Suchergebnisse

IN THREE RECENT BOOKS, JON ELSTER CONTINUES THE PROJECT THAT BEGAN WHEN HE SHOWED THAT MARXISM LACKED MICRO FOUNDATIONS. IN HIS LATEST WORK HE SUPPLEMENTS RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY BY MEANS OF NON-RATIONAL NORMS, BEGGING THE QUESTION OF THE SOURCES AND POSSIBLE VARIATIONS AMONG THESE GIVEN INDIVIDUAL VALUE-PREFERENCES. THIS MOVE INVITES A COMPARISON OF ELSTER'S RESULTS WITH THOSE OFFERED BY CULTURAL THEORY. THESE REFLECTIONS SUGGEST THAT IT IS BETTER TO ALLOW FOR A PLURALISM OF CULTURAL BIASES THAN TO INSERT NORMS INTO THE RATIONAL-CHOICE MODEL ON AN AD HOC BASIS.

DESPITE CONTINUOUS EFFORTS TO BELIE HIS ACHIEVEMENTS, REAGAN REMAINS THE MOST CREATIVE PRESIDENT OF RECENT TIMES AND, WITH FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, ONE OF THE TWO MOST INFLUENTIAL OF THE MODERN ERA. IT COULD BE THAT FUTURE GOVERNMENTS WILL RAISE TAXES SUBSTANTIALLY WHILE INCREASING OR MAINTAINING NUCLEAR ARSENALS. THEN REAGAN'S INFLUENCE WILL HAVE PROVEN SHORT-LIVED. BUT IF THERE WILL BE NO MAJORITIES FOR SUBSTANTIAL TAX INCREASES AND NO PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR REJECTING REYKJAVIK, RONALD REAGAN WILL HAVE SET THE POLICY DIRECTION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY. NOT BAD FOR A "DO-NOTHING" PRESIDENT.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THERE EXIST SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIES OF SCALE FOR MOST SERVICES ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE SMALLER CITIES, AND THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT THE QUALITY OF A SERVICE TENDS TO DECLINE WITH SIZE. EVEN IN DEFENDS AND FOREIGN POLICY, CIVILIAN CONTROL, CREATIVITY, AND EFFICIENCY WOULD PROBABLY BE MUCH BETTER SERVED BY A SYSTEM OF INDEPENDANT FORCES.

AUTHOR LOOKS AT THE PAST PRESIDENCY AND CONCLUDES THAT IN THE FUTURE PRESIDENTS WILL BE MORE IMPORTANT BUT LESS POPULAR THAN THEY ARE TODAY. HE REJECTS THE VIEW THAT WATERGATE HAS WEAKENED THE PRESIDENCY, BUT DOES BELIEVE IT HAS FURTHERED THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE PRESIDENT LESS POPULAR.

"Of all the questions that might be asked about political life, it would be difficult to find one of greater interest than the ancient query: who rules over whom? It appeals powerfully to our curiosity. We want to know who ""runs"" things--who makes policy decisions in New York, Washington, London, or the town in which we live. Is it a single powerful individual, an economic elite, a series of elites, the citizens, political bosses, or some variant of these possibilities?The major purpose of this volume is to find an answer to this question for a small American city, and to extend the answer through relevant theory to American cities in general. But much more precisely, answers are sought for these interrelated questions: What are the relationships between the rulers and the ruled? How are the rulers related to each other? Are the rulers the same for all policies or do they differ from one area of policy to another? How do leaders arise, and in what way are they different from other people?The issues discussed in this volume are familiar to many towns. They range from controversies about the building of a new water system to housing and zoning codes, from charity appeals to low-income housing, from nominations and elections to industrial development and off-street parking. Wildavsky draws parallels to other community studies and formulates general propositions in support of his thesis that American communities are pluralist. And ultimately, Wildavsky is optimistic that small towns foster citizen participation, giving the population more of a chance to direct its own future. Aaron Wildavsky was, until his death in 1993, professor of political science and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and, while working on the present study, taught at Oberlin College. Transaction has posthumously published Wildavsky's complete essays and papers in five volumes. Nelson W. Polsby is Heller Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, wh"--Provided by publisher.

"Aaron Wildavsky's greatest concern, as expressed in his writings, is how people manage to live together. This concern may at first appear to have little to do with the study of budgeting, but for Wildavsky budgeting made living together possible. Indeed, as he argues in Budgeting and Governing, now available in paperback, if you cannot budget, you cannot govern."--Provided by publisher.

In The Great Brain Race, former U.S. News & World Report education editor Ben Wildavsky presents the first popular account of how international competition for the brightest minds is transforming the world of higher education--and why this revolution should be welcomed, not feared. Every year, nearly three million international students study outside of their home countries, a 40 percent increase since 1999. Newly created or expanded universities in China, India, and Saudi Arabia are competing with the likes of Harvard and Oxford for faculty, students, and research preeminence