Peter Taylor-Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in ...
More
Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in welfare state institutions as services that will meet their needs. Reform programmes in most western countries combine New Public Management, linking market competition and regulation by targets to achieve greater efficiency and responsiveness to service-users, and welfare-to-work and make-work-pay activation policies to manage labour market change. Both developments rest on a rational actor approach to human motivation. The UK has pursued the reform programme with more vigour than any other major European country and provides a useful object less of its strengths and limitations. The book provides a detailed analytic account of social science approaches to agency. It shows that the rational actor approach has difficulties in explaining how social inclusion and social trust arise. Policies based on it provide weak support for these aspects of citizenship. It is attractive to policy-makers seeking solutions to the problem of improving the efficiency and responsiveness of welfare systems in a more globalised world, in which citizens are more critical and the authority of national governments is in decline. Recent reform programmes were undertaken to meet real pressures on existing patterns of provision. They have been largely successful in maintaining mass services but risk undermining social inclusion and eroding trust in public welfare institutions. In the longer term, they may destroy the social citizenship essential to sustain welfare states.Less
Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in welfare state institutions as services that will meet their needs. Reform programmes in most western countries combine New Public Management, linking market competition and regulation by targets to achieve greater efficiency and responsiveness to service-users, and welfare-to-work and make-work-pay activation policies to manage labour market change. Both developments rest on a rational actor approach to human motivation. The UK has pursued the reform programme with more vigour than any other major European country and provides a useful object less of its strengths and limitations. The book provides a detailed analytic account of social science approaches to agency. It shows that the rational actor approach has difficulties in explaining how social inclusion and social trust arise. Policies based on it provide weak support for these aspects of citizenship. It is attractive to policy-makers seeking solutions to the problem of improving the efficiency and responsiveness of welfare systems in a more globalised world, in which citizens are more critical and the authority of national governments is in decline. Recent reform programmes were undertaken to meet real pressures on existing patterns of provision. They have been largely successful in maintaining mass services but risk undermining social inclusion and eroding trust in public welfare institutions. In the longer term, they may destroy the social citizenship essential to sustain welfare states.
Thomas F. Farr
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195179958
- eISBN:
- 9780199869749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179958.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The book ends with a brief story that revisits major themes of the book: the secularistic culture at the Department of State and its aversion to thinking about religion; the threat to the American ...
More
The book ends with a brief story that revisits major themes of the book: the secularistic culture at the Department of State and its aversion to thinking about religion; the threat to the American homeland of Islamist terrorism; the promotion of “freedom” in the Middle East without religious freedom; the limited value of set piece face-to-face diplomacy; the need for public pressure on the U.S. foreign policy establishment; enduring skepticism among some in the West about the motives of religious people; the American opportunity in the lands of Islam and in China; and, finally, the potential role of religious actors in civil society, in the pursuit of justice, and in the principle that lies at the very heart of religious freedom: the dignity of the human person.Less
The book ends with a brief story that revisits major themes of the book: the secularistic culture at the Department of State and its aversion to thinking about religion; the threat to the American homeland of Islamist terrorism; the promotion of “freedom” in the Middle East without religious freedom; the limited value of set piece face-to-face diplomacy; the need for public pressure on the U.S. foreign policy establishment; enduring skepticism among some in the West about the motives of religious people; the American opportunity in the lands of Islam and in China; and, finally, the potential role of religious actors in civil society, in the pursuit of justice, and in the principle that lies at the very heart of religious freedom: the dignity of the human person.
Theo van Leeuwen
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195323306
- eISBN:
- 9780199869251
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323306.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines ...
More
Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines discourses as frameworks for the interpretation of reality and presents detailed and explicit methods for reconstructing these frameworks through text analysis. There are methods for analyzing the representation of social action, social actors and the timings and spatial locations of social practices as well as methods for analyzing how the purposes, legitimations and moral evaluations of social practices can be, and are, constructed in discourse. Discourse analytical categories are linked to sociological theories to bring out their relevance for the purpose of critical discourse analysis, and a variety of examples demonstrate how they can be used to this end. The final chapters apply aspects of the book's methodological framework to the analysis of multimodal texts such as visual images and children's toys.Less
Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines discourses as frameworks for the interpretation of reality and presents detailed and explicit methods for reconstructing these frameworks through text analysis. There are methods for analyzing the representation of social action, social actors and the timings and spatial locations of social practices as well as methods for analyzing how the purposes, legitimations and moral evaluations of social practices can be, and are, constructed in discourse. Discourse analytical categories are linked to sociological theories to bring out their relevance for the purpose of critical discourse analysis, and a variety of examples demonstrate how they can be used to this end. The final chapters apply aspects of the book's methodological framework to the analysis of multimodal texts such as visual images and children's toys.
