The use of formulae has become widespread in recent years across most developed countries. In the UK, a conservative estimate is that annually £150 billion of public service expenditure is distributed using formulae, in services such as health care, local government, social security and higher education. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice underlying the us…
Why did the European Union experience a stark variation in the levels of conflict between the late 1970s, when budgetary disputes dominated European politics, and the 1990s, when political actors were able to settle upon budgetary agreements without major conflicts? This book responds to this key question with a two-step argument: Its first part shows that decision-making rules can be regard…
Helen James considers security in Myanmar/Burma. She uses the ideas put forward in the United Nations Development Programme's 1994 report, of human, as opposed to state and security, going on to argue that freedom from want, and freedom from fear (of the regime) are in fact mutually supportive ideas, and that the security of the people and the security of the state are in fact in a symbiotic re…
This book probes the hollow rhetoric of debt, deficits and austerity. It explores the decisions of parties of the left which have attempted to deflect criticisms of economic mismanagement and gain trust by depoliticising the budget process and financial management with various rules, albeit with elements of discretion. The book argues that this is a perverse form of trust as it is premised on t…
Based on a large-scale international study of teachers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Ontario, and New York, this book illustrates the ways increased use of high-stakes standardized testing is fundamentally changing education in the US and Canada with a negative overall impact on the way teachers teach and students learn. Standardized testing makes understanding students' strengths and weaknesses mor…
This handbook presents a timely collection of original studies on relevant themes, policies and developments in European banking. The contributors analyse how the crisis years have had a long lasting impact on the structure of European banking and explore the regulatory architecture that has started to take form in their wake. Academic experts and senior policy makers have contributed to this v…
The New Flagship University is an expansive vision for leading national universities and an alternative narrative to global rankings and World Class Universities. The Flagship model explores pathways for universities to re-shape their missions and operational features to expand their relevancy in the societies that gave them life and purpose.
This volume focuses on several theoretical topics in world politics and analyzes prominent cases of global conflicts and their potential peaceful resolution. It covers issues such as the multiplication of nation states in the era of globalization, failed peace policy concepts in the 20th century, and the question of who was to blame for the outbreak of the Great War. The author discusses three …
“In this clear, richly researched, and compelling book, Eugenio Lilli demonstrates that President Obama’s Middle Eastern policies reflect ‘Liberal Talk, Realist Thinking.’ In a wide-ranging study, which includes analysis of the recent Arab uprisings, Lilli argues that there was no re-setting of America’s relationship with the Middle east. On the contrary, US policy under Obama remaine…
This volume casts light on mergers and alliances in higher education by examining developments of this type in different countries. It combines the direct experiences of those at the heart of such transformations, university leaders and senior officials responsible for higher education policy, with expert analysts of the systems concerned. Higher education in Europe faces a series of major c…