadia Whittome, care worker and Labour MP for Nottingham East “Belongs on the desk of any activist who is serious about real, workable strategies for 2020 and beyond.”Morning Star “In one of the best simple explanations of financialization I have seen, Unions Renewed dissects how Private Equity corporations profit while destroying jobs. It calls on unions to develop new strategies to rebuild workers’ power based on how the economy has been reorganized.”Stephen Lerner, US Labor Organizer, Founder of the ‘Justice for Janitors’ campaign “Unions Renewed offers a critique of labour’s strategic status quo grounded in a clear and powerful analysis of the shifting economic ground beneath us. The authors think both historically and globally – and their insights just keep coming. This book will make a real difference.”Sam Pizzigati, labour journalist and associate fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC “The profound social and workforce changes around the dynamics of class, race and gender pose significant challenges, and opportunities, to the trade union movement. To act on this, radical solutions are required which move beyond traditional modes of worker organization. Insights in this important new book shine a light on this changing context and help to chart new pathways to the restoration of trade union legitimacy and power.”Dr Ian Manborde, Equalities and Diversity Organizer, Equity trade union; former programme coordinator of the MA in International Labour and Trade Union Studies (ILTUS) at Ruskin College, Oxford; founding member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (UK) “Unions Renewed is a clarion call for a stronger, fiercer, better labour movement and it couldn't come at a more important time. While too much of the conversation about the working class is mired in nostalgic dreams of a past that never really was, Martin and Quick have explained why labour must understand the economy that we currently have in order to take power and shape the future. Read it, and then share it with your coworkers.”Sarah Jaffe, author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt and Work Won't Love You Back “Unions Renewed engages especially well with the grassroots of current efforts at renewal... It stands as an urgent and accessible contribution to discussions on union revitalisation, and it will become ever more essential reading as we consider how to build workers’ power in the midst of crises like that of Arcadia.”Marx & Philosophy Review Of Books“Unions Renewed offers […] an admirably clear explanation of […] a notoriously complex phenomenon”New Statesman

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Book SynopsisUnions face a once in a generation opportunity for renewal. Decades of decline have been compounded by a global elite who increasingly generate profit from financial engineering in ways that side-step labour and undermine the power of organised workers. However, as this economic system begins to falter, there are signs of a renewed union movement emerging. Debt-laden firms – from supermarkets and nursery chains to outsourcing giants – are collapsing, and workers are organising to determine what comes next. Unionised bank cashiers are refusing to push predatory loans, teachers are striking against the exploitative housing market, and manufacturing workers are pooling redundancy pay to buy-out plants and become worker owners. Alice Martin and Annie Quick argue that these are seeds of union renewal. To be effective in an age of finance, the union movement must set its ambitions beyond narrow wage-bargaining, and towards the financial systems that have infiltrated workplaces and impoverished communities. By doing so, they can play a critical role in ushering in a new, democratic economy. No-one committed to economic justice can afford to miss this urgent, highly original book and its radical vision for unions.Trade Review“Unions Renewed is a must-read for all in the labour movement who believe that winning working class power extends beyond government, and must be built from organising in our communities and workplaces, democratising our economy and, necessarily, our trade unions.”Nadia Whittome, care worker and Labour MP for Nottingham East “Belongs on the desk of any activist who is serious about real, workable strategies for 2020 and beyond.”Morning Star “In one of the best simple explanations of financialization I have seen, Unions Renewed dissects how Private Equity corporations profit while destroying jobs. It calls on unions to develop new strategies to rebuild workers’ power based on how the economy has been reorganized.”Stephen Lerner, US Labor Organizer, Founder of the ‘Justice for Janitors’ campaign “Unions Renewed offers a critique of labour’s strategic status quo grounded in a clear and powerful analysis of the shifting economic ground beneath us. The authors think both historically and globally – and their insights just keep coming. This book will make a real difference.”Sam Pizzigati, labour journalist and associate fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC “The profound social and workforce changes around the dynamics of class, race and gender pose significant challenges, and opportunities, to the trade union movement. To act on this, radical solutions are required which move beyond traditional modes of worker organization. Insights in this important new book shine a light on this changing context and help to chart new pathways to the restoration of trade union legitimacy and power.”Dr Ian Manborde, Equalities and Diversity Organizer, Equity trade union; former programme coordinator of the MA in International Labour and Trade Union Studies (ILTUS) at Ruskin College, Oxford; founding member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (UK) “Unions Renewed is a clarion call for a stronger, fiercer, better labour movement and it couldn't come at a more important time. While too much of the conversation about the working class is mired in nostalgic dreams of a past that never really was, Martin and Quick have explained why labour must understand the economy that we currently have in order to take power and shape the future. Read it, and then share it with your coworkers.”Sarah Jaffe, author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt and Work Won't Love You Back “Unions Renewed engages especially well with the grassroots of current efforts at renewal... It stands as an urgent and accessible contribution to discussions on union revitalisation, and it will become ever more essential reading as we consider how to build workers’ power in the midst of crises like that of Arcadia.”Marx & Philosophy Review Of Books“Unions Renewed offers […] an admirably clear explanation of […] a notoriously complex phenomenon”New Statesman

