Public administration / Public policy Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA contemporary introduction to the workings of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in light of major recent developments such as the war with Iraq, the Hutton Inquiry, the Butler report, and the Blair/ Brown relationship.Table of ContentsContents; List of boxes; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The Executive Territory - Introduction - Defining the Executive - Relations between the Executive and the Legislature - Concluding Points; 2. The Cabinet: Origins, Role and Structure - Origins and History - Role and Functions of the Modern Cabinet - Size and Structure - Cabinet Ministers: How to be appointed - Cabinet Ministers: How to get sacked; 3. The Cabinet: Support and Bureaucracy - Introduction - Cabinet Committees - The Cabinet Office; 4. The Cabinet: Collectively Dead? - Introduction - Collective Cabinet Responsibility - The Case of Robin Cook and Clare Short - Is Cabinet Government in Decline? - Cabinet Government: Alive and Well - Concluding Points; 5. The Prime Minister: Power - Introduction - Origins and History - The Role of the Prime Minister - The Powers of the Prime Minister - Checks on Prime Ministerial Power; 6. The Prime Minister: Support and Bureaucracy - The Bureaucracy of the Prime Minister - The Prime Minister's Office: Policy and Government - The Prime Minister's Office: Communication and Strategy - The Prime Minster's Office: Government and Political Relations - Wider dimension of support for the Prime Minister - Case Study: Lord Birt and Blue Sky Thinking - Trends in Prime Ministerial Support - Should there be a Prime Minister's Department?; 7. The Prime Minister and Style - Why is style so important? - Style as personality - Style and skill - Style in Opposition - The case of Tony Blair as Prime Minister: a 'tousled efficiency' - The case of Margaret Thatcher: not 'to be' but 'to do' - The case of John Major: the 'poor general'; 8. The Prime Minister: Hail to the Chief? - Introduction - Prime Ministerial Government - Presidential Government - Comparing the Prime Minister - President or Prime Minister? The Debate; 9. The Core Executive - The Core Executive: Definitions - The Core Executive: A Useful Model - The Relationship of the Key Players in the Core - How the Core Executive Works - Criticisms of the Core Executive - Concluding Points; 10. Conclusion: The Prime Minister, Cabinet and Synoptic Skills - Synoptic Study; References; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEdited by Nora Lustig, the Commitment to Equity Handbook. A Guide to Estimating the Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty (Brookings Institution Press and CEQ Institute-Tulane University) is a unique manual detailing the theory and practical methods developed by the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane University for determining the impact of taxation and public spending on inequality and poverty. Policymakers, social planners, and economists are presented with a step-by-step guide to applying fiscal incidence analysis as well as country studies to illustrate. The 2nd edition of the Handbook has two volumes. Volume 1 is comprised of Part I, Methodology, describes what a CEQ Assessment is and presents the theoretical underpinnings of fiscal incidence analysis and the indicators used to assess the distributive impact and effectiveness of fiscal policy. Part II, Implementation, presents the methodology on how taxes, subsidies, and social spending should be allocated. It includes a step-by step guide to completing the CEQ Master Workbook, a multi-sheet Excel file that houses detailed information on the country's fiscal system and the results used as inputs for policy discussions, academic papers, and policy reports. Part III, Applications, presents applications of the CEQ framework to low- and middle-income countries and includes simulations of policy reforms. In this 2nd edition, chapters 1, 6, and 8 have been significantly updated and two new country studies have been added to Part III. Parts IV (updated), V (new), and VI (new) are available online only. Part IV contains the CEQ Assessment's main tools. Part V includes the databases housed in the CEQ Data Center on Fiscal Redistribution. Part VI contains the CEQ Institute's microsimulation tools. Volume 2 (new) includes a collection of chapters whose purpose is to expand the knowledge and methodological frontiers to sharpen even further the analysis of fiscal policy's redistributive impact. Topics include: alternative approaches to value in-kind education and health services; alternative methods to evaluate spending on infrastructure; corporate taxes and taxation on capital incomes; inter-temporal fiscal incidence and the redistributive consequences of social insurance pensions; fiscal redistribution, macroeconomic stability and growth; and, the political economy of fiscal redistribution.

