Margaret P. Battin, Leslie P. Francis, Jay A. Jacobson, and Charles B. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335842
- eISBN:
- 9780199868926
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335842.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines the characteristics of infectious disease that raise special medical and social ethical issues, and explores ways of integrating both current bioethics and classical public ...
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This chapter examines the characteristics of infectious disease that raise special medical and social ethical issues, and explores ways of integrating both current bioethics and classical public health ethics concerns. Many of the ethical issues raised by infectious disease are related to these diseases' powerful ability to engender fear in individuals and panic in populations. The chapter addresses the association of some infectious diseases with high morbidity and mortality rates, the sense that infectious diseases are caused by invasion or attack on humans by foreign microorganisms, the acute onset and rapid course of many infectious diseases, and, in particular, the communicability of infectious diseases. The individual fear and community panic associated with infectious diseases often leads to rapid, emotionally driven decision-making about public health policies needed to protect the community that may be in conflict with current bioethical principles regarding the care of individual patients. The discussion includes recent examples where dialogue between public health practitioners and bioethicists has helped resolve ethical issues that require us to consider the infected patient as both a victim with individual needs and rights, and as a potential vector of disease that is of concern to the community.Less
This chapter examines the characteristics of infectious disease that raise special medical and social ethical issues, and explores ways of integrating both current bioethics and classical public health ethics concerns. Many of the ethical issues raised by infectious disease are related to these diseases' powerful ability to engender fear in individuals and panic in populations. The chapter addresses the association of some infectious diseases with high morbidity and mortality rates, the sense that infectious diseases are caused by invasion or attack on humans by foreign microorganisms, the acute onset and rapid course of many infectious diseases, and, in particular, the communicability of infectious diseases. The individual fear and community panic associated with infectious diseases often leads to rapid, emotionally driven decision-making about public health policies needed to protect the community that may be in conflict with current bioethical principles regarding the care of individual patients. The discussion includes recent examples where dialogue between public health practitioners and bioethicists has helped resolve ethical issues that require us to consider the infected patient as both a victim with individual needs and rights, and as a potential vector of disease that is of concern to the community.
Torstein Theodor Tollefsen
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199237142
- eISBN:
- 9780191717321
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237142.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
An attempt is made to show how Maximus' philosophy communicates with modern challenges. His conception of a Christocentric cosmology with its internal principles, are applied to two issues, viz. the ...
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An attempt is made to show how Maximus' philosophy communicates with modern challenges. His conception of a Christocentric cosmology with its internal principles, are applied to two issues, viz. the human rights issue and the environmental issue.Less
An attempt is made to show how Maximus' philosophy communicates with modern challenges. His conception of a Christocentric cosmology with its internal principles, are applied to two issues, viz. the human rights issue and the environmental issue.
Jeffrey Edward Green
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195372649
- eISBN:
- 9780199871711
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372649.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a ...
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For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a vocal one, arguing that it is both possible and desirable to understand democracy in terms of what the People gets to see, instead of the traditional focus on what it gets to say. The Eyes of the People examines democracy from the perspective of everyday citizens in their everyday lives. While it is customary to understand the citizen as a decision maker, most citizens in fact rarely engage in decision making and do not even have clear views on most political issues. The ordinary citizen is not a decision maker but a spectator who watches and listens to the select few empowered to decide. Grounded on this everyday phenomenon of spectatorship, The Eyes of the People constructs a democratic theory applicable to the way democracy is actually experienced by most people most of the time. In approaching democracy from the perspective of the People's eyes, the book rediscovers and rehabilitates a forgotten “plebiscitarian” alternative within the history of democratic thought. Building off the contributions of a wide range of thinkers — including Aristotle, Shakespeare, Benjamin Constant, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, and many others — it outlines a novel democratic paradigm, centered on empowering the People's gaze through forcing politicians to appear in public under conditions they do not fully control.Less
For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a vocal one, arguing that it is both possible and desirable to understand democracy in terms of what the People gets to see, instead of the traditional focus on what it gets to say. The Eyes of the People examines democracy from the perspective of everyday citizens in their everyday lives. While it is customary to understand the citizen as a decision maker, most citizens in fact rarely engage in decision making and do not even have clear views on most political issues. The ordinary citizen is not a decision maker but a spectator who watches and listens to the select few empowered to decide. Grounded on this everyday phenomenon of spectatorship, The Eyes of the People constructs a democratic theory applicable to the way democracy is actually experienced by most people most of the time. In approaching democracy from the perspective of the People's eyes, the book rediscovers and rehabilitates a forgotten “plebiscitarian” alternative within the history of democratic thought. Building off the contributions of a wide range of thinkers — including Aristotle, Shakespeare, Benjamin Constant, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, and many others — it outlines a novel democratic paradigm, centered on empowering the People's gaze through forcing politicians to appear in public under conditions they do not fully control.
