Against Meritocracy
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Political Ideas and Movements That Created the Modern World
harri+b.cov 27/5/03 4:15 pm Page 1 UNDERSTANDINGPOLITICS Understanding RITTEN with the A2 component of the GCE WGovernment and Politics A level in mind, this book is a comprehensive introduction to the political ideas and movements that created the modern world. Underpinned by the work of major thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Mill, Weber and others, the first half of the book looks at core political concepts including the British and European political issues state and sovereignty, the nation, democracy, representation and legitimacy, freedom, equality and rights, obligation and citizenship. The role of ideology in modern politics and society is also discussed. The second half of the book addresses established ideologies such as Conservatism, Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism and Nationalism, before moving on to more recent movements such as Environmentalism and Ecologism, Fascism, and Feminism. The subject is covered in a clear, accessible style, including Understanding a number of student-friendly features, such as chapter summaries, key points to consider, definitions and tips for further sources of information. There is a definite need for a text of this kind. It will be invaluable for students of Government and Politics on introductory courses, whether they be A level candidates or undergraduates. political ideas KEVIN HARRISON IS A LECTURER IN POLITICS AND HISTORY AT MANCHESTER COLLEGE OF ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY. HE IS ALSO AN ASSOCIATE McNAUGHTON LECTURER IN SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH THE OPEN UNIVERSITY. HE HAS WRITTEN ARTICLES ON POLITICS AND HISTORY AND IS JOINT AUTHOR, WITH TONY BOYD, OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION: EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION? and TONY BOYD WAS FORMERLY HEAD OF GENERAL STUDIES AT XAVERIAN VI FORM COLLEGE, MANCHESTER, WHERE HE TAUGHT POLITICS AND HISTORY. -
A Population-Based Study of Patients in Danish Hospitals Who Are in Their Last Year of Life
DANISH MEDICAL JOURNAL A population-based study of patients in Danish hospitals who are in their last year of life Lene Jarlbaek1, Helle Timm2, Merryn Gott3 & David Clark4 ABSTRACT Two similar studies were performed in Scotland [5] INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the prevalence and and in New Zealand [6]. In this study of hospitalised ORIGINAL ARTICLE distribution in Denmark of hospital inpatients who are in patients in Denmark, we used the same population- 1) REHPA, Knowledge their last year of life. Knowledge about these patients could based cohort design and study dates. Centre for Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, attract attention towards needs for their identification and The aims of this study were 1) to determine the pro- University of for optimisation of end-of-life care initiatives. The aims of portion of inpatients on a given date who died within Southern Denmark this study were to determine the proportion of prevalent in- 12 months, and 2) to describe characteristics of de- 2) REHPA, Copenhagen, patients who died during the following 12 months, to present ceased and surviving inpatients and 3) to identify in University of Southern Denmark characteristics among deceased and survivors, and to which hospitals, departments or specialities these pa- identify in which hospitals, departments or specialities 3) University of tients appear most frequently. Auckland, Auckland, imminently dying patients appear most frequently. New Zealand METHODS: This was a record-linkage cohort study of all METHODS 4) Wellcome Trust patients, who were in public somatic hospitals in Denmark Investigator, School of The study was a nationwide cohort study using record on 10 April 2013. -
'Opposition-Craft': an Evaluative Framework for Official Opposition Parties in the United Kingdom Edward Henry Lack Submitte
‘Opposition-Craft’: An Evaluative Framework for Official Opposition Parties in the United Kingdom Edward Henry Lack Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds, School of Politics and International Studies May, 2020 1 Intellectual Property and Publications Statements The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ©2020 The University of Leeds and Edward Henry Lack The right of Edward Henry Lack to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 2 Acknowledgements Page I would like to thank Dr Victoria Honeyman and Dr Timothy Heppell of the School of Politics and International Studies, The University of Leeds, for their support and guidance in the production of this work. I would also like to thank my partner, Dr Ben Ramm and my parents, David and Linden Lack, for their encouragement and belief in my efforts to undertake this project. Finally, I would like to acknowledge those who took part in the research for this PhD thesis: Lord David Steel, Lord David Owen, Lord Chris Smith, Lord Andrew Adonis, Lord David Blunkett and Dame Caroline Spelman. 3 Abstract This thesis offers a distinctive and innovative framework for the study of effective official opposition politics in the United Kingdom. -
Texas Nepotism Laws Made Easy
