Government

To cite:
Wilkins, A. 2017. Rescaling the local: Multi-academy trusts, private monopoly and statecraft in England. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 49 (2), 171-185

For the past six years successive UK governments in England have introduced reforms intended to usher in less aggregated, top-down, bureaucratically overloaded models of service delivery as well as secure conditions for greater school autonomy.  Yet the ‘hollowing out’ of local government has not resulted in less bureaucracy on the ground or less regulation from above, nor has it diminished hierarchy as an organising principle of education governance.  In some cases, monopolies and monopolistic practices dominated by powerful bureaucracies and professional groups persist, albeit realised through the involvement of new actors and organisations from business and philanthropy.  In this paper I adopt a governmentality perspective to explore the political significance of large multi-academy trusts (MATs) – private sponsors contracted by central government to run publicly funded schools – to the generation of new scalar hierarchies and accountability infrastructures that assist in bringing the gaze of government to bear upon the actions of schools that are otherwise less visible under local government management.  On this account, it is argued, MATs are integral to statecraft and the invention and assemblage of particular apparatuses for intervening upon specific organisations, spaces and peoples.

With the advancement in 21st Century, there has been increase in usage of Oil and Gas leading to problems like Global Warming, climate change, shortage of crude oil, etc. Due to these reasons Automobile Companies have started doing research for making Hybrid Technology  usable into the daily life. The Paper starts from brief history about Hybrid Technology and also some brief introduction on it. Paper will also discuss the technologies used in the making of Hybrid Cars such as “Hybrid Solar Vehicle”, “Hybrid Electric Vehicle” and Plug In hybrid electric vehicles”. Our Paper is based on the explanation of such technologies, their function, drawback of this technology, efficiency of Hybrid Cars, Case studies on the present commercial hybrid cars such as Toyota Prius series, Astro lab etc and the fuels and raw materials used in the Hybrid Cars. Paper concludes on the advantages and dis-advantages of Hybrid Cars and how this technology will take over the world in future and would become the alternative for Petrol and Diesel Cars.

A well-regulated economic system requires incentives that reward productive and withhold rewards from unproductive activity. Such incentives are put in place by means of legislation and enforced with the help of regulatory agencies. A well-managed system will allocate resources more efficiently than a system in which income may be gained without active participation in economic activity, by lending at interest in particular, which invariably increases the prices of finished goods without, however, adding any value. Interest-based lending produces a range of important, though rarely highlighted, side effects. They include inefficiency, indebtedness, instability, inflation, unemployment, slow or declining economic growth, and an uneven distribution of wealth. (224 pages)

EN la vida diaria de muy diversos espacios institucionales, en especial los académicos y de gobierno, es común escuchar alusiones a las políticas públicas, lo que hace suponer y esperar que la acción gubernamental se desarrolle bajo los supuestos centrales del análisis de políticas. Más allá de una vista superficial, encontramos limitaciones en la incorporación de esta forma de análisis y en su integración a la acción de gobierno y, por consiguiente, en los rendimientos de la democracia en México. Esta <<ciencia para la acción>>, como es concebida por Harold Lasswell, debe dotar al aparato gubernamental y a la sociedad de medios para definir y atender los problemas considerados públicos y, por tanto, que demandan respuestas, es decir, definir el qué y el cómo actuar. Detrás de <<la orientación hacia las políticas>> se encuentra una concepción que supone el involucramiento de los saberes científicos, no de forma aislada, sino en forma amplia, continua, plural y diversa en el análisis y definición de estrategias para la acción. La pretensión es lograr definiciones que orienten las estrategias para el actuar del gobierno, y que construidas de manera racional, aspiren a conseguir un alto grado de eficacia en la consecución de objetivos y en la atención de los problemas formulados.