James Halteman and Edd S. Noell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199763702
- eISBN:
- 9780199932252
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199763702.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This book follows the flow of economic thinking from ancient times by observing how moral issues impacted economic ideas and social organization. Over the centuries, thinkers such as Aristotle and ...
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This book follows the flow of economic thinking from ancient times by observing how moral issues impacted economic ideas and social organization. Over the centuries, thinkers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas emphasized what was right and good more than the pursuit of social efficiency. That changed when scientific methods no longer required moral considerations and economics adopted a values-free scientific methodology. A positive-normative dichotomy has served the profession well in many ways, but there have been voices arguing for a more values-oriented approach to the discipline. Now microeconomics is facing many new challenges as the complications of interdependence increase and behavioral, neurobiological, and other interdisciplinary perspectives need to be addressed. The search to understand and explain behavior is pushing the discipline to enlarge its methodology beyond the standard instrumental prediction goals. This complicates analysis as multiple motivations for behavior are considered and interest in the formation of utility functions begins to creep into economic consciousness again. Moral reflection is relevant as game theory, cooperation models, and theories of trust enter into the discussion. Psychological tendencies and institutional changes involve reference to the moral life as essential for social coordination. The final chapter offers an interdisciplinary framework to incorporate values more directly into economic methods by building on the human passions as discussed by Adam Smith and the behavioral instincts described by Thorstein Veblen. This enlarges the scope of economic actors beyond the homo economicus model without abandoning some of the valuable features of that model.Less
This book follows the flow of economic thinking from ancient times by observing how moral issues impacted economic ideas and social organization. Over the centuries, thinkers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas emphasized what was right and good more than the pursuit of social efficiency. That changed when scientific methods no longer required moral considerations and economics adopted a values-free scientific methodology. A positive-normative dichotomy has served the profession well in many ways, but there have been voices arguing for a more values-oriented approach to the discipline. Now microeconomics is facing many new challenges as the complications of interdependence increase and behavioral, neurobiological, and other interdisciplinary perspectives need to be addressed. The search to understand and explain behavior is pushing the discipline to enlarge its methodology beyond the standard instrumental prediction goals. This complicates analysis as multiple motivations for behavior are considered and interest in the formation of utility functions begins to creep into economic consciousness again. Moral reflection is relevant as game theory, cooperation models, and theories of trust enter into the discussion. Psychological tendencies and institutional changes involve reference to the moral life as essential for social coordination. The final chapter offers an interdisciplinary framework to incorporate values more directly into economic methods by building on the human passions as discussed by Adam Smith and the behavioral instincts described by Thorstein Veblen. This enlarges the scope of economic actors beyond the homo economicus model without abandoning some of the valuable features of that model.
William Dusinberre
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195326031
- eISBN:
- 9780199868308
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326031.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This book examines both the social and the political history of slavery. James Polk — President of the United States from 1845 to 1849 — owned a Mississippi cotton plantation with about fifty slaves. ...