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Book SynopsisThe Penn School of Social Policy and Practice enjoys a reputation as Penn's social justice school, for its faculty actively strives to translate the highest ideals into workable programs that better people's lives. In this election year, as Americans debate issues like immigration, crime, mass incarceration, policing, and welfare reform, and express concerns over increasing inequality, tax policy, and divisions by race, sex, and class, "SP2," as the school is colloquially known, offers its expertise in addressing the pressing matters of our day. The practical solutions on offer in this volume showcase the judgment and commitment of the school's scholars and practitioners, working to change politics from blood sport to common undertakings. Contributors: Cindy W. Christian, Cynthia A. Connolly, Dennis Culhane, Ezekiel Dixon-Román, Malitta Engstrom, Kara Finck, Nancy Franke, Antonio Garcia, Toorjo Ghose, Johanna Greeson, Chao Guo, David Hemenway, Amy Hillier, Roberta Iversen, Alexandra Schepens, Phyllis Solomon, Susan B. Sorenson, Mark Stern, Allison Thompson, Debra Schilling Wolfe.

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Book SynopsisAs officials scrambled in 2020 to manage the spread of COVID, the reverberations of the crisis reached well beyond immediate public health concerns. The governance problems that emerged in the pandemic would be problems in other climate-related disasters, too. Many of these governance problems wound up in court. Businesses filed insurance claims for lost commerce; when the claims were denied, some companies sued. Defense attorneys tried to get inmates released from prison, citing dangerous living conditions. As state governments ordered closures and otherwise tried to adapt, interest organizations that had long sought to limit government authority challenged them in court. Political officials railed against litigation they argued would stop businesses from reopening. The United States, like other countries, governs partly through litigation, and litigation is one way of seeing the multiple governance failures during the pandemic. Drawing on databases of cases filed, news reports, and the websites of advocacy groups and law firms, Susan M. Sterett argues that governing during the pandemic, or in any disaster, must include the human institutions intertwined with the effects of the virus. Those institutions reveal problems well beyond the reach of technical expertise. Failures in private insurance as a way of governing risk, conflicts about the primacy of religion, government authority, and health, are problems that predated the pandemic and will persist in future disasters.Trade Review"Litigating the Pandemic is an exciting read for scholars of court behavior, political systems analysis, public health, and disaster studies. Sterett argues that understanding pandemics as a cascading disaster reveals a complex and linked system in which courts (both the Supreme Court and the lower courts) act as the mediators of interests that may or may not serve the interests of the public." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisHow elected officials, think tanks, and interest groups form partisan policy networks to advance their agendasPartisan Policy Networks explores how policy research in the United States became deeply intertwined with partisan politics in today?s polarized era. It challenges the notion that policy research is an objective search for optimal solutions. Instead, political scientist Zachary Albert argues that policy research is heavily influenced by partisan and ideological incentives. Central to this argument is the concept of partisan policy networks, which consist of elected officials, think tanks, and interest groups working together to achieve shared goals. These networks have strong partisan ties and they work to advance shared agendas through collaborative efforts. The actors within these networks help to collectively define a party?s agenda and advance it through policy research and political advocacy.The policy research organizations, or PROs, within these networks often produce research that supports shared partisan objectives rather than independent, objective analyses. Many PROs provide elected officials with research and talking points that support partisan goals, and these PROs effectively become trusted party allies. Some also push for policy change through direct political advocacy, cementing their place within the network. Because partisan officials rely on these subsidies to develop and pass policy, PROs that embed themselves within a particular partisan network have greater influence over modern policymaking.Using case studies and original data, the book traces the advent of partisan PROs and their ascendance in American politics, documents the many ways in which partisan policy networks are created and sustained, and shows how partisan PROs within these networks have privileged access to and influence over their preferred party in Congress. These dynamics shape policy outcomes, undermine democratic representation, and contribute to growing partisan polarization. Ultimately, Partisan Policy Networks reveals the worrisome implications of these trends, including poorly designed policies and reduced prospects for bipartisan cooperation, while pointing to potential reforms to address these challenges.