Texas Nepotism Laws Made Easy 2016 Editor Zindia Thomas Assistant General Counsel Texas Municipal League www.tml.org Updated July 2016 Table of Contents 1. What is nepotism? .................................................................................................................... 1 2. What types of local government officials are subject to the nepotism laws? .......................... 1 3. What types of actions are generally prohibited under the nepotism law? ............................... 1 4. What relatives of a public official are covered by the statutory limitations on relationships by consanguinity (blood)? .................................................................................. 1 5. What relationships by affinity (marriage) are covered by the statutory limitations? .............. 2 6. What happens if it takes two marriages to establish the relationship with the public official? ......................................................................................................................... 3 7. What actions must a public official take if he or she has a nepotism conflict? ....................... 3 8. Do the nepotism laws apply to cities with a population of less than 200? .............................. 3 9. May a close relative be appointed to an unpaid position? ....................................................... 3 10. May other members of a governing body vote to hire a person who is a close relative of a public official if the official with the nepotism conflict abstains from deliberating and/or -
Unit 5 Equality
UNIT 5 EQUALITY Structure 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Equality vs. Inequality 5.2.1 Struggle for Equality 5.3 What is Equality? 5.4 Dimensions of Equality 5.4.1 Legal Equality 5.4.2 Political Equality 5.4.3 Economic Equality 5.4.4 Social Equality 5.5 Relation of Equality with Liberty and Justice 5.5.1 Equality and Liberty As Opposed To Each Other 5.5.2 Equality and Liberty Are Complementary To Each Other 5.5.3 Equality and Justice 5.6 Towards Equality 5.7 Plea for Inequality in the Contemporary World 5.8 Marxist Concept of Equality 5.9 Summary 5.10 Exercises 5.1 INTRODUCTION Of all the basic concepts of social, economic, moral and political philosophy, none is more confusing and baffling than the concept of equality because it figures in all other concepts like justice, liberty, rights, property, etc. During the last two thousand years, many dimensions of equality have been elaborated by Greeks, Stoics, Christian fathers who separately and collectively stressed on its one or the other aspect. Under the impact of liberalism and Marxism, equality acquired an altogether different connotation. Contemporary social movements like feminism, environmentalism are trying to give a new meaning to this concept. Basically, equality is a value and a principle essentially modern and progressive. Though the debate about equality has been going on for centuries, the special feature of modern societies is that we no longer take inequality for granted or something natural. Equality is also used as a measure of what is modern and the whole process of modernisation in the form of political egalitarianism. -
(POST)COLONIAL AFRICA by Katherine Lynn Coverdale the F
ABSTRACT AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY IN CLAIRE DENIS’ AND MATI DIOP’S (POST)COLONIAL AFRICA by Katherine Lynn Coverdale The focus of this thesis is aimed at two female French directors: Claire Denis and Mati Diop. Both auteurs utilize framing to create and subsequently break down ideological boundaries of class and race. Denis’ films Chocolat and White Material show the impossibility of a distinct identity in a racialized post-colonial society for someone who is Other. With the help of Laura Mulvey and Richard Dyer, the first chapter of this work on Claire Denis offers a case study of the relationship between the camera and race seen through a deep analysis of several sequences of those two films. Both films provide an opportunity to analyze how the protagonists’ bodies are perceived on screen as a representation of a racial bias held in reality, as seen in the juxtaposition of light and dark skin tones. The second chapter analyzes themes of migration and the symbolism of the ocean in Diop’s film Atlantique. I argue that these motifs serve to demonstrate how to break out of the identity assigned by society in this more modern post-colonial temporality. All three films are an example of the lasting violence due to colonization and its seemingly inescapable ramifications, specifically as associated with identity. AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY IN CLAIRE DENIS’ AND MATI DIOP’S (POST)COLONIAL AFRICA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Katherine Lynn Coverdale Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2020 Advisor: Dr. -
Managing Meritocracy in Clientelistic Democracies∗
Managing Meritocracy in Clientelistic Democracies∗ Sarah Brierleyy Washington University in St Louis May 8, 2018 Abstract Competitive recruitment for certain public-sector positions can co-exist with partisan hiring for others. Menial positions are valuable for sustaining party machines. Manipulating profes- sional positions, on the other hand, can undermine the functioning of the state. Accordingly, politicians will interfere in hiring partisans to menial position but select professional bureau- crats on meritocratic criteria. I test my argument using novel bureaucrat-level data from Ghana (N=18,778) and leverage an exogenous change in the governing party to investigate hiring pat- terns. The results suggest that partisan bias is confined to menial jobs. The findings shed light on the mixed findings regarding the effect of electoral competition on patronage; competition may dissuade politicians from interfering in hiring to top-rank positions while encouraging them to recruit partisans to lower-ranked positions [123 words]. ∗I thank Brian Crisp, Stefano Fiorin, Barbara Geddes, Mai Hassan, George Ofosu, Dan Posner, Margit Tavits, Mike Thies and Daniel Triesman, as well as participants at the African Studies Association Annual Conference (2017) for their comments. I also thank Gangyi Sun for excellent research assistance. yAssistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Email: [email protected]. 1 Whether civil servants are hired by merit or on partisan criteria has broad implications for state capacity and the overall health of democracy (O’Dwyer, 2006; Grzymala-Busse, 2007; Geddes, 1994). When politicians exchange jobs with partisans, then these jobs may not be essential to the running of the state. -