Sandra F. Joireman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782482
- eISBN:
- 9780199897209
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782482.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of ...
More
Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of non-state actors define and enforce property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa when the state is weak or absent. Examining the roles played by traditional leaders, entrepreneurial bureaucrats, NGOs, and specialists in violence, this text argues that organic institutions can be helpful or predatory, depending on their incentives and context. Because organically developed institutions are not assumed to be either good or bad, the book develops a set of measurement criteria to assess which types of property regimes and enforcement mechanisms are helpful and which are harmful to social welfare. It focuses on the politics of property rights enforcement in both rural and urban communities in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Describing what happens in specific communities, the book provocatively challenges the fallacy of legalism—the idea that changes in property law will lead to changes in property rights on the ground—arguing instead that states which change their property laws face challenges in implementation when they do not control the authority structures in local communities. The book provides new information about competitors to state power in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of providing secure and defensible property rights.Less
Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of non-state actors define and enforce property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa when the state is weak or absent. Examining the roles played by traditional leaders, entrepreneurial bureaucrats, NGOs, and specialists in violence, this text argues that organic institutions can be helpful or predatory, depending on their incentives and context. Because organically developed institutions are not assumed to be either good or bad, the book develops a set of measurement criteria to assess which types of property regimes and enforcement mechanisms are helpful and which are harmful to social welfare. It focuses on the politics of property rights enforcement in both rural and urban communities in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Describing what happens in specific communities, the book provocatively challenges the fallacy of legalism—the idea that changes in property law will lead to changes in property rights on the ground—arguing instead that states which change their property laws face challenges in implementation when they do not control the authority structures in local communities. The book provides new information about competitors to state power in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of providing secure and defensible property rights.
Bernhard Ebbinghaus
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286119
- eISBN:
- 9780191604089
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286116.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using ...
More
The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using early exit? Beyond the workplace, interest coalitions may arise among governments, employer associations, and trade unions to externalize restructuration costs, reduce labor supply, and buy social peace.Less
The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using early exit? Beyond the workplace, interest coalitions may arise among governments, employer associations, and trade unions to externalize restructuration costs, reduce labor supply, and buy social peace.
Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199859948
- eISBN:
- 9780199951178
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199859948.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
Finding ways to understand the nature of social change and social order—from political movements to market meltdowns—is one of the enduring problems of social science. This book draws together ...
More
Finding ways to understand the nature of social change and social order—from political movements to market meltdowns—is one of the enduring problems of social science. This book draws together far-ranging insights from social movement theory, organizational theory, and economic and political sociology to construct a general theory of social organization and strategic action. This book proposes that social change and social order can be understood through what the book calls strategic action fields. It posits that these fields are the general building blocks of political and economic life, civil society, and the state, and the fundamental form of order in our world today. Similar to Russian dolls, they are nested and connected in a broader environment of almost countless proximate and overlapping fields. Fields are mutually dependent; change in one often triggers change in another. At the core of the theory is an account of how social actors fashion and maintain order in a given field. This sociological theory of action, what they call “social skill,” helps explain what individuals do in strategic action fields to gain cooperation or engage in competition. To demonstrate the breadth of the theory, the book makes its abstract principles concrete through extended case studies of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise and fall of the market for mortgages in the U.S. since the 1960s. The book also provides a “how-to” guide to help others implement the approach and discusses methodological issues.Less
Finding ways to understand the nature of social change and social order—from political movements to market meltdowns—is one of the enduring problems of social science. This book draws together far-ranging insights from social movement theory, organizational theory, and economic and political sociology to construct a general theory of social organization and strategic action. This book proposes that social change and social order can be understood through what the book calls strategic action fields. It posits that these fields are the general building blocks of political and economic life, civil society, and the state, and the fundamental form of order in our world today. Similar to Russian dolls, they are nested and connected in a broader environment of almost countless proximate and overlapping fields. Fields are mutually dependent; change in one often triggers change in another. At the core of the theory is an account of how social actors fashion and maintain order in a given field. This sociological theory of action, what they call “social skill,” helps explain what individuals do in strategic action fields to gain cooperation or engage in competition. To demonstrate the breadth of the theory, the book makes its abstract principles concrete through extended case studies of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise and fall of the market for mortgages in the U.S. since the 1960s. The book also provides a “how-to” guide to help others implement the approach and discusses methodological issues.