Read more less

Book SynopsisScholarly Resources is pleased to announce the publication of The Gallup Poll Cumulative Index, the long-anticipated guide to the Gallup Poll public opinion surveys. The Gallup Poll is the most comprehensive single source of American public opinion. For well over 60 years, the Gallup Organization has recorded the attitudes, beliefs, and values of Americans. The Gallup Poll is the only single work that captures the constantly shifting opinions and perceptions of Americans. Now available, in this one volume, is an invaluable reference tool to the 1935-1997 volumes of the Gallup Poll, and also an overall history to the past sixty-two years of Gallup surveys. The Cumulative Index allows researchers easy access to the results of poll conducted between 1935 and 1997. All libraries, particularly those who own all or a portion of the annual editions will want to add this important resource to their collection.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 now behind us, one critical question persists. Have policies enacted to protect us from terrorist attacks actually made us safer, or have they merely mollified the concerned public with a false sense of security? Homeland Security: What Is It and Where We Are Going combines professional experiences, personal reflections, and academic scholarship to provide a realistic assessment of current policy effectiveness.Amos Guiora's background makes him uniquely qualified to address this issue. He was the Judge Advocate for the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command and the legal advisor to a congressionally mandated task force charged with creating America's homeland security strategy under the auspices of the Committee on Homeland Security. This volume: Provides perspectives from a broad array of individuals involved in homeland security Suggests ways to prioritize limited resoTrade Review"This a policy book rather than a practitioner’s … chapter on business continuity is of most interest to corporate security readers. In his introduction, Guiora makes the crucial point that police and everyone involved in homeland security ‘also have day jobs.’ The answer is to make homeland security a help to that day job, not another burden."—Professional Security Magazine "Guiora stresses the importance of international cooperation and intelligence gathering. While focusing on the U.S. in the main, Guiora also includes valuable reflections on Canada, Israel and the UK. This timely book, in the fields of security studies and law, would benefit both experts and scholars. It is informative, thoughtful and policy-oriented."—Raphael Cohen-Almagor, University of Hull, UK and author of the popular blog Israeli Politics "I was impressed by Guiora’s narrowness of focus on the topic while acknowledging that the subject area is quite broad."—Security Management Magazine Table of ContentsWhat Is Homeland Security? Cost-Benefit Analysis. Prioritizing Risks, Threats, and Dangers. International Cooperation, Intelligence Gathering, and Threat Assessment. Immigration/Narcoterrorism. The New Face of Terrorism: Domestic Threats and Civil Liberties. Terrorism Financing. Business Continuity. Conclusion—Going Forward. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLurking in the back of the minds of many students of American government is the question, How well does the American political system work? This book examines this in a way that is broad in approach and accessible to readers.Such an ambitious examination of the effectiveness of the American policymaking system leads to one inescapable question: how can you measure effectiveness? The answer taken in this book is to employ a number of different criteria. These criteria include:the public's attitudes towards the institutions of governmentthe degree in which all participate equally in political activitiesthe level of which public policy is responsive to public opinionthe ability of the actors in the process to create effective public policythe extent the political system imposes costs and benefits on us equally, regardless of our economic condition race, gender, or ageIn doing so, this book ties together and expands upon numerous scholarly studies conducted on American public policymaking Trade ReviewThis textbook evaluates American policy making through a systems framework. Representativeness and responsiveness are overarching themes. The early chapters cover characteristics of the political system and major legislation. The final chapters evaluate equality and equity outcomes across several dimensions. Schreckhise (Univ. of Arkansas) includes compelling narrative examples in each chapter. . . The author integrates discussion about foundational political science studies. Detailed, original analyses of public opinion surveys and secondary data are complemented by excellent figures and discussion questions. . . the book is most appropriate for American political science courses, especially those intended for adult learners or for students who already have some familiarity with American government. It is also recommended for public policy courses that are organized thematically around equality or policy responsiveness and that may be followed by courses on particular policy areas. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *A fresh look at the status of American democracy through a systems perspective wherein public trust and confidence in government are of central concern. -- Christopher A. Simon, University of UtahWilliam Schreckhise’s work is a valuable addition to the understanding of how public policy in the United States is made. The focus on the inequality inherent in policy system outputs challenges one to reexamine traditional approaches to studying U.S. public policy. -- Patrick Fisher, Seton Hall UniversityTable of ContentsChapter 1 Public Policy-Making in America Chapter 2 A History of Policy-making in the U.S. Chapter 3 The Environment of Policymaking in the U.S. Chapter 4 Actors in the Policymaking System Chapter 5 Views of Government Chapter 6 Participation and Public Policy Chapter 7 Shaping Public Policy: The Unofficial Actors Chapter 8 Shaping the Response: Official Institutions Chapter 9 Policy Responsiveness Chapter 10 Economic Equality Chapter 11 Income Equality Chapter 12 Sex Equality Chapter 13 Age Equality Chapter 14 Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnalytics for the public sector involves the application of operations research and statistical techniques to solve various problems existing outside of the private sector. The use of analytics for the public sector results in more efficient and effective services for the clients and users of these systems. Analytics, Operations, and Strategic Decision Making in the Public Sector is an essential reference source that discusses analytics applications in various public sector organizations, and addresses the difficulties associated with the design and operation of these systems including multiple conflicting objectives, uncertainties and resulting risk, ill-structured nature, combinatorial design aspects, and scale. Featuring research on topics such as analytical modeling techniques, data mining, and statistical analysis, this book is ideally designed for academicians, educators, researchers, students, and public sector professionals including those in local, state, and federal governments; criminal justice systems; healthcare; energy and natural resources; waste management; emergency response; and the military.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn informative discussion on the integration of information and communication technologies into goverment processes in developing African countries.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom schools to hospitals, from utilities to food banks, over the past thirty years corporatization has transformed the public sector in Canada. Economic elites take control of public institutions and use business metrics to evaluate their performance, transforming public programs into corporate revenue streams.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines the change management strategies and processes employed to ensure that the Labour Government''s commitment to devolution became a reality in Wales. It is an account of constitutional, cultural, organizational and human change set within a dynamic political context and is based on unprecedented research access to devolution papers and the politicians and civil servants concerned with the changes.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNo official statistics are kept for the number of hospital patients, in particular older people, who are subjected to neglect and abuse. That is, left malnourished and dehydrated, in pain, allowed to develop agonising and fatal pressure sores, not taken to the toilet, left to lie in their own bodily waste, cared for in a filthy environment and at risk of infection, ignored, allowed to fall over repeatedly, not spoken to, left naked or dressed in other patients' clothes - and discharged from hospital prematurely. This book bears witness to all these practices and more. Setting out a wealth of evidence not previously brought together, Michael Mandelstam shows beyond question that neglectful care is a systemic blight, rather than mere local blemish, within our health services. He analyses the causes and factors involved, reveals the widespread denial and lack of accountability on the part of those responsible - and spells out the political, moral, professional and legal implications of this failure to care for the most vulnerable of patients with humanity and compassion. Most important, Mandelstam points to the main obstacles to a solution - and to how they can be removed and change be accomplished.This book should be read by anyone concerned with the state of our health services, including National Health Service users, government policy makers and planners, public health practitioners and academics and researchers.Trade ReviewThis very readable book presents an enlightening read for all involved in health care, from senior politicians and policy-makers to individual practitioners and students. -- British Journal of Occupational TherapyStudents and practitioners reading the book should appreciate and learn from the material