From a comparative perspective, this book analyzes constitutional change in federal and decentralizing countries. The book identifies structures, processes, and strategies which have proven to favor successful constitutional amendment. Thereby, the book enables public officials, scholars, and students to learn from the constitutional reform experiences of other federal democracies and from practical suggestions on how future reforms could be designed. Contents include: The Relevance of Constitutional Change * Constitutional Reform in "Co-operative" Federalism * Constitutional Reform in Federal Systems with Divided Societies * Devolution and Regionalisation in Federalising States * Processes of Ratification * Evolution after a Constitutional Reform

Changing Federal Constitutions: Lessons from International Comparison

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Barbara Budrich

The question of "how effective political tools actually are" is among the most hotly debated questions in the contemporary theory of international relations. There is no unanimity on how to even measure the effectiveness and impact different political measures produce. This book comprehensively introduces the various fields of effectiveness and impact research in the study of international relations. Understandings of effectiveness and impact of political measures and tools in international relations are as manifold as the methods of tracing causality. The book presents and discusses the state-of-the-art research methods and techniques, their theoretical underpinnings, and their application in empirical research. Contemporary social science increasingly demands profound expertise not only in the theoretical understanding of causation and cause-and-effect relationships in the international sphere, but also in the use of causal inference research techniques and methods for establishing and testing causal relationships.

Studying 'Effectiveness' in International Relations: A Guide for Students and Scholars

ANTICORRP is a new large-scale research project funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Program. The full name of the project is 'Anticorruption Policies Revisited: Global Trends and European Responses to the Challenge of Corruption.' The central objective of ANTICORRP is to investigate factors that promote or hinder the development of effective anti-corruption policies. The project consists of 21 research groups in 16 EU countries. This book - the first policy report from ANTICORRP - shows the multiple consequences of corruption in EU Member States. Including an analysis on fiscal deficit, vulnerable employment, gender equality, government spending, tax collection, electoral turnout, and brain drain, the report proves that corruption is not a marginal phenomenon, but a central factor to understanding the EU's current state. It looks at the levels of government impartiality and corruption in the public services: education, health, and law enforcement. It also discusses the best and worst European performers at national and regional levels and includes a multi-country governance survey.

Controlling Corruption in Europe (The Anticorruption Report)

Mungiu-Pippidi, Alina

Charron, Nicholas

Bratu, Roxana

Dimulescu, Valentina

Doroftei, Madalina

This book looks at informal learning in adult education, in the context of a global concept of learning (formal, non-formal, and informal), as lying on a continuum - this is, most learning situations are composed of both formal (planned) and informal (unplanned) elements. Informal learning, the larger but hidden part of learning, is universal (everyone learns informally during life's experience), ubiquitous, and continuous (not limited to specific locations and times). But, it is largely unconscious learning, resulting in tacit funds of knowledge and banks of skills that are used every day to negotiate our way through life. In particular, unconscious learning creates the basic assumptions which all student-learners bring to any new learning. (Series: Study Guides in Adult Education) [Subject: Adult Education]

The Base of the Iceberg: Informal Learning and Its Impact on Formal and Non-formal Learning (Study Guides in Adult Education)

Education & Teaching

ROGERS, Alan

Higher & Continuing Education

Currently, parliament as a political institution does not enjoy the best reputation. This book aims to recover less known political resources of the parliamentary mode of proceeding. The parliamentary procedure relies on regulating debates in a fair way and on constructing opposed perspectives on the agenda items. The British House of Commons provides the closest historical approximation for the parliamentary ideal type of politics. This book deals with the formation and conceptual change in the Westminster procedure, based on the way they are interpreted in the tracts on procedure. The tracts illustrate the changing parliamentary self-understanding from the 1570s to the present and the growing political role of procedural disputes. The parliamentary style of politics, as discussed in the tracts, can be divided into two genres: the politics of agenda-setting and the politics of debate. The book analyses their formation and overall conceptual change as well as the procedural responses to the increasingly scarce parliamentary time from the period after the 1832 parliamentary reform. It insists that in spite of claims on urgency and on government's leadership the procedural resources of the House of Commons contribute to maintaining the debate-centred parliamentary style of politics. [Subject: Politics, Governance, British Studies]