Jeffrey S. Lantis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199535019
- eISBN:
- 9780191715952
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199535019.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, International Relations and Politics
This book studies international treaty ratification processes in multiple issue areas. This study sets out to fill a gap in political science scholarship by investigating the role that international ...
More
This book studies international treaty ratification processes in multiple issue areas. This study sets out to fill a gap in political science scholarship by investigating the role that international and domestic political actors and conditions play in the critical, post-commitment phase of cooperation. The book employs the comparative case study method, drawing on original research, elite interviews, and discursive analyses of government documents in Europe, Australia, and North America. Cases examine a select number of treaties on trade cooperation, the environment, European integration, and the nuclear nonproliferation regime. It concludes that the role of norms and executive strategies play an especially significant role in shaping ratification outcomes. It is argued that the book will appeal to a broad audience interested in the question of whether international treaties remain powerful instruments for cooperation in the twenty-first century.Less
This book studies international treaty ratification processes in multiple issue areas. This study sets out to fill a gap in political science scholarship by investigating the role that international and domestic political actors and conditions play in the critical, post-commitment phase of cooperation. The book employs the comparative case study method, drawing on original research, elite interviews, and discursive analyses of government documents in Europe, Australia, and North America. Cases examine a select number of treaties on trade cooperation, the environment, European integration, and the nuclear nonproliferation regime. It concludes that the role of norms and executive strategies play an especially significant role in shaping ratification outcomes. It is argued that the book will appeal to a broad audience interested in the question of whether international treaties remain powerful instruments for cooperation in the twenty-first century.
Keith Grint
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198775003
- eISBN:
- 9780191695346
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775003.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, HRM / IR
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not ...
More
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).Less
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).
Andreas Osiander
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278870
- eISBN:
- 9780191684258
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278870.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book looks at the four major European peace congresses: Munster and Osnabrück (1644–1648), Utrecht (1712–1715), Vienna (1814–1815), and Paris (1919–1920) and shows how a prevailing consensus on ...
More
This book looks at the four major European peace congresses: Munster and Osnabrück (1644–1648), Utrecht (1712–1715), Vienna (1814–1815), and Paris (1919–1920) and shows how a prevailing consensus on certain structural concepts — such as the balance of power or national self-determination — has influenced the evolution of the system and determined its stability or lack of stability. It argues that the structure of the international system is neither a given quantity nor determined primarily by conflict between international actors, but essentially the result of a general agreement expressed in ‘consensus principles’; these influence the identity of the international actors, their relative status, and the distribution of populations and territories between them. The book concludes with a review of the period since 1920.Less
This book looks at the four major European peace congresses: Munster and Osnabrück (1644–1648), Utrecht (1712–1715), Vienna (1814–1815), and Paris (1919–1920) and shows how a prevailing consensus on certain structural concepts — such as the balance of power or national self-determination — has influenced the evolution of the system and determined its stability or lack of stability. It argues that the structure of the international system is neither a given quantity nor determined primarily by conflict between international actors, but essentially the result of a general agreement expressed in ‘consensus principles’; these influence the identity of the international actors, their relative status, and the distribution of populations and territories between them. The book concludes with a review of the period since 1920.
Peter Taylor‐Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter argues that responses to the pressures on welfare are shaped by the context of globalization and fiercer international competition. This inclines governments to develop policies that ...
