by Sverker C. Jagers (2007)
"Both eco-authoritarian and democratic scholars have claimed that a liberal democracy cannot pay due attention to the environment. However, such claims call for profound analysis. Jagers argues that much in the debate on liberal democracy and environmental concern can be more stringently elaborated. For instance, there has been a tendency to compound philosophical and institutional objections against liberal democracy. Often it is unclear what the critical voices actually mean when they speak of liberal democracy. In addition, the compatibility between specific forms of liberal democracy and sustainable development has not been thoroughly investigated. Most studies have been limited to comparing liberal and ecological values, or ecological values and liberal institutions. To avoid many of these shortcomings, this study analyzes the compatibility between sustainable development policies and liberal democracy by combining political theory and resource scenarios based on environmental science."--BOOK JACKET.
Jude C. Hays
This book explores how domestic institutions shape the ways governments redistribute the risks and benefits of economic globalization, identifying the Anglo-American democracies because of their majoritarian polities and decentralized competitive economies, as uniquely vulnerable to the challenges of globalization.
William C. Johnson
The subtleties of planning and how it affects - and is affected by - the intricate web of government and industry can often prove difficult to grasp even for the experts. Urban Planning and Politics offers insight into the delicate balance between inclusive politics and the public interest. It shows how planning plays a part in the fair distribution of the benefits and costs of urban society. Ranging from basic concepts to specific policies, it covers the common tools and procedures planners use, notes the various participants in the planning process, and focuses on areas of special interest such as housing, economic development, transportation, the urban environment - and the challenges the new century holds.
Richard A. Wilson
"The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to deal with the human rights violations of apartheid during the years 1960-1994. However, as Wilson shows, the TRC's restorative justice approach to healing the nation did not always serve the needs of communities at a local level. Based on extended anthropological fieldwork, this book illustrates the impact of the TRC in urban African communities in the Johannesburg area. While a religious constituency largely embraced the Commission's religious-redemptive language of reconciliation, Wilson argues that the TRC had little effect on popular ideas of justice as retribution. This provocative study deepens our understanding of post-apartheid South Africa and the use of human rights discourse. It ends on a call for more cautious and realistic expectations about what human rights institutions can achieve in democratizing countries."--Jacket.
George McGovern
"Referring us to our moral and spiritual foundations, George McGovern not only presents a resounding defense of liberalism as "the most practical and hopeful compass to guide the American ship of state" but offers specific proposals for keeping the tradition vibrant." "The Essential America proposes programs for feeding the world's malnourished children. Rather than sending our armies abroad, McGovern spells out policies that confront the causes of terrorism. He proposes cutting our military budget (echoing Dwight D. Eisenhower's powerful warning about the military-industrial complex). He condemns preemptive war, criticizes tax cuts for the rich, and warns against government for the powerful minority." "Americans have traditionally stood for progress, generosity, tolerance, and protection of the needy, McGovern states - as well as for multi-lateralism in foreign policy and "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." He reminds us that while creative tension between liberalism and conservatism is the genius of American politics, it is the liberals who have been responsible for every forward step in our national history. They built "the Essential America.""--BOOK JACKET.