The second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, co-edited by two leading scholars in the international relations subfield of public diplomacy, includes 16 more chapters from the first. Ten years later, a new global landscape of public diplomacy has taken shape, with major programs in graduate-level public diplomacy studies worldwide. What separates this handbook from others is its legacy and continuity from the first edition. This first edition line-up was more military-focused than this edition, a nod to the work of Philip M. Taylor, to whom this updated edition is dedicated. This edition includes US content, but all case studies are outside the United States, not only to appeal to a global audience of scholars and practitioners, but also as a way of offering something fresher than the US/UK-centric competition. In Parts 1-4, original contributors are retained, many with revised editions, but new faces emerge. Parts 5 and 6 include 16 global case studies in public diplomacy, expanding the number of contributors by ten. The concluding part of the book includes chapters on digital and corporate public diplomacy, and a signature final chapter on the noosphere and noo-politik as they relate to public diplomacy. Designed for a broad audience, the Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy is encyclopedic in its range and depth of content, yet is written in an accessible style that will appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Margaret Thatcher was one of the most controversial figures of modern times. Her governments inspired hatred and veneration in equal measure and her legacy remains fiercely contested. Yet assessments of the Thatcher era are often divorced from any larger historical perspective. This book draws together leading historians to locate Thatcher and Thatcherism within the political, social, cultural and economic history of modern Britain. It explores the social and economic crises of the 1970s; Britain's relationships with Europe, the Commonwealth and the United States; and the different experiences of Thatcherism in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The book assesses the impact of the Thatcher era on class and gender and situates Thatcherism within the Cold War, the end of Empire and the rise of an Anglo-American 'New Right'. Drawing on the latest available sources, it opens a wide-ranging debate about the Thatcher era and its place in modern British history.

Researchers and practitioners alike are in general agreement that the public sector is increasingly tasked with managing 'complex problems'. Many authors have warned that the established practices in government are not sufficient to deal with such problems. The integration of systems thinking in design practice has been advocated as a promising approach to understand and more effectively deal with the increasing complexity of

... The only battalion commander who was not a former Zanla was Eddie Sigoge, but his career, like that of other former Zipra officers, was brought to a premature end.44 GN graphically described the experience of former Zipras in the Fifth Brigade: ...

The massacre of almost 50 Maidan protesters on February 20, 2014 was a turning point in Ukrainian politics and a tipping point in the conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. This mass killing of the protesters and the mass shooting of the police that preceded it led to the overthrow of the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych and gave a start to a civil war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. A conclusion promoted by the post-Yanukovych governments and the media in Ukraine that the massacre was perpetrated by government snipers and special police units on a Yanukovych order has been nearly universally accepted by the Western governments, the media, and many scholars. The Ukrainian government investigation identified members of the special company of Berkut as responsible for killings of the absolute majority of the protesters, but did not release any evidence in support, with the exception of videos of the massacre.
              The question is which side organized the “snipers’ massacre.” This paper is the first academic study of this crucial case of the mass killing. It uses a theory of rational choice and a Weberian theory of instrumental rationality to examine actions of major actors both from the Yanukovych government, specifically various police and security forces, and the Maidan opposition, specifically its far right and oligarchic elements, during the massacre.
          The paper analyzes a large amount of evidence from different publicly available sources concerning this massacre and killings of specifics protesters. Qualitative content analysis includes the following data: about 1,500 videos and recordings of live internet and TV broadcasts from mass media and social media in different countries(some 150 gigabytes), news reports and social media posts by more than 100 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, some 5,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders from the special Alfa unit of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops, and Maidan massacre trial recordings. This study also employs field research on site of the massacre, eyewitness reports by both Maidan protesters and government special units commanders, statements by both former and current government officials, estimates of approximate ballistic trajectories, bullets and weapons used, and types of wounds among both protesters and the police. This study establishes a precise timeline for various events of the massacre, the locations of both the shooters and the government snipers, and the specific timeline and locations of nearly 50 protesters’ deaths. It also briefly analyzes other major cases of violence during and after the “Euromaidan.” This study includes two video appendixes.
            This academic investigation concludes that the massacre was a false flag operation, which was rationally planned and carried out with a goal of the overthrow of the government and seizure of power. It found various evidence of the involvement of an alliance of the far right organizations, specifically the Right Sector and Svoboda, and oligarchic parties, such as Fatherland. Concealed shooters and spotters were located in at least 20 Maidan-controlled buildings or areas. The various evidence that the protesters were killed from these locations include some 70 testimonies, primarily by Maidan protesters, several videos of “snipers” targeting protesters from these buildings, comparisons of positions of the specific protesters at the time of their killing and their entry wounds, and bullet impact signs. The study uncovered various videos and photos of armed Maidan “snipers” and spotters in many of these buildings. The paper presents implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the change of the government in Ukraine, the civil war in Donbas, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