More
This chapter argues that responses to the pressures on welfare are shaped by the context of globalization and fiercer international competition. This inclines governments to develop policies that stress the responsibility and motivation of individual citizens or use targets and competition to make services more responsive and cost-efficient rather than increasing spending on provision along existing lines. It introduces the principal argument of the book: that the thorough-going reform programmes underway in many countries are, by and large, successful in meeting goals of greater cost-efficiency and responsiveness. However they do so at the cost of damaging the values that underpin social citizenship, in particular citizen trust in public services.Less
This chapter argues that responses to the pressures on welfare are shaped by the context of globalization and fiercer international competition. This inclines governments to develop policies that stress the responsibility and motivation of individual citizens or use targets and competition to make services more responsive and cost-efficient rather than increasing spending on provision along existing lines. It introduces the principal argument of the book: that the thorough-going reform programmes underway in many countries are, by and large, successful in meeting goals of greater cost-efficiency and responsiveness. However they do so at the cost of damaging the values that underpin social citizenship, in particular citizen trust in public services.
Peter Taylor‐Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter analyses responses to the pressures on social and public provision among European countries and at the level of the EU. It argues that attempts to develop common EU-wide social provision ...
More
This chapter analyses responses to the pressures on social and public provision among European countries and at the level of the EU. It argues that attempts to develop common EU-wide social provision have been largely unsuccessful, while EU monetary and open market policies have transformed the economic context. Social policy reforms have developed mainly at the national level, in the shadow of European economic policies. While major differences remain between groupings of countries, two common directions can be identified. Social security benefit, employment, and labour market reforms strengthen work incentives and increasingly put the responsibility on individuals to pursue opportunities actively. New Managerialist policies in health, social care, and other services impose strict targets on providers and introduce competitive quasi-markets. Taken together these new policy directions imply a shift in the assumptions about social citizenship. Those involved as providers and users are expected to act as deliberative and pro-active rational actors, with individual opportunities and incentives playing a major role. Governments become increasingly concerned with equality of opportunity rather than outcome.Less
This chapter analyses responses to the pressures on social and public provision among European countries and at the level of the EU. It argues that attempts to develop common EU-wide social provision have been largely unsuccessful, while EU monetary and open market policies have transformed the economic context. Social policy reforms have developed mainly at the national level, in the shadow of European economic policies. While major differences remain between groupings of countries, two common directions can be identified. Social security benefit, employment, and labour market reforms strengthen work incentives and increasingly put the responsibility on individuals to pursue opportunities actively. New Managerialist policies in health, social care, and other services impose strict targets on providers and introduce competitive quasi-markets. Taken together these new policy directions imply a shift in the assumptions about social citizenship. Those involved as providers and users are expected to act as deliberative and pro-active rational actors, with individual opportunities and incentives playing a major role. Governments become increasingly concerned with equality of opportunity rather than outcome.
Peter Taylor‐Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter develops the arguments about individual rational action and social and public policy discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 and relates them to social science theories of agency. It argues that a ...
More
This chapter develops the arguments about individual rational action and social and public policy discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 and relates them to social science theories of agency. It argues that a central problem of social science is the reconciliation of the everyday life experience of individual choice and agency with the evidence that people behave in ways that are co-ordinated and largely cohesive in societies. It distinguishes individual rational actor traditions from those that stress the role of normative principles and of symbolic communication and expressiveness in action. It shows how the individual rational actor approach is increasingly attractive to policy makers, because it offers a framework in which policies can be developed and justified on the grounds that they reinforce an appropriate structure of incentives.Less
This chapter develops the arguments about individual rational action and social and public policy discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 and relates them to social science theories of agency. It argues that a central problem of social science is the reconciliation of the everyday life experience of individual choice and agency with the evidence that people behave in ways that are co-ordinated and largely cohesive in societies. It distinguishes individual rational actor traditions from those that stress the role of normative principles and of symbolic communication and expressiveness in action. It shows how the individual rational actor approach is increasingly attractive to policy makers, because it offers a framework in which policies can be developed and justified on the grounds that they reinforce an appropriate structure of incentives.
Ash Amin and Joanne Roberts (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545490
- eISBN:
- 9780191720093
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545490.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Knowledge Management
It has long been an interest of researchers in economics, sociology, organization studies, and economic geography to understand how firms innovate. Most recently, this interest has begun to examine ...