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This book examines both the social and the political history of slavery. James Polk — President of the United States from 1845 to 1849 — owned a Mississippi cotton plantation with about fifty slaves. Drawing upon previously unexplored records, this book recreates the world of Polk's Mississippi plantation and the personal histories of his slaves, in what is arguably the most careful and vivid account to date of how slavery functioned on a single cotton plantation. Life at the Polk estate was brutal and often short. Fewer than one in two slave children lived to the age of fifteen, a child mortality rate even higher than that on the average plantation. A steady stream of slaves temporarily fled the plantation throughout Polk's tenure as absentee slavemaster. Yet Polk was in some respects an enlightened owner, instituting an unusual incentive plan for his slaves and granting extensive privileges to his most favored slave. By contrast with Senator John C. Calhoun, President Polk has been seen as a moderate Southern Democratic leader. But this book suggests that the president's political stance toward slavery — influenced as it was by his deep personal involvement in the plantation system — may actually have helped to precipitate the Civil War that Polk sought to avoid.Less
This book examines both the social and the political history of slavery. James Polk — President of the United States from 1845 to 1849 — owned a Mississippi cotton plantation with about fifty slaves. Drawing upon previously unexplored records, this book recreates the world of Polk's Mississippi plantation and the personal histories of his slaves, in what is arguably the most careful and vivid account to date of how slavery functioned on a single cotton plantation. Life at the Polk estate was brutal and often short. Fewer than one in two slave children lived to the age of fifteen, a child mortality rate even higher than that on the average plantation. A steady stream of slaves temporarily fled the plantation throughout Polk's tenure as absentee slavemaster. Yet Polk was in some respects an enlightened owner, instituting an unusual incentive plan for his slaves and granting extensive privileges to his most favored slave. By contrast with Senator John C. Calhoun, President Polk has been seen as a moderate Southern Democratic leader. But this book suggests that the president's political stance toward slavery — influenced as it was by his deep personal involvement in the plantation system — may actually have helped to precipitate the Civil War that Polk sought to avoid.
Donald Maurice
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195156904
- eISBN:
- 9780199868339
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156904.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This introductory chapter highlights the special problems associated with this work including the inaccessibility of the manuscript for five decades, the incompleteness of the sketches, and the ...
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This introductory chapter highlights the special problems associated with this work including the inaccessibility of the manuscript for five decades, the incompleteness of the sketches, and the challenges of authenticity and legal issues faced by revisionists. It concludes with a summary of the book's chapters.Less
This introductory chapter highlights the special problems associated with this work including the inaccessibility of the manuscript for five decades, the incompleteness of the sketches, and the challenges of authenticity and legal issues faced by revisionists. It concludes with a summary of the book's chapters.
Bernt Aardal and Pieter van Wijnen
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199273218
- eISBN:
- 9780191602962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199273219.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The main research question in this chapter is to what extent and how voters’ perceptions of important issues affect the outcome of the election. The analyses clearly demonstrate that issue voting ...
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The main research question in this chapter is to what extent and how voters’ perceptions of important issues affect the outcome of the election. The analyses clearly demonstrate that issue voting matters. If a voter thinks that a certain issue is salient, this has a considerable positive effect on the probability that he or she will vote for the party that is regarded as the ‘owner’ of the issue. Despite thelimitations of the measurements and data used, it is argued that issues do matter in modern elections. However, contrary to expectations based on modernisation theory, no secular increase in issue voting over time was found. The notion that policy preferences — or issues — have “replaced” social background as prime determinants of voting tends to overlook the fact that even the traditional models of voting behaviour were not devoid of political context. In this perspective, the analysis in this chapter confirms that election campaigns are still fought over issues that both politicians and voters perceive as important. If a party owns an issue, it has far better chances in an upcoming election, only if the voters — and the media — agree with the party that this particular issue deserves particular attention.Less
The main research question in this chapter is to what extent and how voters’ perceptions of important issues affect the outcome of the election. The analyses clearly demonstrate that issue voting matters. If a voter thinks that a certain issue is salient, this has a considerable positive effect on the probability that he or she will vote for the party that is regarded as the ‘owner’ of the issue. Despite thelimitations of the measurements and data used, it is argued that issues do matter in modern elections. However, contrary to expectations based on modernisation theory, no secular increase in issue voting over time was found. The notion that policy preferences — or issues — have “replaced” social background as prime determinants of voting tends to overlook the fact that even the traditional models of voting behaviour were not devoid of political context. In this perspective, the analysis in this chapter confirms that election campaigns are still fought over issues that both politicians and voters perceive as important. If a party owns an issue, it has far better chances in an upcoming election, only if the voters — and the media — agree with the party that this particular issue deserves particular attention.
James C. Raines and Nic T. Dibble
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735853
- eISBN:
- 9780199863457
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735853.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
There are three essential differences between this book and most others in the field of ethics. First, instead of focusing on specific issues, it focuses on the process of ethical decision-making. ...