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Book SynopsisReimagining transparency and secrecy in the era of digital data When total data surveillance delimits agency and revelations of political wrongdoing fail to have consequences, is transparency the social panacea liberal democracies purport it to be? This book sets forth the provocative argument that progressive social goals would be better served by a radical form of secrecy, at least while state and corporate forces hold an asymmetrical advantage over the less powerful in data control. Clare Birchall asks: How might transparency actually serve agendas that are far from transparent? Can we imagine a secrecy that could act in the service of, rather than against, a progressive politics? To move beyond atomizing calls for privacy and to interrupt the perennial tension between state security and the public’s right to know, Birchall adapts Édouard Glissant’s thinking to propose a digital “right to opacity.” As a crucial element of radical secrecy, she argues, this would eventually give rise to a “postsecret” society, offering an understanding and experience of the political that is free from the false choice between secrecy and transparency. She grounds her arresting story in case studies including the varied presidential styles of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; the Snowden revelations; conspiracy theories espoused or endorsed by Trump; WikiLeaks and guerrilla transparency; and the opening of the state through data portals.Postsecrecy is the necessary condition for imagining, finally, an alternative vision of “the good,” of equality, as neither shaped by neoliberal incarnations of transparency nor undermined by secret state surveillance. Not least, postsecrecy reimagines collective resistance in the era of digital data.Trade Review"Clare Birchall offers an innovative way out of tired debates over secrecy, transparency, and privacy. Radical Secrecy challenges our assumptions about the state, the neoliberal subject, and data, and it invites us to think about the hard but necessary concepts and strategies that can help us deal with our present and our future."—Mark Fenster, author of The Transparency Fix: Secrets, Leaks, and Uncontrollable Government Information"In this provocative, interdisciplinary, well-researched, and cogently argued critique and reconceptualization of the relationship between secrecy and transparency in the digital age, Clare Birchall articulates the need for reimagining and experimenting with new forms of transparency and open distribution of data, including the ‘digital right to opacity.’ As we witness political responses to events such as COVID-19, domestic terrorism, and economic devastation, the prescience of her analyses and the importance of her conclusions are undeniable."—Cynthia Stohl, University of California, Santa BarbaraTable of ContentsContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Transparent Times, Secret Agency, and Data Subjects1. The Changing Fortunes of Secrecy and Openness2. Information Imaginaries3. Opaque Openness: The Problem with/of Transparency4. Shareveillance: Open and Covert Government Data Practices5. Aesthetics of the Secret6. Secrets of the Left: A Right to OpacityConclusion: Toward PostsecrecyAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisReimagining transparency and secrecy in the era of digital data When total data surveillance delimits agency and revelations of political wrongdoing fail to have consequences, is transparency the social panacea liberal democracies purport it to be? This book sets forth the provocative argument that progressive social goals would be better served by a radical form of secrecy, at least while state and corporate forces hold an asymmetrical advantage over the less powerful in data control. Clare Birchall asks: How might transparency actually serve agendas that are far from transparent? Can we imagine a secrecy that could act in the service of, rather than against, a progressive politics? To move beyond atomizing calls for privacy and to interrupt the perennial tension between state security and the public’s right to know, Birchall adapts Édouard Glissant’s thinking to propose a digital “right to opacity.” As a crucial element of radical secrecy, she argues, this would eventually give rise to a “postsecret” society, offering an understanding and experience of the political that is free from the false choice between secrecy and transparency. She grounds her arresting story in case studies including the varied presidential styles of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; the Snowden revelations; conspiracy theories espoused or endorsed by Trump; WikiLeaks and guerrilla transparency; and the opening of the state through data portals.Postsecrecy is the necessary condition for imagining, finally, an alternative vision of “the good,” of equality, as neither shaped by neoliberal incarnations of transparency nor undermined by secret state surveillance. Not least, postsecrecy reimagines collective resistance in the era of digital data.Trade Review"Clare Birchall offers an innovative way out of tired debates over secrecy, transparency, and privacy. Radical Secrecy challenges our assumptions about the state, the neoliberal subject, and data, and it invites us to think about the hard but necessary concepts and strategies that can help us deal with our present and our future."