Policy Work and Politicisation in the Ministries of the Czech Republic: The Dilemmas of State Service PDF Download

Author: Jan Kohoutek
Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press
ISBN: 8024657562
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
Over the past thirty years, the Czech public administration has been the subject of research rooted in law, economics, and history. However, only minimal attention has been paid to what Czech public officials actually do on the job (policy work) and the extent of politically motivated interference in their work (politicisation). This book aims to fill this gap by presenting the evidence derived from a large-N survey of the Czech ministries, the first of its kind in the country. The findings presented in the book offer new insights into the activities within the “ivory towers” of the Czech ministries and defy popular notions of an appallingly politicised bureaucracy.

Author: Michael Howlett
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1784719323
Category : Political planning
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
Policy formulation relies upon the interplay of knowledge-based analysis of issues with power-based considerations, such as the political assessment of the costs and benefits of proposed actions, and its effects on the partisan and electoral concerns of governments. Policy scholars have long been interested in how governments successfully create, deploy and utilise policy instruments, but the literature on policy formulation has, until now, remained fragmented. This comprehensive Handbook unites original scholarship on policy tools and design, with contributions examining policy actors and the roles they play in the formulation process.

Author: Randall Peerenboom
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107655277
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
In 1960, there were 101 middle-income countries. By 2008, only thirteen of these had become high-income countries. Why do so many middle-income countries fail to develop after a promising start, becoming mired in the so-called middle-income trap? This interdisciplinary volume addresses the special challenges that middle-income countries confront from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. It is the first volume that addresses law and development issues in middle-income countries from the perspective of political, administrative and legal institutions and policies. The goal is to provide international development agencies and domestic policy makers with feasible recommendations to address the wide range of technically, politically and socially complex issues that middle-income countries face.

Author: MIchael Howlett
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003809529
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
The third edition of this highly regarded book provides a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and elements of policy design in contemporary governance. It examines in detail the range of substantive and procedural policy instruments that together comprise the toolbox from which governments choose tools to resolve policy problems and the principles and practices that lead to their use. Guiding readers through the study of the many different kinds of instruments used by governments in carrying out their tasks, adapting to, and altering, their environments, this book: • Considers the principles and practices behind the selection and use of specific types of Instruments in contemporary government and arrangements of policy tools esp. procedural tools and policy portfolios. • Evaluates in detail the merits, demerits, and rationales for the use of specific organization, regulatory, financial and information-based tools and the trends visible in their use. • Examines key issues such as policy success and failure and the role of design in it; policy volatility and risk management through policy design; how behavioural research can contribute to better policy designs; and the 'micro' calibrations of policies and their importance in designs and outcomes. • Addresses the issues not only surrounding individual tools but also concerning the evolution and development of instrument mixes, their relationship to policy styles and the challenges involved in their (re)design as well as the distinction between design and "non-design'. Providing a comprehensive overview of this essential component of modern governance and featuring helpful definitions of key concepts and further reading, this book is essential reading for all students of public policy, administration, and management.

Author: Dimitris Papadimitriou
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351262386
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
The role of the European Union (EU) in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) and its ‘near abroad’ has attracted much scholarly attention over the past few years. Notwithstanding the successes of the EU’s eastwards enlargement, the ‘transformative power’ of the EU in the region has often been called into question, both in terms of its depth and longevity. This book addresses a number of key questions: What determines EU performance in post-communist Europe? What are the conditions that influence it? How does the projection of EU power differ between its enlargement policy and the European Neighbourhood policy? To answer these questions this volume brings together a wide range of case studies, based on different approaches and methods, but with a single analytical focus on ‘performance’. The book’s coverage and focus will be of interest to academics, practitioners and students interested in the EU, CEECs, pre- and post-enlargement studies and more widely to those interested in the international relations and the governance of wider Eastern Europe. The chapters of this book were originally published as a special issue of East European Politics.

Author: Freedom House
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742558038
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 924

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Book Description
Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 192 countries and a group of select territories are used by policy makers, the media, international corporations, and civic activists and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. Press accounts of the survey findings appear in hundreds of influential newspapers in the United States and abroad and form the basis of numerous radio and television reports. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

Author: Andreas Mehler
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004185607
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
The Africa Yearbook covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa) focusing on major cross-border developments and sub-regional organizations as well as one article on continental developments and one on African-European relations. While the articles have thorough academic quality, the Yearbook is mainly oriented to the requirements of a large range of target groups: students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.

Author: Tony Verheijen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821371568
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
This paper reviews progress made in the development of public management systems capable of meeting European standards in the new member states of the European Union, looking into the people, systems, and service delivery aspects of public management systems. The new member states face considerable challenges-improving fiscal management, building absorption capacity of rapidly increasing levels of EU structural funds, and enhancing economic competitiveness-making essential the building of high-quality public management systems. The study applies existing tools for comparative analysis and benchmarking of public management quality used in the context of the EU. It draws conclusions on why progress has been slow on introducing competitive public managements systems and practices in the new member states. This report proposes an agenda for reform as well as alternatives to traditional approaches to strengthening public management systems.

Author: Michael E. Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521538619
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The emergence of a common security and foreign policy has been one of the most contentious issues accompanying the integration of the European Union. In this book, Michael Smith examines the specific ways foreign policy cooperation has been institutionalized in the EU, the way institutional development affects cooperative outcomes in foreign policy, and how those outcomes lead to new institutional reforms. Smith explains the evolution and performance of the institutional procedures of the EU using a unique analytical framework, supported by extensive empirical evidence drawn from interviews, case studies, official documents and secondary sources. His perceptive and well-informed analysis covers the entire history of EU foreign policy cooperation, from its origins in the late 1960s up to the start of the 2003 constitutional convention. Demonstrating the importance and extent of EU foreign/security policy, the book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and policy-makers.

Author: Isabel Ortiz
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030885135
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This is an open access book. The start of the 21st century has seen the world shaken by protests, from the Arab Spring to the Yellow Vests, from the Occupy movement to the social uprisings in Latin America. There are periods in history when large numbers of people have rebelled against the way things are, demanding change, such as in 1848, 1917, and 1968. Today we are living in another time of outrage and discontent, a time that has already produced some of the largest protests in world history. This book analyzes almost three thousand protests that occurred between 2006 and 2020 in 101 countries covering over 93 per cent of the world population. The study focuses on the major demands driving world protests, such as those for real democracy, jobs, public services, social protection, civil rights, global justice, and those against austerity and corruption. It also analyzes who was demonstrating in each protest; what protest methods they used; who the protestors opposed; what was achieved; whether protests were repressed; and trends such as inequality and the rise of women’s and radical right protests. The book concludes that the demands of protestors in most of the protests surveyed are in full accordance with human rights and internationally agreed-upon UN development goals. The book calls for policy-makers to listen and act on these demands.