This volume examines the promotion and defense of democracy in the Americas. Taking the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC) of 2001 as a baseline it charts the evolution of the issue over the past decade. Although it considers historical antecedents, the main focus of the book is on key instances of promotion and defense of democracy in the Western hemisphere since the adoption of the IADC. It analyzes democratic norms, norm enforcement mechanisms and how they work in practice. Special attention is paid to the 2009 Honduras coup, the issues raised by it and the debates that surrounded it, as this was the first instance in which a member state was suspended in accordance with the IADC. Three central themes guide the analysis: the nature of challenges to democracy in Latin America; the role of regional organizations as democracy promoters; and the transformation of Inter-American relations.

Governments around the globe enact various energy and environmental policies focused on electricity production and consumption, conservation, waste management, water and air pollution, and many others. The public policy approaches to address such issues often lean toward a status quo that favors more powerful actors who sometimes attempt to stifle innovation. This paper reviews the “Punctuated Equilibrium Theory” framework and how it illuminates novel policy changes in an energy and environment context.

The pharmaceutical industry has produced many drugs that have benefited man. Political frameworks designed to govern the industry must maintain these benefits. However, regulation needs to be sufficiently robust to protect public health from drugs that are unsafe, ineffective, or unnecessary. The extent of industry influence over drug regulation, at the expense of other interested parties, suggests that the current system could be more robust. The many ways in which the pharmaceutical industry can influence governments and regulatory agencies are discussed, and methods by which this influence can be curbed are suggested.

Most of us practitioners of the documentary genre today were brought up on The “Films Division documentary” which always celebrated the promise of modernization. There was little or no space for voices of dissent and peoples narratives. The primary format was that of the all- encompassing, Voice of God, male narration, guiding the audience through a pre meditated course, thus disallowing them to engage with or believe in the scenario that was unfolding in front of them on the screens. These films were mandatorily shown in cinema theatres all over the country, a time used by most to go out for a smoke or to eat popcorn!
This rather obvious disconnect between what was being projected & what was being perceived fuelled the imagination of a few who for the first time expressed an Independent vision & voice in the Indian Documentary, a definite departure from the existing format, which went beyond mere dissemination of information & became representative of the marginalized & the downtrodden…

The impact of widespread international labor migration on the family in Tonga is examined. The author describes how migration has affected gender and kinship relations. She also examines the ways in which church and state ideologies encourage the development of the nuclear family, while overseas labor migration creates a need to maintain extended support systems among family networks.

Th is book explores the activism promoted by organised networks of civil society actors in opening up possibilities for more democratic supranational governance. It examines the positive and negative impact that such networks of civil society actors – named “interlocutory coalitions” – may have on the convergence of principles of administrative governance across the European legal system and other supranational legal systems.
Th e book takes two main controversial aspects into account: the first relates to the convergence between administrative rules pertaining to different supranational regulatory systems. Traditionally, the spread of methods of administrative governance
has been depicted primarily against the background of the interactions between the domestic and the supranational arena, both from a top-down and bottom-up perspective. However, the exploration of interactions occurring at the supranational
level between legal regimes is still not grounded on adequate empirical evidence.
The second controversial aspect considered in this book consists of the role of civil society actors operating at the supranational level. In its discussion of the first aspect, the book focuses on the relations between the European administrative law and the
administrative principles of law pertaining to other supranational regulatory regimes and regulators, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the Council of
Europe. The examination of the second aspect involves the exploration of the still little examined, but crucial, role of civil society organised networks in shaping global administrative law. These “interlocutory coalitions” include NGOs, think tanks,
foundations, universities, and occasionally activists with no formal connections to civil society organisations. Th e book describes such interlocutory coalitions as drivers of harmonized principles of participatory democracy at the European and global levels.
However, interlocutory coalitions show a number of tensions (e.g. the governability of coalitions, the competition among them) that may hamper the impact they have on the reconfi guration of individuals’ rights, entitlements and responsibilities in the global arena.

Parliaments in most developing countries tend to be closed institutions. There is a need for them to open up and exchange timely and real information with citizens and other stakeholder groups. The development of effective parliamentary web portals can support openness ...