—Mark Fenster, author of The Transparency Fix: Secrets, Leaks, and Uncontrollable Government Information"In this provocative, interdisciplinary, well-researched, and cogently argued critique and reconceptualization of the relationship between secrecy and transparency in the digital age, Clare Birchall articulates the need for reimagining and experimenting with new forms of transparency and open distribution of data, including the ‘digital right to opacity.’ As we witness political responses to events such as COVID-19, domestic terrorism, and economic devastation, the prescience of her analyses and the importance of her conclusions are undeniable."—Cynthia Stohl, University of California, Santa BarbaraTable of ContentsContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Transparent Times, Secret Agency, and Data Subjects1. The Changing Fortunes of Secrecy and Openness2. Information Imaginaries3. Opaque Openness: The Problem with/of Transparency4. Shareveillance: Open and Covert Government Data Practices5. Aesthetics of the Secret6. Secrets of the Left: A Right to OpacityConclusion: Toward PostsecrecyAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA pathbreaking look at how progressive policy change for economic justice has swept U.S. cities In the 2010s cities and counties across the United States witnessed long-overdue change as they engaged more than ever before with questions of social, economic, and racial justice. After decades of urban economic restructuring that intensified class divides and institutional and systemic racism, dozens of local governments countered the conventional wisdom that cities couldn’t address inequality—enacting progressive labor market policies, from $15 minimum wages to paid sick leave.Justice at Work examines the mutually reinforcing roles of economic and racial justice organizing and policy entrepreneurship in building power and support for policy changes. Bridging urban social movement and urban politics studies, it demonstrates how economic and racial justice coalitions are collectively the critical institution underpinning progressive change. It also shows that urban policy change is driven by “urban policy entrepreneurs” who use public space and the intangible resources of the city to open “agenda windows” for progressive policy proposals incubated through national networks. Through case studies of organizing and policy change efforts in cities including Chicago, Seattle, and New Orleans around minimum wages, targeted hiring, paid time off, fair scheduling, and anti-austerity, Marc Doussard and Greg Schrock show that the contemporary wave of successful progressive organizing efforts is likely to endure. Yet they caution that success is dependent on skillful organizing that builds and sustains power at the grassroots—and skillful policy work inside City Hall. By promoting justice at—and increasingly beyond—work, these movements hold the potential to unlock a new model for inclusive economic development in cities. Trade Review"Marc Doussard and Greg Schrock lucidly expose the ways in which nationally-networked activists have mobilized to win major policy victories that advance class and racial justice in cities across the United States, despite the formidable political challenges of the neoliberal era. This fresh and important contribution illuminates the crucial role of twenty-first century cities as incubators of progressive social change."—Ruth Milkman, author of Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat "This book readjusts the understanding of how and where political agendas are made."—CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction1. The Upside of Globalization: City Power in the Urban Age2. Economic and Racial Justice Coalitions: Diverse Social Movements Challenge Inequality3. Urban Policy Entrepreneurs: Networked Policy Change from the Grassroots4. Organizing for Better Jobs: The Fight for $15 Transforms Urban Politics5. Good Jobs for All: Targeted Hiring Combats Racism at Work6. Justice beyond Work: Sick Days, Fair Schedules, and the Politics of Social Reproduction7. “Wall Street Is a Racist Conspiracy”: Racial Justice and the Fight against AusterityConclusion: The Promising Work of JusticeAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAssessing migration in the context of climate change, Nash draws on empirical research to offer a unique analysis of policy-making in the field. This detailed account is a