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There are three essential differences between this book and most others in the field of ethics. First, instead of focusing on specific issues, it focuses on the process of ethical decision-making. Second, instead of writing for a specific profession, it is written for all mental health professionals working in elementary and secondary schools. Finally, most other books on ethics assume that they are writing for the individual ethical agent, it argues that the best ethical decisions are made in collaboration with others. The books examines a seven-step process for resolving difficult ethical dilemmas in schools: (i) knowing yourself and your professional responsibilities, (ii) analyzing the predicament, (iii) seeking consultation, (iv) identifying courses of action, (v) managing clinical concerns, (vi) implementing the decision, and (vii) reflecting on the process. Each chapter contains real-life scenarios based on real practice or actual cases in the public domain, ethical guidelines for addressing key points, exercises, and relevant internet sites.Less
There are three essential differences between this book and most others in the field of ethics. First, instead of focusing on specific issues, it focuses on the process of ethical decision-making. Second, instead of writing for a specific profession, it is written for all mental health professionals working in elementary and secondary schools. Finally, most other books on ethics assume that they are writing for the individual ethical agent, it argues that the best ethical decisions are made in collaboration with others. The books examines a seven-step process for resolving difficult ethical dilemmas in schools: (i) knowing yourself and your professional responsibilities, (ii) analyzing the predicament, (iii) seeking consultation, (iv) identifying courses of action, (v) managing clinical concerns, (vi) implementing the decision, and (vii) reflecting on the process. Each chapter contains real-life scenarios based on real practice or actual cases in the public domain, ethical guidelines for addressing key points, exercises, and relevant internet sites.
Hermann Schmitt and Jacques Thomassen
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198296614
- eISBN:
- 9780191600227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296614.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter is the first of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the first of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in this chapter) ...
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This chapter is the first of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the first of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in this chapter) to an empirical test. The questions investigated here are whether EU political parties are sufficiently distinct and cohesive to fulfil the partisan prerequisites of an effective system of political representation in the European Parliament. However, before this is done, a more formal description is given of the present structure of the EU party system, and an elaboration is presented of the partisan requirements of the Responsible Party Model of political representation. This model rests on the premises that government policy should be in line with the preferences of (a majority of) the electorate, that voters must have a choice between different policy proposals (position issues) offered by cohesive parties, and that voters have policy preferences and are assumed to vote for the party whose policy proposals they perceive to be closest to these preferences. The main part of the chapter uses data from the European Representation Study 1994 to test both the original Responsible Party Model and an alternative and more realistic variant based on weaker assumptions and inspired by the valence issue logic of Stokes and the issue salience theory of Budge and Farlie; in this alternative variant parties do not compete on specific policies (positions) but rather on the valence or salience of issues—effective representation is then no longer indicated by the congruence of policy preferences between party elites and party voters, but by the congruence of political agendas of representatives and represented.Less
This chapter is the first of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the first of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in this chapter) to an empirical test. The questions investigated here are whether EU political parties are sufficiently distinct and cohesive to fulfil the partisan prerequisites of an effective system of political representation in the European Parliament. However, before this is done, a more formal description is given of the present structure of the EU party system, and an elaboration is presented of the partisan requirements of the Responsible Party Model of political representation. This model rests on the premises that government policy should be in line with the preferences of (a majority of) the electorate, that voters must have a choice between different policy proposals (position issues) offered by cohesive parties, and that voters have policy preferences and are assumed to vote for the party whose policy proposals they perceive to be closest to these preferences. The main part of the chapter uses data from the European Representation Study 1994 to test both the original Responsible Party Model and an alternative and more realistic variant based on weaker assumptions and inspired by the valence issue logic of Stokes and the issue salience theory of Budge and Farlie; in this alternative variant parties do not compete on specific policies (positions) but rather on the valence or salience of issues—effective representation is then no longer indicated by the congruence of policy preferences between party elites and party voters, but by the congruence of political agendas of representatives and represented.
Alok Kumar and Sushanta K. Chatterjee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198082279
- eISBN:
- 9780199082063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198082279.003.0017
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The evolution of the electricity industry in India has been supply oriented. Demand Side measures have been elaborated in detail in the Energy Conservation Act of 2001. The Energy Conservation ...