More
It has long been an interest of researchers in economics, sociology, organization studies, and economic geography to understand how firms innovate. Most recently, this interest has begun to examine the micro-processes of work and organization that sustain social creativity, emphasizing the learning and knowing through action when social actors and technologies come together in ‘communities of practice’; everyday interactions of common purpose and mutual obligation. These communities are said to spark both incremental and radical innovation. This book examines the concept of communities of practice and its applications in different spatial, organizational, and creative settings. Chapters examine the development of the concept, the link between situated practice and different types of creative outcome, the interface between spatial and relational proximity, and the organizational demands of learning and knowing through communities of practice. More widely, the chapters examine the compatibility between markets, knowledge capitalism, and community; seemingly in conflict with each other, but discursively not.Less
It has long been an interest of researchers in economics, sociology, organization studies, and economic geography to understand how firms innovate. Most recently, this interest has begun to examine the micro-processes of work and organization that sustain social creativity, emphasizing the learning and knowing through action when social actors and technologies come together in ‘communities of practice’; everyday interactions of common purpose and mutual obligation. These communities are said to spark both incremental and radical innovation. This book examines the concept of communities of practice and its applications in different spatial, organizational, and creative settings. Chapters examine the development of the concept, the link between situated practice and different types of creative outcome, the interface between spatial and relational proximity, and the organizational demands of learning and knowing through communities of practice. More widely, the chapters examine the compatibility between markets, knowledge capitalism, and community; seemingly in conflict with each other, but discursively not.
Frank W. Geels and René Kemp
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199290475
- eISBN:
- 9780191603495
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199290474.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
This chapter explores innovating and technological transformation in terms of competing socio-technical systems which evolve over long time periods. It examines changes in functional systems both ...
More
This chapter explores innovating and technological transformation in terms of competing socio-technical systems which evolve over long time periods. It examines changes in functional systems both from a theoretical and empirical perspective. It offers a typology of system changes and two brief case studies based on multilevel analysis: the hygienic transition from cesspools to integrated sewer systems (1870-1930) and the transformation in waste management (1960-2000) in the Netherlands. Three types of processes through which systems may change are described: reproduction, transformation, and transition. In the case of reproduction, there is no fundamental change at the meso level (the orientation of dominant actors, regime rules, and key technology or knowledge base), which is the case when stabilizing factors dominate. In the case of transitions and transformations in sociotechnical systems, there are meso-level changes created either by problems or new opportunities afforded by changes in technology and changes in the overall landscape. Transitions and transformations can only occur when developments at multiple levels amplify each other. This is worked out in a scheme of dynamic interactions between actors, systems rules, and social networks. The novelty of the scheme is that a regime perspective is combined with an actor perspective.Less
This chapter explores innovating and technological transformation in terms of competing socio-technical systems which evolve over long time periods. It examines changes in functional systems both from a theoretical and empirical perspective. It offers a typology of system changes and two brief case studies based on multilevel analysis: the hygienic transition from cesspools to integrated sewer systems (1870-1930) and the transformation in waste management (1960-2000) in the Netherlands. Three types of processes through which systems may change are described: reproduction, transformation, and transition. In the case of reproduction, there is no fundamental change at the meso level (the orientation of dominant actors, regime rules, and key technology or knowledge base), which is the case when stabilizing factors dominate. In the case of transitions and transformations in sociotechnical systems, there are meso-level changes created either by problems or new opportunities afforded by changes in technology and changes in the overall landscape. Transitions and transformations can only occur when developments at multiple levels amplify each other. This is worked out in a scheme of dynamic interactions between actors, systems rules, and social networks. The novelty of the scheme is that a regime perspective is combined with an actor perspective.
Georgina Waylen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199248032
- eISBN:
- 9780191714894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248032.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under ...
More
The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under which gender outcomes can be positive. After summarizing the outcomes in the electoral, bureaucratic, and constitutional/legal arenas, the conclusion outlines the key factors involved in any explanation. Although women's movements are often central in articulating gender issues, more is needed to ensure that those issues are placed on the agenda of the transition and subsequently remain on the policy agenda in the post transition period. Any analysis therefore has to include the political opportunity structure and the roles of key actors and strategic alliances. The conclusion then outlines how the book's arguments fit into wider debates within the study of gender and politics and comparative politics.Less
The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under which gender outcomes can be positive. After summarizing the outcomes in the electoral, bureaucratic, and constitutional/legal arenas, the conclusion outlines the key factors involved in any explanation. Although women's movements are often central in articulating gender issues, more is needed to ensure that those issues are placed on the agenda of the transition and subsequently remain on the policy agenda in the post transition period. Any analysis therefore has to include the political opportunity structure and the roles of key actors and strategic alliances. The conclusion then outlines how the book's arguments fit into wider debates within the study of gender and politics and comparative politics.
