Edward C. Page
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198277279
- eISBN:
- 9780191684166
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198277279.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Why do some countries appear to be far more centralized than others? In some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are ...
More
Why do some countries appear to be far more centralized than others? In some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are delivered by national and other non-local bodies. Moreover national government oversees the operation of local government with varying degrees of stringency. In addition, local politicians in some countries seem to have greater influence over their national counterparts than those in others. The answer to this question can be found in the distinctive patterns of development experienced in southern and northern Europe. Differences in national–local relations also have direct implications for patterns of policy-making at the local level. This book examines the legal and political bases of relationships between national and local government in Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Spain, and assesses the causes and consequences of differences in such relationships.Less
Why do some countries appear to be far more centralized than others? In some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are delivered by national and other non-local bodies. Moreover national government oversees the operation of local government with varying degrees of stringency. In addition, local politicians in some countries seem to have greater influence over their national counterparts than those in others. The answer to this question can be found in the distinctive patterns of development experienced in southern and northern Europe. Differences in national–local relations also have direct implications for patterns of policy-making at the local level. This book examines the legal and political bases of relationships between national and local government in Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Spain, and assesses the causes and consequences of differences in such relationships.
Max. M Edling
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195148701
- eISBN:
- 9780199835096
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148703.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In this new interpretation of America's origins, the author argues that during the Constitutional debates, the Federalists were primarily concerned with building a state able to act vigorously in ...
More
In this new interpretation of America's origins, the author argues that during the Constitutional debates, the Federalists were primarily concerned with building a state able to act vigorously in defense of American national interests. By transferring the powers of war making and resource extraction from states to the national government, the US Constitution created a nation‐state invested with all the important powers of Europe's eighteenth‐century “fiscal‐military states.” However, the political traditions and institutions of America, whose people had a deeply ingrained distrust of unduly concentrated authority, were incompatible with a strong centralized government based on the European pattern. To secure the adoption of the Constitution, the Federalists needed to build a very different state – they had to accommodate the formation of a powerful national government to the strong current of anti‐statism in the American political tradition. They did so by designing an administration that would be powerful in times of crisis, but would make limited demands on citizens and entailed sharp restrictions on the physical presence of the national government in society. The Constitution was the Federalists’ promise of the benefits of government without its costs – statecraft rather than strong central authority as the solution to governing. The book takes advantage of a newly published edition of the constitutional debates in recovering a neglected strand of Federalist argument, and making a case for rethinking the formation of the federal American state. It is arranged in three main parts: I. Interpreting the Debate over Ratification (four chapters); II. Military Powers (five chapters); and III. Fiscal Powers (five chapters).Less
In this new interpretation of America's origins, the author argues that during the Constitutional debates, the Federalists were primarily concerned with building a state able to act vigorously in defense of American national interests. By transferring the powers of war making and resource extraction from states to the national government, the US Constitution created a nation‐state invested with all the important powers of Europe's eighteenth‐century “fiscal‐military states.” However, the political traditions and institutions of America, whose people had a deeply ingrained distrust of unduly concentrated authority, were incompatible with a strong centralized government based on the European pattern. To secure the adoption of the Constitution, the Federalists needed to build a very different state – they had to accommodate the formation of a powerful national government to the strong current of anti‐statism in the American political tradition. They did so by designing an administration that would be powerful in times of crisis, but would make limited demands on citizens and entailed sharp restrictions on the physical presence of the national government in society. The Constitution was the Federalists’ promise of the benefits of government without its costs – statecraft rather than strong central authority as the solution to governing. The book takes advantage of a newly published edition of the constitutional debates in recovering a neglected strand of Federalist argument, and making a case for rethinking the formation of the federal American state. It is arranged in three main parts: I. Interpreting the Debate over Ratification (four chapters); II. Military Powers (five chapters); and III. Fiscal Powers (five chapters).
Roger Undy, Patricia Fosh, Huw Morris, Paul Smith, and Roderick Martin
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289197
- eISBN:
- 9780191684685
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289197.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Organization Studies
Even before the changes, unions were already experiencing financial problems, since the income from membership subscriptions was not enough to cover the total expenses. Because of the immense drop in ...