The report Staying Home/Leaving Violence describes a research study that explores how women, leaving a relationship where they experience domestic violence, can remain safely in their own homes with their children, with the violent offender being removed. In this qualitative study, 29 women were interviewed about their experiences of leaving a violent relationship. Of these 29 women, nine remained in their own home. This article describes the factors that enabled these nine women to remain in their homes and comments on the policy and practice implications for health workers.

For the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence marked the most significant public communication of the Nation’s moral political philosophy. In fact, this one document alone would set the ideological tone to shape the philosophies of American political theorists for centuries to come. Along with other ideological political documents, the Declaration informed American values on concepts of freedom, justice, and equality. Despite its conceptual genius however, the Declaration’s stated moral principles would be marred by the Nation’s cruel and inhumane treatment of its African Americans citizens. Consequently, America’s political ideals related to concepts of equality and truth are often met with skepticism when perceived through the lens of the lived experiences of many African Americans.

Political morality can be defined in terms of traditional philosophy and analyzed based on its application in individual and communal contexts. American moral thought is advanced around the globe as the standard of a model communal political morality. Even so, imposing its documented principles of morality has not consistently guided America’s treatment of its own African Americans citizens. Ultimately, this chapter explores the philosophical development of American cultural perspectives on political morality as demonstrated through early American writings, and examines the degree to which moral behavior involving practices of truth-telling, apology and forgiveness might legitimately be applied to governments and then, imposed on citizens.

Drawing from my 2012 novel "Draining the Swamp", I point out how Reagan and Trump have misunderstood the term. Good government is necessary and we can use best practices from the field of Change Management to study the swamp and remove pollutants from it.

Article on the comparison of Gramscian and Foucauldian understandings of civil society.

Published in the book "A Panacea For all Seasons?" (Freise, Pyykkönen, Vaidelyte, eds., 2010, Nomos): http://www.amazon.de/Panacea-all-Seasons-Governance-European/dp/3832947876

Kazakhstan might be regarded today as an example of promising opportunities that e-government technology could offer for the implementation of major ICT-driven public administration projects in a typical unitary state. Especially, it is true in highlighting the potential contribution of this innovation to enhance democratic governance and transform extremely bureaucratic and somewhat cumbersome public administration systems for which many post-Soviet countries in transition have been notoriously famous, including Kazakhstan. In this regard, the recent publication of various e-government rankings, e.g. rating lists of countries leading the global trend, initiated and conducted by international experts under the auspices of the United Nations or the World Economic Forum, demonstrated that this nation has really succeeded in transforming its public sector by resorting to the use of new information and communication technologies, regarding it as a project of national priority. In this respect, the main purpose of this chapter is to analyze the incentives that lie behind the mere desire for better public administration in Kazakhstan through e-government platforms, focusing, especially, on the study of open data and e-participation policies to locate current and prospective challenges in implementing civic engagement projects, provide some generalizations on prospects of using the innovation in the future and offer ways forward both for academics and practitioners. In general, this chapter presents the analysis of e-government development in Kazakhstan as a political and economic institution which reflects the unique features of the political system, and the administrative and territorial structure of the country. It is these specific features of the implementation in a typical unitary state such as Kazakhstan that allow to presume the existence of a unique unitary model in building the e-government concept which is markedly different from similar programs in federal countries.

The concept of „government effectiveness” is analyzed. The main approaches to the government
effectiveness in political science are defined. Indicators of the effectiveness of governments are
determined. On the basis of special methods the effectiveness of governments in post-Soviet countries is
evaluated. Correlation between the types of political regimes and indicators of the effectiveness of
governments in post-Soviet countries is ascertained.
Key words: government effectiveness, post-Soviet countries, quality of bureaucracy, transformation
index, status index, management index.

Проаналізовано поняття „ефективність уряду”. Визначено основні підходи до
ефективності уряду в політичній науці. Виокремлено індикатори ефективності урядів. На
підставі спеціальних методик оцінено ефективність урядів у пострадянських країнах.
З’ясовано кореляцію між типами політичних режимів та критеріями ефективності урядів у
пострадянських країнах.
Ключові слова: ефективність уряду, пострадянські країни, якість бюрократії, індекс
трансформації, статусний індекс, індекс управління.