Andrew Kuper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199274901
- eISBN:
- 9780191601552
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199274908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Global organizations are exercising unprecedented power–from the hallowed halls of the UN to the closed boardrooms of multinational corporations. Yet their leaders are often scandalously ...
More
Global organizations are exercising unprecedented power–from the hallowed halls of the UN to the closed boardrooms of multinational corporations. Yet their leaders are often scandalously unaccountable to the people they claim to serve. How can we ensure that global leaders act responsively, and effectively, in the interests of the world’s people? In this lucid and provocative book, Andrew Kuper develops persuasive and practical answers.Democracy Beyond Borders criticizes conventional theories of justice and democracy that focus almost exclusively on the state and its electoral cycles. Kuper shows how non-state actors, such as corporations and civil society advocates, can be brought into multi-level government as partners with states. He presents an original theory of representation to answer the problem of accountability. At the core of this vision is a new separation of powers, in which different global actors check and balance one another in a complex harmony. This innovative framework complements electoral accountability and enables Kuper to recommend far-reaching reforms to the World Courts, the UN, and advocacy agencies including Transparency International.Democracy Beyond Borders stands at the forefront of a new generation of political thought, for which globalization is the challenge and deepening democracy the solution.Less
Global organizations are exercising unprecedented power–from the hallowed halls of the UN to the closed boardrooms of multinational corporations. Yet their leaders are often scandalously unaccountable to the people they claim to serve. How can we ensure that global leaders act responsively, and effectively, in the interests of the world’s people? In this lucid and provocative book, Andrew Kuper develops persuasive and practical answers.Democracy Beyond Borders criticizes conventional theories of justice and democracy that focus almost exclusively on the state and its electoral cycles. Kuper shows how non-state actors, such as corporations and civil society advocates, can be brought into multi-level government as partners with states. He presents an original theory of representation to answer the problem of accountability. At the core of this vision is a new separation of powers, in which different global actors check and balance one another in a complex harmony. This innovative framework complements electoral accountability and enables Kuper to recommend far-reaching reforms to the World Courts, the UN, and advocacy agencies including Transparency International.Democracy Beyond Borders stands at the forefront of a new generation of political thought, for which globalization is the challenge and deepening democracy the solution.
Peter Knoepfel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781447345053
- eISBN:
- 9781447345091
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447345053.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, ...
More
Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, organisation, consensus, time and political support. The book demonstrates the interplay of the different resources in a conceptually coherent framework and presents numerous illustrations of ways of mobilising the resources and managing them in a sustainable way, resource exchanges and the role of institutions governing the interrelationships between actors and resources. The book will be valuable to postgraduate students as well as those working in policy programming and implementation across both public and private sectors and in non-governmental organisations.Less
Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, organisation, consensus, time and political support. The book demonstrates the interplay of the different resources in a conceptually coherent framework and presents numerous illustrations of ways of mobilising the resources and managing them in a sustainable way, resource exchanges and the role of institutions governing the interrelationships between actors and resources. The book will be valuable to postgraduate students as well as those working in policy programming and implementation across both public and private sectors and in non-governmental organisations.
Jessica F. Green
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157580
- eISBN:
- 9781400848669
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157580.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book examines the role of nonstate actors in global environmental politics, arguing that a fuller understanding of their role requires a new way of conceptualizing private authority. It ...