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The evolution of the electricity industry in India has been supply oriented. Demand Side measures have been elaborated in detail in the Energy Conservation Act of 2001. The Energy Conservation together with the Electricity Act, 2003 provides the relevant statutory framework in this regard. The chapter explains this framework and also goes on to elaborate policy provision in this regard. Regulatory initiatives taken so far in this context, have also been touched upon. The chapter concludes by highlighting the future prospects on the Demand side Management.Less
The evolution of the electricity industry in India has been supply oriented. Demand Side measures have been elaborated in detail in the Energy Conservation Act of 2001. The Energy Conservation together with the Electricity Act, 2003 provides the relevant statutory framework in this regard. The chapter explains this framework and also goes on to elaborate policy provision in this regard. Regulatory initiatives taken so far in this context, have also been touched upon. The chapter concludes by highlighting the future prospects on the Demand side Management.
Alan Dowty
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195134681
- eISBN:
- 9780199848652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195134681.003.0039
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
A review of the book, Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom by Michael N. Barnett (ed.) is presented. This volume, growing out of a 1993 Jerusalem conference, “Is ...
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A review of the book, Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom by Michael N. Barnett (ed.) is presented. This volume, growing out of a 1993 Jerusalem conference, “Is Israel Unique?” sponsored by the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University, features ten essays covering a broad range of Israeli social and political issues, but with a common concern for a broader perspective provided by other national experiences and by general concepts. Given the pace of academic publication and response, there is already much that can be added to these contributions in subsequent work, but the book stands out as a pioneering enterprise and a major milestone in the field.Less
A review of the book, Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom by Michael N. Barnett (ed.) is presented. This volume, growing out of a 1993 Jerusalem conference, “Is Israel Unique?” sponsored by the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University, features ten essays covering a broad range of Israeli social and political issues, but with a common concern for a broader perspective provided by other national experiences and by general concepts. Given the pace of academic publication and response, there is already much that can be added to these contributions in subsequent work, but the book stands out as a pioneering enterprise and a major milestone in the field.
Peter A. Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199247899
- eISBN:
- 9780191697692
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199247899.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics, Public and Welfare
Social security systems are being reviewed and changed in many countries around the world. This book considers some of the key policy issues for design of a social security reform, as well as ...
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Social security systems are being reviewed and changed in many countries around the world. This book considers some of the key policy issues for design of a social security reform, as well as reviewing much of the academic literature on the positive and normative aspects of social security. The first chapter provides an examination of key policy issues of general concern includes the funding of social security, the comparison of defined benefit and defined contribution systems, notional defined contribution accounts, alternative approaches to organizing individual defined contribution accounts, and the provision of survivor benefits. The book then turns to the academic literature on the interactions between social security and the labor and capital markets, providing a non-technical overview of the existing literature and pointing-out gaps in current research findings. The second chapter reviews the impact on retirement decisions of forced savings, the use of an earnings or retirement test, mandated annuitization, recognizing heterogeneity in both life expectancy and possibly in risk classification for annuity pricing, and treatment of the family, particularly the use of joint-life annuitization. Also reviewed is the impact on labor supply at younger ages, considering mandatory savings and annuitization, contrasting defined benefit and defined contribution systems, and analysing alternative approaches to redistribution within social security. The final chapter covers issues of aggregate capital accumulation and risk-sharing, with the latter including the risks in annuitization, in the returns to capital, and in aggregate earnings. Also considered are the risks in the political process.Less
Social security systems are being reviewed and changed in many countries around the world. This book considers some of the key policy issues for design of a social security reform, as well as reviewing much of the academic literature on the positive and normative aspects of social security. The first chapter provides an examination of key policy issues of general concern includes the funding of social security, the comparison of defined benefit and defined contribution systems, notional defined contribution accounts, alternative approaches to organizing individual defined contribution accounts, and the provision of survivor benefits. The book then turns to the academic literature on the interactions between social security and the labor and capital markets, providing a non-technical overview of the existing literature and pointing-out gaps in current research findings. The second chapter reviews the impact on retirement decisions of forced savings, the use of an earnings or retirement test, mandated annuitization, recognizing heterogeneity in both life expectancy and possibly in risk classification for annuity pricing, and treatment of the family, particularly the use of joint-life annuitization. Also reviewed is the impact on labor supply at younger ages, considering mandatory savings and annuitization, contrasting defined benefit and defined contribution systems, and analysing alternative approaches to redistribution within social security. The final chapter covers issues of aggregate capital accumulation and risk-sharing, with the latter including the risks in annuitization, in the returns to capital, and in aggregate earnings. Also considered are the risks in the political process.