More
Even before the changes, unions were already experiencing financial problems, since the income from membership subscriptions was not enough to cover the total expenses. Because of the immense drop in union membership, unions had to deal not only with aggravated financial issues but organizational issues as well. The non-ballot-related changes affected the decisions made by union leaders and also interacted with the balloting legislation. This chapter provides a discussion about membership, merger, and structure in order to better understand the impact of membership loss to union behaviour and government issues. Because unions initially adopted individual strategies to minimize the damages triggered by the changes, a movement was made to establish a more centralized government. The move to reform organizational structure made way for the development of new policies concerning employers and partnership.Less
Even before the changes, unions were already experiencing financial problems, since the income from membership subscriptions was not enough to cover the total expenses. Because of the immense drop in union membership, unions had to deal not only with aggravated financial issues but organizational issues as well. The non-ballot-related changes affected the decisions made by union leaders and also interacted with the balloting legislation. This chapter provides a discussion about membership, merger, and structure in order to better understand the impact of membership loss to union behaviour and government issues. Because unions initially adopted individual strategies to minimize the damages triggered by the changes, a movement was made to establish a more centralized government. The move to reform organizational structure made way for the development of new policies concerning employers and partnership.
Orfeo Fioretos
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449697
- eISBN:
- 9780801460715
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449697.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter explores the nature of institutional development in key economic domains in France during the early post-war period, the 1970s and 1980s, and in the decade and a half preceding the 2008 ...
More
This chapter explores the nature of institutional development in key economic domains in France during the early post-war period, the 1970s and 1980s, and in the decade and a half preceding the 2008 global financial crisis. Unlike Britain where attempts to introduce centralized forms of governance failed in the early post-war period, the French government successfully consolidated such policies in multiple domains. French government is also neither successful in implementing a partial liberal reform agenda, nor in sustaining a comprehensive program of institutional specialization that sought to expand centralized governance. The chapter explains why and when different forms of economic governance across various domains are stable while others are characterized by more change by highlighting the role of historical legacies, shifts in international markets, and the multilateral environment in shaping firm strategy.Less
This chapter explores the nature of institutional development in key economic domains in France during the early post-war period, the 1970s and 1980s, and in the decade and a half preceding the 2008 global financial crisis. Unlike Britain where attempts to introduce centralized forms of governance failed in the early post-war period, the French government successfully consolidated such policies in multiple domains. French government is also neither successful in implementing a partial liberal reform agenda, nor in sustaining a comprehensive program of institutional specialization that sought to expand centralized governance. The chapter explains why and when different forms of economic governance across various domains are stable while others are characterized by more change by highlighting the role of historical legacies, shifts in international markets, and the multilateral environment in shaping firm strategy.
Michael E. Meeker
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520225268
- eISBN:
- 9780520929128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520225268.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This chapter studies how the consular assessment of the local elites was later adopted by higher Ottoman officials as they implemented a westernist theory of centralized bureaucratic government. As a ...
More
This chapter studies how the consular assessment of the local elites was later adopted by higher Ottoman officials as they implemented a westernist theory of centralized bureaucratic government. As a result, both officials and consuls during the late nineteenth century were continually surprised to find that the local elites were able to manipulate, and even challenge, the central government at the local level.Less
This chapter studies how the consular assessment of the local elites was later adopted by higher Ottoman officials as they implemented a westernist theory of centralized bureaucratic government. As a result, both officials and consuls during the late nineteenth century were continually surprised to find that the local elites were able to manipulate, and even challenge, the central government at the local level.
Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231169547
- eISBN:
- 9780231537957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231169547.003.0004
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This epilogue discusses the outcome of the Great Collapse. As the devastating effects of the Great Collapse began to appear, the nation-states with democratic governments were initially unwilling and ...
More
This epilogue discusses the outcome of the Great Collapse. As the devastating effects of the Great Collapse began to appear, the nation-states with democratic governments were initially unwilling and then unable to deal with the unfolding crisis. As food shortages and disease outbreaks spread, and sea level rose, they found themselves without the infrastructure and organizational ability to quarantine and relocate people. However, the situation was different in China. When rising sea levels began to threaten coastal areas, China rapidly built new inland cities and villages, and relocated more than 250 million people to higher and safer ground, increasing their survival rates to more than 80 percent. China's ability to weather disastrous climate change justified the necessity of centralized government.Less
This epilogue discusses the outcome of the Great Collapse. As the devastating effects of the Great Collapse began to appear, the nation-states with democratic governments were initially unwilling and then unable to deal with the unfolding crisis. As food shortages and disease outbreaks spread, and sea level rose, they found themselves without the infrastructure and organizational ability to quarantine and relocate people. However, the situation was different in China. When rising sea levels began to threaten coastal areas, China rapidly built new inland cities and villages, and relocated more than 250 million people to higher and safer ground, increasing their survival rates to more than 80 percent. China's ability to weather disastrous climate change justified the necessity of centralized government.
Fernanda Pirie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199696840
- eISBN:
- 9780191751110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696840.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter considers contemporary international laws, including human rights instruments and ideas, in order to explore the power and appeal of the legal form in the modern world. It begins by ...