More
This book examines the role of nonstate actors in global environmental politics, arguing that a fuller understanding of their role requires a new way of conceptualizing private authority. It identifies two distinct forms of private authority—one in which states delegate authority to private actors, and another in which entrepreneurial actors generate their own rules, persuading others to adopt them. Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence spanning a century of environmental rule making, the book shows how the delegation of authority to private actors has played a small but consistent role in multilateral environmental agreements over the past fifty years, largely in the area of treaty implementation. This contrasts with entrepreneurial authority, where most private environmental rules have been created in the past two decades. The book traces how this dynamic and fast-growing form of private authority is becoming increasingly common in areas ranging from organic food to green building practices to sustainable tourism. It persuasively argues that the configuration of state preferences and the existing institutional landscape are paramount to explaining why private authority emerges and assumes the form that it does. In-depth cases on climate change provide evidence for the book's arguments. The book demonstrates that authority in world politics is diffused across multiple levels and diverse actors, and it offers a more complete picture of how private actors are helping to shape our response to today's most pressing environmental problems.Less
This book examines the role of nonstate actors in global environmental politics, arguing that a fuller understanding of their role requires a new way of conceptualizing private authority. It identifies two distinct forms of private authority—one in which states delegate authority to private actors, and another in which entrepreneurial actors generate their own rules, persuading others to adopt them. Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence spanning a century of environmental rule making, the book shows how the delegation of authority to private actors has played a small but consistent role in multilateral environmental agreements over the past fifty years, largely in the area of treaty implementation. This contrasts with entrepreneurial authority, where most private environmental rules have been created in the past two decades. The book traces how this dynamic and fast-growing form of private authority is becoming increasingly common in areas ranging from organic food to green building practices to sustainable tourism. It persuasively argues that the configuration of state preferences and the existing institutional landscape are paramount to explaining why private authority emerges and assumes the form that it does. In-depth cases on climate change provide evidence for the book's arguments. The book demonstrates that authority in world politics is diffused across multiple levels and diverse actors, and it offers a more complete picture of how private actors are helping to shape our response to today's most pressing environmental problems.
Roger Scully
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199284320
- eISBN:
- 9780191603365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199284326.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter seeks to develop a coherent explanation of the circumstances in which political actors operating within EU institutions might be subject to socialisation processes that shape their ...
More
This chapter seeks to develop a coherent explanation of the circumstances in which political actors operating within EU institutions might be subject to socialisation processes that shape their attitudes and behaviour in a more integrationist direction. Any such explanation, it is argued, must depend on two core elements: an understanding of the nature of the socialising experience to be undergone; and assumptions about the individuals who will undergo this experience. The chapter then goes on to discuss the likely implications of this framework for socialisation processes in the EP. The discussion shows that the extent to which MEPs become divorced from the national political scene has been substantially over-stated. It is argued that a rationalist understanding of MEPs’ core political goals — assumed to be policy, office and (re)-election — would predict that European Parliamentarians should prove relatively immune to any pressures to ‘go native’.Less
This chapter seeks to develop a coherent explanation of the circumstances in which political actors operating within EU institutions might be subject to socialisation processes that shape their attitudes and behaviour in a more integrationist direction. Any such explanation, it is argued, must depend on two core elements: an understanding of the nature of the socialising experience to be undergone; and assumptions about the individuals who will undergo this experience. The chapter then goes on to discuss the likely implications of this framework for socialisation processes in the EP. The discussion shows that the extent to which MEPs become divorced from the national political scene has been substantially over-stated. It is argued that a rationalist understanding of MEPs’ core political goals — assumed to be policy, office and (re)-election — would predict that European Parliamentarians should prove relatively immune to any pressures to ‘go native’.
Richard S. Katz
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199257560
- eISBN:
- 9780191603280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199257566.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Electoral reforms are surprisingly rare in established political systems. This chapter analyses the reasons why political actors might attempt to change an electoral system to one that more closely ...
More
Electoral reforms are surprisingly rare in established political systems. This chapter analyses the reasons why political actors might attempt to change an electoral system to one that more closely matches their own interests, and the reasons why they might decide not to attempt to do this. It discusses the limitations of the rational actor paradigm. It identifies the circumstances under which electoral reform becomes more likely. It discusses ‘fashions’ in electoral reform, particularly the adoption of mixed systems in a number of countries and moves to widen voters’ intraparty candidate choice, and emphasises the important role of democratic values.Less
Electoral reforms are surprisingly rare in established political systems. This chapter analyses the reasons why political actors might attempt to change an electoral system to one that more closely matches their own interests, and the reasons why they might decide not to attempt to do this. It discusses the limitations of the rational actor paradigm. It identifies the circumstances under which electoral reform becomes more likely. It discusses ‘fashions’ in electoral reform, particularly the adoption of mixed systems in a number of countries and moves to widen voters’ intraparty candidate choice, and emphasises the important role of democratic values.