Patrick Greenough and Michael P. Lynch (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199288878
- eISBN:
- 9780191594304
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288878.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the ...
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Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the proper methodology for addressing them, and wonder whether either question is worth pursuing. In so doing, they carry on a long and esteemed tradition – for our two questions are among the oldest of philosophical issues, and have vexed almost every major philosopher, from Plato, to Kant to Wittgenstein. Fifteen contributors bring fresh perspectives, renewed energy and original answers to debates that have been the focus of a tremendous amount of interest in the last three decades, both within philosophy and the culture at large.Less
Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the proper methodology for addressing them, and wonder whether either question is worth pursuing. In so doing, they carry on a long and esteemed tradition – for our two questions are among the oldest of philosophical issues, and have vexed almost every major philosopher, from Plato, to Kant to Wittgenstein. Fifteen contributors bring fresh perspectives, renewed energy and original answers to debates that have been the focus of a tremendous amount of interest in the last three decades, both within philosophy and the culture at large.
Anthony F. Heath, Roger M. Jowell, and John K. Curtice
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199245116
- eISBN:
- 9780191599453
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199245118.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The authors analyse the long process of modernization of the Labour party that had its origins in Neil Kinnock's period as a leader of the party between 1983 and 1992 and that culminated in Labour's ...
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The authors analyse the long process of modernization of the Labour party that had its origins in Neil Kinnock's period as a leader of the party between 1983 and 1992 and that culminated in Labour's victory in the 1997 general election. Heath, Jowell, and Curtice draw the conclusion that on the non‐economic issues such as disarmament, Europe, and devolution, Tony Blair's New Labour was merely a continuation of Neil Kinnock's policy. It was Neil Kinnock not Tony Blair who had made the radical break with Labour's recent past. However, on economic issues New Labour made a clearer break with its Old Labour inheritance—on nationalization, unions, government spending, and taxation, New Labour adopted many Thatcherite precepts. The decisive move of New Labour towards the centre on the economic issues, did have major electoral benefits because it squeezed the Liberal Democrats’ share of the vote on the centre‐left, but it also captured ground on the centre‐right from the Conservatives. New Labour's move to the centre also disrupted the usual patterns of vote‐switching; more Conservatives than usual switching directly to Labour rather than to the Liberal Democrats.Less
The authors analyse the long process of modernization of the Labour party that had its origins in Neil Kinnock's period as a leader of the party between 1983 and 1992 and that culminated in Labour's victory in the 1997 general election. Heath, Jowell, and Curtice draw the conclusion that on the non‐economic issues such as disarmament, Europe, and devolution, Tony Blair's New Labour was merely a continuation of Neil Kinnock's policy. It was Neil Kinnock not Tony Blair who had made the radical break with Labour's recent past. However, on economic issues New Labour made a clearer break with its Old Labour inheritance—on nationalization, unions, government spending, and taxation, New Labour adopted many Thatcherite precepts. The decisive move of New Labour towards the centre on the economic issues, did have major electoral benefits because it squeezed the Liberal Democrats’ share of the vote on the centre‐left, but it also captured ground on the centre‐right from the Conservatives. New Labour's move to the centre also disrupted the usual patterns of vote‐switching; more Conservatives than usual switching directly to Labour rather than to the Liberal Democrats.
Wouter van der Brug and Cees van der Eijk
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198296614
- eISBN:
- 9780191600227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296614.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter is the second of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the second of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an ...
