Author: Ray Gunn
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501745867
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303
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Book Description
From the Revolution until the Panic of 1837 Americans accepted state intervention in the economy as a legitimate, even an essential, function of government. The Decline of Authority examines the transformation of New York State government between 1800 and 1860, a critical period during which governmental authority diminished as most state governments withdrew from interventionist economic policies and relinquished their role in the allocation of resources to the private sector. Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic change, public economic policy, and political development, L. Ray Gunn offers an innovative explanation for the new configuration of politics and governance in New York State that emerged during this era.
Author: Stephen Breyer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674269365
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 113
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Book Description
A sitting justice reflects upon the authority of the Supreme CourtÑhow that authority was gained and how measures to restructure the Court could undermine both the Court and the constitutional system of checks and balances that depends on it. A growing chorus of officials and commentators argues that the Supreme Court has become too political. On this view the confirmation process is just an exercise in partisan agenda-setting, and the jurists are no more than Òpoliticians in robesÓÑtheir ostensibly neutral judicial philosophies mere camouflage for conservative or liberal convictions. Stephen Breyer, drawing upon his experience as a Supreme Court justice, sounds a cautionary note. Mindful of the CourtÕs history, he suggests that the judiciaryÕs hard-won authority could be marred by reforms premised on the assumption of ideological bias. Having, as Hamilton observed, Òno influence over either the sword or the purse,Ó the Court earned its authority by making decisions that have, over time, increased the publicÕs trust. If public trust is now in decline, one part of the solution is to promote better understandings of how the judiciary actually works: how judges adhere to their oaths and how they try to avoid considerations of politics and popularity. Breyer warns that political intervention could itself further erode public trust. Without the publicÕs trust, the Court would no longer be able to act as a check on the other branches of government or as a guarantor of the rule of law, risking serious harm to our constitutional system.
Author: Neil Nevitte
Publisher: Peterborough, Ont. : Broadview Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404
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Book Description
In this extraordinarily wide-ranging book, Neil Nevitte demonstrates that the changing patterns of Canadian values are connected.
Author: Jonathan B. Imber
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691168148
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 296
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Book Description
For more than a century, the American medical profession insisted that doctors be rigorously trained in medical science and dedicated to professional ethics. Patients revered their doctors as representatives of a sacred vocation. Do we still trust doctors with the same conviction? In Trusting Doctors, Jonathan Imber attributes the development of patients' faith in doctors to the inspiration and influence of Protestant and Catholic clergymen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He explains that as the influence of clergymen waned, and as reliance on medical technology increased, patients' trust in doctors steadily declined. Trusting Doctors discusses the emphasis that Protestant clergymen placed on the physician's vocation; the focus that Catholic moralists put on specific dilemmas faced in daily medical practice; and the loss of unchallenged authority experienced by doctors after World War II, when practitioners became valued for their technical competence rather than their personal integrity. Imber shows how the clergy gradually lost their impact in defining the physician's moral character, and how vocal critics of medicine contributed to a decline in patient confidence. The author argues that as modern medicine becomes defined by specialization, rapid medical advance, profit-driven industry, and ever more anxious patients, the future for a renewed trust in doctors will be confronted by even greater challenges. Trusting Doctors provides valuable insights into the religious underpinnings of the doctor-patient relationship and raises critical questions about the ultimate place of the medical profession in American life and culture.