provided and gain a deeper understanding of the range of issues involved. This is a useful book that will be of interest to the range of individuals and organisations working in the area of adult services, including but not exclusively, adult safeguarding. -- Journal of Adult ProtectionThis is very important book for all to consider carefully, because, whatever health problems we encounter, we do hope, at least, to be treated with compassion and professional care. -- The SignIn How we treat the sick, Mandelstam combines his detailed legal understanding with his commitment to "skilled, compassionate, dignified inpatient nursing, genuine rehabilitation and palliative care" (dedication, to the memory of the staff at the Walnuttree Hospital in Sudbury, Suffolk)... Michael Mandelstam's work on Community Care law has been so thorough, accurate, and useful for practitioners so it was a pleasure to review this book. -- Community Care, "Mad World" blogFor social workers, this book raises challenges. How far should social workers challenge and confront poor standards of health care? Should social workers challenge other professionals who speak coarsely and harshly to and about those in their care? The answer should, of course, be "yes".This book gives material to ponder the consequences of silence. Recommended for students, those working in adult safeguarding and adult services. -- PSWMichael Mandelstam... outlines and provides evidence for what he sees as the decline in care, especially of older people in the NHS and the independent sector.His book is filled with shocking detail from public inquiries, coroners' reports, court judgements and statements from patients and their relatives... Every assertion is supported with clear evidence... This book should be required reading for everyone with any influence over health care, from the prime minister and health secretary to care workers. -- Nursing StandardYet again Michael Mandelstam has applied his precise yet passionate analysis to "neglect and abuse in our health services". Mandelstam is a brilliant and committed writer. We should all read this book alongside the report of the inquiry into the management of the Mid Staffs Foundation Trust (if it ever gets published). -- Caring TimesTerrible in its message and merciless in its delivery, it is quite unlike anything I have read from JKP. It is certainly their most daring and significant publication ever. But be prepared: I had to take a break halfway through, exhausted and trembling as I tried to live with the pace and intensity of the writing... Every argument and observation is backed up by a series of facts annotated with sound references. Michael Mandelstam shares with many healthcare litigants a deep sense of wrong and loss. Loss of the healthcare system he and I and most of you have believed to be ours: good, and never-to-be hurt or transfigured into something soiled, tarnished, perverted... It should be read by everyone with a serious concern for the health, welfare and pride of this country and others. It could be the Old Testament from which a New Testament can emerge. -- Dementia UKIn some ways it is the voice of the neglected and abused elderly and their relatives pleading for change... The balance between running a financially viable organization and providing high-quality individualized care needs to be pivoted on the fulcrum of dignity and respect. To help redress that balance, someone should send a copy of this book to every chief executive, finance director and chief nurse in the NHS. -- The TabletSuccessive reports on catastrophic failures in the nursing care of desperately sick people in our hospitals have had little effect. They have failed to see the systemic nature of the problem and, worse, have proposed box-ticking solutions to what is often the abandonment of common humanity. Michael Mandelstam's documentation of a continuing scandal that touches on all of us is worth a thousand expensive inquiries. This brilliant and impassioned book should be mandatory reading for policymakers and all of those who care for vulnerable people. -- Raymond Tallis FRCP FMedSci, Emeritus Professor of Geriatric Medicine and author of Hippocratic Oaths: Medicine and its Discontents.Going forward we can, and must, do much more to improve, firstly the health and social care of vulnerable people who cannot speak for themselves and secondly, the training and morale of those whose job it is to care for them. A good place to start would be immediately to begin the process of vigorously consigning to history the bad practices so clearly highlighted in this important book. -- Baroness Sally Greengross OBEMichael Mandelstam has provided a devastating account of some of the more horrifying aspects of the care provided by the National Health Service. As he points out this is not necessarily typical of all care provided, even by those institutions mentioned in the book. It is however a sufficiently alarming book that should be read by everyone concerned with health care in Britain, and demands attention both from the organisations concerned and from those responsible for the management and reorganisation of the NHS. -- Tim