The Politics of Parliamentary Procedure: The Formation of the Westminster Procedure As a Parliamentary Ideal Type

Palonen, Kari

Work Changes Gender: Men and Equality in the Transition of Labour Forms

The international research project "Work Changes Gender" examined ongoing shifts in male working environments in Europe, their interrelations with changing male self-assessment, and evolving opportunities for gender equality. Detailed studies on these issues were conducted in five European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Norway, and Spain) and Israel, set at the national, corporate, and individual worker levels. The interview survey gives evidence to the fact that masculinity is distinguished by differentiation and differing requirements. But a culture of work based on traditional models of masculinity and a policy of inadequate tax laws and paternal leave regulations still promote the breadwinner model and prevent gender equality. The field of gender policy still seems to be basically restricted to women. This second edition explains the ongoing changes in detail, showing how men deal with them, and gives recommendations on how to achieve gender equality by including a perspective on men.

Business & Money

Economics

This revised second edition analyzes the Bologna Process as an effort to harmonize Europe's higher education in the context of global competition. It includes original documents from inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, up to the Bergen ministerial meeting of the Bologna Process in May 2005. The political decision to create a European higher education area aims to enhance mobility between, and cooperation of, European universities. The Bologna Process started with the 1999 Bologna Declaration. Now, there are regular ministerial meetings involving nearly all European countries, both EU and non-EU members. The book does not restrict itself to Europe only. It discusses developments in Asia and the Pacific and higher education policies by global organizations, such as UNESCO, the World Bank (for the North-South divide), and the WTO, where some higher education services are covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

The Bologna Process - Harmonizing Europe's Higher Education: Including the Essential Original Texts

Reinalda, Bob

Kulesza, Ewa

What are the academic career options for women in various European countries? What has changed? Does the glass ceiling still exist? In a comparative perspective, contributors from different countries provide answers to these questions. By investigating the interrelationship between strategy and structure, the articles in this study focus on the interconnectedness between the institutional environment of systems of higher education and the strategic behavior, aspirations, hopes, and desires of female academics. The book examines how such systems impact those women looking back on their career path, those just starting to think about a career in academia, or those on their way to applying for a leadership position at a university.

Gendered Career Trajectories in Academia in Cross-national Perspective

Social Sciences

This book traces the disciplinary development of political sociology and the transdisciplinary research into the overlapping issues involving politics and society. The contributions cover overviews of the historical, methodological, and theoretical development of this academic discipline. Successes, as well as failures, in past unexplored areas, and salient issues in ongoing research, are also highlighted. Contributions include: Introduction: Taking Stock of Political Sociology * Political Culture at a Crossroads? * Parties, Interest Groups and Social Movements: Shall Change be Midwife to Truth? * Socio-Political Inequalities: Elites, Classes and Democracy * Contemporary Approaches to the Study of the State * and Political Sociology: Old Concerns and New Directions.

Political Sociology: The State of the Art (The World of Political Science-the Development of the Discipline)

Sociology

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Barbara Budrich publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Barbara Budrich

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Barbara Budrich publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Changing Federal Constitutions: Lessons from International Comparison

Studying 'Effectiveness' in International Relations: A Guide for Students and Scholars

Controlling Corruption in Europe (The Anticorruption Report)

The Base of the Iceberg: Informal Learning and Its Impact on Formal and Non-formal Learning (Study Guides in Adult Education)

The Politics of Parliamentary Procedure: The Formation of the Westminster Procedure As a Parliamentary Ideal Type

Work Changes Gender: Men and Equality in the Transition of Labour Forms

Work Changes Gender: Men and Equality in the Transition of Labour Forms

The Bologna Process - Harmonizing Europe's Higher Education: Including the Essential Original Texts

Gendered Career Trajectories in Academia in Cross-national Perspective

Political Sociology: The State of the Art (The World of Political Science-the Development of the Discipline)