Author: Robert A. Nisbet
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780865972124
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"We had thought, or our forefathers had, that modern liberal democracy would be spared the kind of erosion and decay that both Plato and Aristotle declared endemic in all forms of state. Now we are not so sure." So wrote Robert Nisbet in the first edition of Twilight of Authority, published by Oxford University Press in 1975. "The centralization and, increasingly, individualization of power is matched in the social and cultural spheres by a combined hedonism and egalitarianism, each in its own way a reflection of the destructive impact of power on the hierarchy that is native to the social bond," he writes. Robert Nisbet (1913-1996) taught at Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley, Smith College, and the University of Bologna. Robert G. Perrin is Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Author: Bruce Ackerman
Publisher: Harvard + ORM
ISBN: 0674261364
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 183
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Book Description
“Audacious . . . offers a fierce critique of democracy’s most dangerous adversary: the abuse of democratic power by democratically elected chief executives.” (Benjamin R. Barber, New York Times bestselling author of Jihad vs. McWorld ) Bruce Ackerman shows how the institutional dynamics of the last half-century have transformed the American presidency into a potential platform for political extremism and lawlessness. Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the War on Terror are only symptoms of deeper pathologies. Ackerman points to a series of developments that have previously been treated independently of one another?from the rise of presidential primaries, to the role of pollsters and media gurus, to the centralization of power in White House czars, to the politicization of the military, to the manipulation of constitutional doctrine to justify presidential power-grabs. He shows how these different transformations can interact to generate profound constitutional crises in the twenty-first century?and then proposes a series of reforms that will minimize, if not eliminate, the risks going forward. “The questions [Ackerman] raises regarding the threat of the American Executive to the republic are daunting. This fascinating book does an admirable job of laying them out.” —The Rumpus “Ackerman worries that the office of the presidency will continue to grow in political influence in the coming years, opening possibilities for abuse of power if not outright despotism.” —Boston Globe “A serious attention-getter.” —Joyce Appleby, author of The Relentless Revolution “Those who care about the future of our nation should pay careful heed to Ackerman’s warning, as well as to his prescriptions for avoiding a constitutional disaster.” —Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times
Author: Peter Kiarie Njoroge
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781534634435
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
The problem investigated by this study has been indicated by the observation that there is prevalent instability in many Gikuyu families. This instability leads to strained relationships between family members both at the nuclear and extended levels, resulting in family break-ups, domestic violence and tragedies. These increasing unstable Gikuyu families are becoming a cause of concern for Gikuyu society and for the general human society. The study has been guided by theories of knowledge that acknowledge indemonstrable first principles that characterize human intelligence and theories that reject the dichotomy of methodologies between the natural sciences and the human sciences but support the validity of the scientific study of religion as a human science. Gikuyu Traditional Religion has been presented in the framework of the six dimensions of a religion defined by Ninian Smart, viz., the experiential, mythological, ritual, ethical, social and doctrinal. Extensive review of related literature and document analysis has established the incidence of spiritual authority in Gikuyu Traditional Religion and at the same time revealed the gap addressed by this study: that the spiritual authority has not been addressed as a legitimate partner to be entered into dialogue with.
Author: Anthony McGrew
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745627342
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
Since the UN's creation in 1945 a vast nexus of global and regional institutions has evolved, surrounded by a proliferation of non-governmental agencies and advocacy networks seeking to influence the agenda and direction of international public policy. Although world government remains a fanciful idea, there does exist an evolving global governance complex - embracing states, international institutions, transnational networks and agencies (both public and private) - which functions, with variable effect, to promote, regulate or intervene in the common affairs of humanity. This book provides an accessible introduction to the current debate about the changing form and political significance of global governance. It brings together original contributions from many of the best-known theorists and analysts of global politics to explore the relevance of the concept of global governance to understanding how global activity is currently regulated. Furthermore, it combines an elucidation of substantive theories with a systematic analysis of the politics and limits of governance in key issue areas - from humanitarian intervention to the regulation of global finance. Thus, the volume provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical assessment of the shift from national government to multilayered global governance. Governing Globalization is the third book in the internationally acclaimed series on global transformations. The other two volumes are Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture and The Global Transformations Reader: An Introduction to the Globalization Debate.
Author: David Popenoe
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412809878
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285
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Book Description
One of the most surprising and controversial social debates of the past two decades has been about the meaning and importance of marriage and the family in contemporary American life. Referred to by some as a culture "war over the family," the debate has pitted those concerned about the weakening of the traditional married-parent nuclear family, especially in its impact on children, against those arguing that nothing has gone wrong with families--that they are merely "diversifying." David Popenoe has been one of the most influential figures in laying out for a wide audience the importance of "family decline," and what it means for our children, our society, and our future.
Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316123537
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 415
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Book Description
This book re-evaluates Almond, Verba, and Pye's original ideas about the shape of a civic culture that supports democracy. Marshaling a massive amount of cross-national, longitudinal public opinion data from the World Values Survey Association, the authors demonstrate multiple manifestations of a deep shift in the mass attitudes and behaviors that undergird democracy. The chapters in this book show that in dozens of countries around the world, citizens have turned away from allegiance toward a decidedly 'assertive' posture to politics: they have become more distrustful of electoral politics, institutions, and representatives and are more ready to confront elites with demands from below. Most importantly, societies that have advanced the most in the transition from an allegiant to an assertive model of citizenship are better-performing democracies - in terms of both accountable and effective governance.