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This chapter is the second of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the second of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an empirical test. The question investigated here is whether voters adequately perceive the substantive political differences between the parties. Specifically, the chapter sets out to assess to what extent European electorates met this requirement at the time of the 1994 elections for the European Parliament, using data from the European Election Study 1994 and the European Candidates Study 1994. Three types of such policy differences are distinguished: differences between party positions on three specific dimensions of EU policy (the position issues of the common European currency, border control, and unemployment); differences in the priorities parties wish to give to solving various problems (valence issues); and ideological differences in terms of left–right. The analyses showed that in 1994 voters in most European countries were not well aware either of the positions that political parties take on the three EU policy dimensions, nor did they have an adequate perception of the parties’ competence to handle political problems; however, they did perceive parties accurately in terms of left–right ideology.Less
This chapter is the second of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the second of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an empirical test. The question investigated here is whether voters adequately perceive the substantive political differences between the parties. Specifically, the chapter sets out to assess to what extent European electorates met this requirement at the time of the 1994 elections for the European Parliament, using data from the European Election Study 1994 and the European Candidates Study 1994. Three types of such policy differences are distinguished: differences between party positions on three specific dimensions of EU policy (the position issues of the common European currency, border control, and unemployment); differences in the priorities parties wish to give to solving various problems (valence issues); and ideological differences in terms of left–right. The analyses showed that in 1994 voters in most European countries were not well aware either of the positions that political parties take on the three EU policy dimensions, nor did they have an adequate perception of the parties’ competence to handle political problems; however, they did perceive parties accurately in terms of left–right ideology.
Cees van der Eijk, Mark N. Franklin, and Wouter van der Brug
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198296614
- eISBN:
- 9780191600227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296614.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter is the third of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the third of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an ...
More
This chapter is the third of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the third of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an empirical test. The questions investigated here are whether voters have preferences on the issues at stake, and whether those preferences motivate their electoral choices; the analysis is carried out using data from the European Election Study 1994. The data are found largely to support the condition that voters hold policy preferences. They also allow two contrasts to be made while studying determinants of party choice—nation‐specific issues can be contrasted with common issues, and position issues (as exemplified by the common European currency, border control, and unemployment) with valence issues; it can then be seen which of these types of issues are most important in explaining party preferences. In addition, degrees of policy voting can be contrasted in each of the political systems. The results are hardly supportive of the Responsible Party Model in that hardly any motivational basis is found in terms of specific issues and policies for voters’ party preferences; however, the model becomes more persuasive when the focus is not only on specific policy and issue concerns but more generally on substantive political concerns and voter orientations relating to the left–right ideological position of parties.Less
This chapter is the third of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the third of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an empirical test. The questions investigated here are whether voters have preferences on the issues at stake, and whether those preferences motivate their electoral choices; the analysis is carried out using data from the European Election Study 1994. The data are found largely to support the condition that voters hold policy preferences. They also allow two contrasts to be made while studying determinants of party choice—nation‐specific issues can be contrasted with common issues, and position issues (as exemplified by the common European currency, border control, and unemployment) with valence issues; it can then be seen which of these types of issues are most important in explaining party preferences. In addition, degrees of policy voting can be contrasted in each of the political systems. The results are hardly supportive of the Responsible Party Model in that hardly any motivational basis is found in terms of specific issues and policies for voters’ party preferences; however, the model becomes more persuasive when the focus is not only on specific policy and issue concerns but more generally on substantive political concerns and voter orientations relating to the left–right ideological position of parties.
Harold D. Clarke, David Sanders, Marianne C. Stewart, and Paul Whiteley
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199244881
- eISBN:
- 9780191601521
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924488X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Discusses the theoretical frameworks that guide the empirical analyses in Political Choice in Britain. The sociological framework identifies various aspects of an individual’s social location, such ...
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Discusses the theoretical frameworks that guide the empirical analyses in Political Choice in Britain. The sociological framework identifies various aspects of an individual’s social location, such as social class, region, gender and ethnicity, as sources of differential voting patterns. The individual rationality framework encompasses both the Downsian and the valence approaches. Our characterization of the Downsian approach focuses on issue positions and issue proximities. The valence approach specifies that heuristics and other types of ‘rough and ready’ calculations inform voters’ party preferences. Although conceptualized quite differently, party identification is a predictor variable in both theoretical frameworks.Less
Discusses the theoretical frameworks that guide the empirical analyses in Political Choice in Britain. The sociological framework identifies various aspects of an individual’s social location, such as social class, region, gender and ethnicity, as sources of differential voting patterns. The individual rationality framework encompasses both the Downsian and the valence approaches. Our characterization of the Downsian approach focuses on issue positions and issue proximities. The valence approach specifies that heuristics and other types of ‘rough and ready’ calculations inform voters’ party preferences. Although conceptualized quite differently, party identification is a predictor variable in both theoretical frameworks.