vital step in understanding the links between global discourses on human mobilities, climate change and specific policy responses. An important contribution to several ongoing debates in academia and beyond.Trade Review''An engaging, empirically rich and theoretically informed exploration of how a new international policy field linking climate change and human migration has emerged. Detailed, acute, insightful.'' Giovanni Bettini, Lancaster UniversityTable of ContentsForeword ~ Andrew Baldwin Migration and Climate Change: The Construction of a Nexus Part I: Episodes of Policy Making on Migration and Climate Change 2010-18 From Cancun to Paris: The Coming of Age of a Policy Field A Spotlight on Negotiating Mobility in Paris: Ushering in Another New Era for the Migration and Climate Change Nexus From Paris to Katowice: Moving from Agenda-Setting to Recommendations Part II: Deconstructing Policy Making on Migration and Climate Change The Process of Naming: Deconstructing Terminology Used to Conceptualise the Migration and Climate Change Nexus Struggles to Locate Mobile People at the Centre of the Migration and Climate Change Nexus Interogating a Notable Silence: Human Rights and the Migration and Climate Change Nexus Conclusion: Closing the Policy Circle

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Book SynopsisLeading governance theorist Jonathan S. Davies develops a rich comparative analysis of austerity governance and resistance in eight cities, to establish a conjunctural perspective on the rolling crises of neoliberal globalism. Drawing on a major international study of eight cities, Davies employs Gramscian regime analysis to consider the consolidation, weakening and transformation of urban governance regimes through the age of austerity. He explores how urban governance shapes variations in austere neoliberalism, tackling themes including collaboration, dominance, resistance and counter-hegemony. The book is a significant addition to thinking about how the era of austerity politics influences urban governance today, and the potential for alternative urban futures.Table of ContentsStudying Urban Political (Dis)Orders Dynamics of Crisis, Neoliberalisation and Austerity Austerity and State Rescaling Consolidating Neoliberal Austerity Regimes Regime Divergence and the Limits of Austere Neoliberalism Resisting Austerity: Resonant Solidarities and Small Wins The ‘Activity of Ruling Groups’: Containment, De-mobilisation and Fragmentation Reading the Conjuncture: (Dis)Ordering Dynamics in the Crises of Neoliberal Globalism Afterword: Into the Pandemic

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Book SynopsisAusterity is not always one-size-fits-all; it can be a flexible, class-based strategy taking several forms depending on the political-economic forces and institutional characteristics present. This important book identifies continuity and variety in crisis-driven austerity restructuring across Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Spain. In their analysis, the authors focus on several components of austerity, including fiscal and monetary policy, budget narratives, public sector reform, labor market flexibilization, and resistance. In so doing, they uncover how austerity can be categorized into different dynamic types, and expose the economic, social, and political implications of the varieties of austerity.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Theoretical Framework and Empirics; Political Economy of Debt and Finance; Politics of Public Money; Public Sector Restructuring; Labour Market Flexibility and Restructuring; Institutionalizing Precarity and Low Wage Work; Resistance and Its Limits; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisFrom the local to the global, the governance of illegal drug use is becoming increasingly fragmented. In some contexts, prohibitive regimes are being transformed or replaced, while in others there are renewed commitments to criminalized control. But what gives rise to convergence and divergence in processes of policy making, both across different countries as well as within them? Based upon empirical qualitative research with ‘elite’ insiders, David Brewster explores a diverse range of cannabis policy approaches across the globe. His original analysis reveals the factors which facilitate or hinder punitive or liberalising tendencies in cannabis policy processes, concluding with future directions for policy making and comparative criminology.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Cannabis Policy in Global Perspective 3. Socio-Political Change and Cannabis Control 4. Problematising Cannabis 5. The ‘Primeval Soup’ of Policy Proposals 6. The Political Environment and Windows of Opportunity 7. Beyond the National: Policy Negotiation, Resistance and Subversion 8. Cultures of Cannabis Control; 9. Conclusions and Future Directions

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