Yeo MPHow we treat the Sick' is a call for action. NHS staff have been smothered and de-motivated by countless targets and controls. Focused regulation and more autonomy for front line staff could transform the experience of patients. -- Baroness Molly MeacherAmidst the striking advances in modern medicine stands the starkly contrasting deterioration in the day to day care of vulnerable patients. Neglect and abuse of elderly and incapacitated patients in our hospitals and nursing homes is not a rare or occasional scandal picked out by the media. The picture painted in this timely book strongly points to a much wider spread of failures of acceptable standards of care. Despite any number of published inquiries little seems to have changed in the last few years. This excellent book now demands action not words from the professions and Government. -- Lord Leslie TurnbergA searing condemnation of neglect and abuse of older people in our health services, this is a must-read volume to spur us to action. We tolerate the appalling treatment of older people in some of our institutions (by no means all) because, as a society, we don't think they matter. If we visited more, challenged more, took ownership more seriously, and gave care staff, often pressurised and underpaid, more respect, things might get better. Michael Mandelstam is to be congratulated for drawing this to our attention. Now it is up to us to find the solution - and that lies partly in valuing those who care for our older people better, paying them better, and regarding care as a serious career choice. -- Baroness Julia NeubergerCaring for people is extremely challenging and expecting anyone to do so in adverse, under-staffed conditions, with little or no emotional support, is asking for trouble, as the people given a voice in this book bear witness. -- The Psychiatrist.This sobering account of the deterioration of care for elderly patients in this country makes a strong case about the systemic nature of this failure... Above all this book makes a bold address for action at every level of the NHS and indeed society, to find good solutions to this snowballing epidemic. -- Stephanie Watts, Assistant Psychologist, Bagnor University * Signpost *Table of ContentsForeword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Assessing the Evidence for Neglectful and Abusive Health Care. 3. Health Services: Public and Private. 4. Systemic Nature of Neglect and Abuse Within Health Care. 5. Dignity in Care: All the Good Guidance. 6. Dignity in Care: All the Bad Practice. 7. Getting to the Toilet and Management of Continence. 8. Keeping the Environment Clean and Managing Infection. 9. Helping People Eat and Drink. 10. Pressure Sores and Falls. 11. Hospital Beds, Admissions, Stays and Discharges. 12. Older People: the Unwanted. 13. Patient Voices, Consumers and Markets. 14. Staffing Levels, Competence and Attitude. 15. Priorities, Targets, Fear and Bullying. 16. Misinformation, Concealment and Spin. 17. Muted Voices: Clinical and Professional Integrity. 18. Denial, Accountability and Blame. 19. Legal Implications of Neglect and Abuse. 20. Human Rights. 21. Criminal Offences of Ill Treatment or Wilful Neglect. 22. Manslaughter. 23. Health and Safety at Work Legislation. 24. Regulation of Health Care Providers and of Health Care Staff. 25. No Secrets: the Policy of Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults. 26. Negligence. Concluding Postscript. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLooking at the current turmoil facing contemporary healthcare systems worldwide, resulting from relentless imposition of financially-based performance indicators, the author argues that a return to a values-based approach to healthcare will create positive transformation. Writing from the fresh perspective of social anthropology, the author takes a highly pragmatic approach to practice, emphasizing the importance of values such as compassion, solidarity and social justice. He suggests that without being able clearly to identify the values and goals that unite their members, healthcare organizations are unlikely to be able to meet the demands of the constant and varied pressures they face, and explains how individuals at every level in healthcare can contribute in practical ways to positive change within their organizations.This much-needed and very accessible book will be essential reading for anyone interested in a better approach to healthcare reform, from clinicians and nurses, to managers and policy makers, as well as the interested reader.Trade ReviewHumanizing Healthcare Reform is essential reading for all those interested in a structured approach to healthcare reform, from clinicians and nurses to managers and policy makers. -- Nursing StandardThis book is a useful mirror for managers and clinicians to reflect on and mitigate their own responses to structural change. -- Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary, University of LondonIn Humanizing Healthcare Reforms, Arbuckle excises the dialogue out of the conventional logic that has been so unsatisfying in solving the challenge of healthcare, drawing us into a credibly optimistic