Walter Feinberg and Kevin McDonough
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199253661
- eISBN:
- 9780191601972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253668.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
In the first section of this introductory essay, the dilemma of public education in liberal multicultural societies is introduced, and the aim of this book is outlined. This is described as an ...
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In the first section of this introductory essay, the dilemma of public education in liberal multicultural societies is introduced, and the aim of this book is outlined. This is described as an examination of some of the fundamental philosophical issues that give rise to conflicting views on public education in order to shed light on questions of educational policy in liberal–democratic societies. In two further sections, the essay focuses on outlining the philosophical and educational contexts that unify the subsequent essays and together clarify the purpose of the book as a whole. The essay concludes with an overview of the book.Less
In the first section of this introductory essay, the dilemma of public education in liberal multicultural societies is introduced, and the aim of this book is outlined. This is described as an examination of some of the fundamental philosophical issues that give rise to conflicting views on public education in order to shed light on questions of educational policy in liberal–democratic societies. In two further sections, the essay focuses on outlining the philosophical and educational contexts that unify the subsequent essays and together clarify the purpose of the book as a whole. The essay concludes with an overview of the book.
Tracy L. Osborn
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199845347
- eISBN:
- 9780199949397
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199845347.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In How Women Represent Women: Political Parties, Gender and Representation in the State Legislatures, Tracy Osborn examines two avenues through which political parties fundamentally affect how women ...
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In How Women Represent Women: Political Parties, Gender and Representation in the State Legislatures, Tracy Osborn examines two avenues through which political parties fundamentally affect how women legislators represent women by creating women’s issues policies. First, women’s party identities shape the types of policy alternatives they offer to solve women’s policy problems. Second, parties organize the legislative process by holding majority control, to varying degrees, over agenda setting and policy creation, promoting some women legislators’ policy proposals over others. Osborn tests these two avenues of influence by comparing partisan women’s legislative behavior toward the creation of women’s issues policies across different party environments in the U.S. state legislatures. She uses original election, sponsorship, and roll call data in nearly all ninety-nine state legislative chambers in 1999-2000. She concludes that Republican and Democratic women offer different solutions to women’s policy problems based in their party identities. Depending on which party controls the legislative process and how strongly they do so, this party control promotes one set of partisan policy alternatives over the other. Thus, political parties determine which women’s issues policies become law. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how essential parties are to understanding how women elected to public office translate their interest in women’s issues into substantive public policy.Less
In How Women Represent Women: Political Parties, Gender and Representation in the State Legislatures, Tracy Osborn examines two avenues through which political parties fundamentally affect how women legislators represent women by creating women’s issues policies. First, women’s party identities shape the types of policy alternatives they offer to solve women’s policy problems. Second, parties organize the legislative process by holding majority control, to varying degrees, over agenda setting and policy creation, promoting some women legislators’ policy proposals over others. Osborn tests these two avenues of influence by comparing partisan women’s legislative behavior toward the creation of women’s issues policies across different party environments in the U.S. state legislatures. She uses original election, sponsorship, and roll call data in nearly all ninety-nine state legislative chambers in 1999-2000. She concludes that Republican and Democratic women offer different solutions to women’s policy problems based in their party identities. Depending on which party controls the legislative process and how strongly they do so, this party control promotes one set of partisan policy alternatives over the other. Thus, political parties determine which women’s issues policies become law. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how essential parties are to understanding how women elected to public office translate their interest in women’s issues into substantive public policy.
Roy Parker
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847420145
- eISBN:
- 9781447304142
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847420145.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
Some 80,000 British children – many of them under the age of ten – were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the fifty years following Confederation in ...
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Some 80,000 British children – many of them under the age of ten – were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the fifty years following Confederation in 1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end? What effects did it have on the children involved and what eventually became of them? These are the questions explored in this book, which brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative, and religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada. The author concludes with a review of evidence from more-recent survivors of child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their experiences with the help of modern psychological insights. The book features the relatives and descendants, both in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study revolves.Less
Some 80,000 British children – many of them under the age of ten – were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the fifty years following Confederation in 1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end? What effects did it have on the children involved and what eventually became of them? These are the questions explored in this book, which brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative, and religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada. The author concludes with a review of evidence from more-recent survivors of child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their experiences with the help of modern psychological insights. The book features the relatives and descendants, both in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study revolves.