More
This chapter considers contemporary international laws, including human rights instruments and ideas, in order to explore the power and appeal of the legal form in the modern world. It begins by looking at some of the sociological scholarship on the rise of the state and centralized government, and the place of law within it. This is contrasted with studies of laws that are asserted or invoked against rulers: the relations between laws and rulers are multiple.Less
This chapter considers contemporary international laws, including human rights instruments and ideas, in order to explore the power and appeal of the legal form in the modern world. It begins by looking at some of the sociological scholarship on the rise of the state and centralized government, and the place of law within it. This is contrasted with studies of laws that are asserted or invoked against rulers: the relations between laws and rulers are multiple.
Murat Iyigun
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226388434
- eISBN:
- 9780226232287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226232287.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Chapter 1 sets the background by discussing the literature on the role of religion in sociopolitical organization and centralized government. Sociologists, in particular, had much to say about the ...
More
Chapter 1 sets the background by discussing the literature on the role of religion in sociopolitical organization and centralized government. Sociologists, in particular, had much to say about the role of religion and whether or not moral as well as ethical considerations associated with faith serve as a foundation for social stability. A strand within sociology, in fact, has promoted the notion that monotheism was particularly effective in serving this function. Political scientists, on the other hand, honed in on the extent to which ecclesiastical and political power complemented each other in influencing the efficacy of centralized government. They also extensively documented the degree to which religious rivalries or affinities, especially those involving the three major Abrahamic, monotheistic faiths, produced and sustained violent conflicts throughout history. The chapter wraps up with a documentation of some salient historical facts upon which the books’ key arguments are built and those which it seeks to explain.Less
Chapter 1 sets the background by discussing the literature on the role of religion in sociopolitical organization and centralized government. Sociologists, in particular, had much to say about the role of religion and whether or not moral as well as ethical considerations associated with faith serve as a foundation for social stability. A strand within sociology, in fact, has promoted the notion that monotheism was particularly effective in serving this function. Political scientists, on the other hand, honed in on the extent to which ecclesiastical and political power complemented each other in influencing the efficacy of centralized government. They also extensively documented the degree to which religious rivalries or affinities, especially those involving the three major Abrahamic, monotheistic faiths, produced and sustained violent conflicts throughout history. The chapter wraps up with a documentation of some salient historical facts upon which the books’ key arguments are built and those which it seeks to explain.
Thomas Heberer
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520219885
- eISBN:
- 9780520935259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520219885.003.0014
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the contradictions between the idea of local autonomy for China's minority peoples and the economic and policy imperatives of a centralizing government and Party. Dealing ...
More
This chapter discusses the contradictions between the idea of local autonomy for China's minority peoples and the economic and policy imperatives of a centralizing government and Party. Dealing specifically with the case of Liangshan Prefecture, it shows how the current Autonomy Law is a law without teeth, a statement of principles without any measures for enforcement, and how, in the absence of enforcement, the problems of a colony-like extractive economy and massive Han migration shed doubt on the future possibility of real local control of local resources.Less
This chapter discusses the contradictions between the idea of local autonomy for China's minority peoples and the economic and policy imperatives of a centralizing government and Party. Dealing specifically with the case of Liangshan Prefecture, it shows how the current Autonomy Law is a law without teeth, a statement of principles without any measures for enforcement, and how, in the absence of enforcement, the problems of a colony-like extractive economy and massive Han migration shed doubt on the future possibility of real local control of local resources.
Morton Keller
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199383375
- eISBN:
- 9780190252434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199383375.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter focuses on Barack Obama’s style of governance as president of the United States within the context of American politics. It examines why he has had difficulty turning rhetoric into ...
More
This chapter focuses on Barack Obama’s style of governance as president of the United States within the context of American politics. It examines why he has had difficulty turning rhetoric into reality and looks at the criticisms hurled against his presidency, from circumventing Congress to implementing new foreign policy without legislative approval and for failing to fulfill its promise of being the most open administration in history. It also considers Obama’s desire to be a transformative chief executive, compares his New Foundation with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, and analyzes Obama’s belief in interventionist, centralized government. The chapter concludes by assessing Obama’s relationship with Congress, his cabinet and his staff, and the bureaucracy.Less
This chapter focuses on Barack Obama’s style of governance as president of the United States within the context of American politics. It examines why he has had difficulty turning rhetoric into reality and looks at the criticisms hurled against his presidency, from circumventing Congress to implementing new foreign policy without legislative approval and for failing to fulfill its promise of being the most open administration in history. It also considers Obama’s desire to be a transformative chief executive, compares his New Foundation with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, and analyzes Obama’s belief in interventionist, centralized government. The chapter concludes by assessing Obama’s relationship with Congress, his cabinet and his staff, and the bureaucracy.