conversation in which cultural understandings make transformative change imaginable. His deeply provocative, delightfully articulated, and thoroughly constructive text fills an important gap in the debates about healthcare system reform, reviving the essence of the moral and spiritual ideals that led to the development of healthcare systems in the first place and offering a practical guide to enacting them through visionary and strategic leadership. Arbuckle speaks the language of the idealist and committed people who struggle to solve the problems of healthcare in our modern age, and offers them a new way forward. -- Professor Sally Thorne, University of British Columbia School of Nursing, Vancouver, CanadaThis is an important book...The book is a stupendous achievement...There is a uniquely wide vision of the healthcare elephant from every side and corner... There is a mountain of reading, and his references section is gigantic, up-to-date and very wide-ranging... spiritually founded, culturally intelligent, multi-dimensional portrayal of healthcare systems caught between the claims of technical excellence, financial efficiency and humanized compassionate care. There is nothing like it. -- Desmond Ryan * The Way *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements. Foreword by Dr Maria Theresa Ho. Introduction. 1. Power and Complexity of Culture: Healthcare Insights. 2. Healthcare Models in Conflict: What about the Patient?. 3. Tribalism Between Clinicians and Managers: Risks to Patients. 4. Bullying in Healthcare Institutions: An Anthropological Perspective. 5. Leading Cultural Change in Healthcare. 6. Leading Mergers in Healthcare: Cultural Processes. 7. Faith-Based Healthcare: Case Study. Discussion Questions. Further Reading. References. Index.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs the impetus of globalization continues to gather pace, more and more people leave their homes pursuing dreams of a better life for themselves and their families. Muslim immigrants converging on Europe from widely divergent communities scattered throughout North Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asia, represent a great variety of local cultures and traditions. Trans-Mediterranean networks form the basis of migration routes and are key factors in the destinations of these migrants and in the overall process of immigration, be this towards Europe or other Muslim countries. South-North fluxes intertwine with South-South fluxes, among which the Gulf Arab countries stand out as a prime destination, not only for low-skilled labour. Different situations emerge, within a variegated discourse on co-existence, integration, assimilation and the preservation of identity. The adoption of this transnational dimension incorporating both destination, and points of origin, enables the investigation of migration to move beyond a purely Eurocentric approach. Thus, different national patterns are analyzed with a focus on a number of significant case-studies. By debating policies and cultural approaches the aim is to add innovative scholarship to the challenge of integration. Cross-cultural pluralism on the part of the nation states comprising the European Union is one avenue for moving the dialogue between different cultural frameworks towards a more compatible form.Table of Contents

Read more less

Book SynopsisPart 1: Fundamentals of Sustainability and Start-up Innovations .- Challenges for start-ups and SME in the 21st century (Arie Verkuil, Maurizio Castiglione) .- Improving sustainability and other motivations of founding a start-up (Uta Milow, Arie Verkuil) .- Resilience patterns for start-ups tools and methods (Christoph Steinebach).- Subscribe to Happiness - How a subscription business model can support customer retention and customer life-time value (Barbara Eisenbart) .- SMEs talk startups walk - How startups can benefit from the use of a digital maturity model for international distributed work (Barbara Eisenbart, Patrick Klotz) .- Migrant entrepreneurs in Switzerland not very different from native entrepreneurs (Dario Meyer, Rolf Meyer) .- Part 2: Start-ups approaches from an international perspective .- Sustainable Entrepreneurship a Cross-Country Comparison (Rolf Dieter Reineke, Olliver Gottschall) -- Emigration and Start-up Setting. Russian and Ukrainian Intelligentia to New Shores. (Volker Schulte, Andreas Hinz) .- The Role of Public Funding Agencies for Startup Promotion an International Comparison (Volker Schulte) .- Model and Measures of Franchise Firms' Performance: A Framework for Enhancing Franchises Business Success (Adams Adeiza, Noor Azizi Ismail, Roselina Ahmad Saufi, Marina Arnaut, Malaysia) .- Why are there only few innovations in Vietnamese start-ups and SMEs? (Truong Minh Chuong (Vietnam) .- How effective is direct storytelling in enhancing entrepreneurial motivation for visually impaired people? An experimental study (Leo Aldianto, Grisna Anggadwita, Anggraeni Permatasari, Indonesia) .- Urban Farming Startups in the German Capital Region - Mindsets, Structures and Effects, (Thomas Thiessen, Gerrit Neuhaus).

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less