Meritocracy in Autocracies: Origins and Consequences by Weijia Li a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requir
Meritocracy in Autocracies: Origins and Consequences by Weijia Li A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Gérard Roland, Chair Professor Ernesto Dal Bó Associate Professor Fred Finan Associate Professor Yuriy Gorodnichenko Spring 2018 Meritocracy in Autocracies: Origins and Consequences Copyright 2018 by Weijia Li 1 Abstract Meritocracy in Autocracies: Origins and Consequences by Weijia Li Doctor of Philosophy in Economics University of California, Berkeley Professor Gérard Roland, Chair This dissertation explores how to solve incentive problems in autocracies through institu- tional arrangements centered around political meritocracy. The question is fundamental, as merit-based rewards and promotion of politicians are the cornerstones of key authoritarian regimes such as China. Yet the grave dilemmas in bureaucratic governance are also well recognized. The three essays of the dissertation elaborate on the various solutions to these dilemmas, as well as problems associated with these solutions. Methodologically, the disser- tation utilizes a combination of economic modeling, original data collection, and empirical analysis. The first chapter investigates the puzzle why entrepreneurs invest actively in many autoc- racies where unconstrained politicians may heavily expropriate the entrepreneurs. With a game-theoretical model, I investigate how to constrain politicians through rotation of local politicians and meritocratic evaluation of politicians based on economic growth. The key finding is that, although rotation or merit-based evaluation alone actually makes the holdup problem even worse, it is exactly their combination that can form a credible constraint on politicians to solve the hold-up problem and thus encourages private investment. -
The Conservative Party's Credibility Deficit Updated Tax and Spending
The Conservative Party’s credibility deficit Updated tax and spending commitments April 2010 2 Contents Page Introduction 5 Summary 7 Methodology 8 Tables 10 Broken promises 13 45,000 new single rooms in the NHS 15 5,000 new prison places 19 Reducing taxes on savings 22 More places for science courses, training and apprenticeships 24 Maternity nurses for all 25 Reinstate the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) 28 National Loan Guarantee Scheme 30 Tax cuts 33 Corporation tax and investment allowance changes 35 Freeze council tax for two years 38 Reduce employers’ NICs for some small companies 41 Tax cuts for married couples 43 Inheritance tax cuts 50 Reverse impact of abolition of dividend tax credit 53 Tax reversals 57 Raise National Insurance Contributions thresholds 59 Oppose Broadband levy 61 Oppose cider duty increase 63 Tax increases 65 Non-domicile levy 67 Spending reductions 73 Cut Government “waste” 75 Savings on employment and skills programmes 78 Reduce spending on Building Schools for the Future 83 Reduce eligibility for tax credits 85 Reduce eligibility for Child Trust Funds 88 Reduce government spending on consultants and advertising 90 Reduce “bureaucracy” spending by a third 92 Welfare savings 95 Scrap ContactPoint 98 NHS IT Programme 100 Freeze pay and cap pensions for public sector workers 103 Reduce spending on Sure Start outreach workers 105 3 Scrap some Regional Development Agencies 107 Scrap regional assemblies 109 Scrap identity cards 110 “Cutting the cost of politics” 112 Scrap the Trade Union Modernisation -
Blackbourn Veronica a 20101
The Beloved and Other Monsters: Biopolitics and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation in Post-1994 South African Literature by Veronica A. Blackbourn A thesis submitted to the Department of English Language and Literature In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen‘s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (December, 2010) Copyright © Veronica A. Blackbourn, 2010 Abstract This dissertation examines the use of inter-racial relationships as emblems of political reconciliation in South African fiction from and about the transition from apartheid to democracy. Positive representations of the relationships that apartheid prohibited would seem to constitute a rejection of apartheid itself, but through an analysis of novels by Lewis DeSoto, Elleke Boehmer, Zoë Wicomb, Marlene van Niekerk, Ivan Vladislavić, and J.M. Coetzee, I argue that the trope of the redemptive inter-racial relationship in fact reinscribes what Foucault would designate a biopolitical obsession with race as a foundational construct of the nation. Chapter 2 examines an attempt to write against the legacy of apartheid by repurposing the quintessentially South African genre of the plaasroman, but Lewis DeSoto‘s A Blade of Grass (2003) fails to reverse the narrative effects created by the plaasroman structure, implicated as the plaasroman is and has been in a biopolitical framework. Chapter 3 examines Elleke Boehmer‘s rewriting of South African history to insist on the genealogical ―truth‖ of the racial mixing of the country and its inhabitants, but Bloodlines (2000) yet retains the obsession with racial constructs that it seeks to dispute. Zoë Wicomb‘s Playing in the Light (2006), meanwhile, invokes genealogical ―truth‖ as a corrective to apartheid constructions of race, but ultimately disallows the possibility of genealogical and historical narratives as correctives rather than continuations of apartheid. -
Public Ethics Fighting Nepotism Within Local and Regional Authorities
Public Ethics Fighting nepotism within local and regional authorities Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Public Ethics Fighting nepotism within local and regional authorities Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe French edition: Combattre le népotisme au sein des pouvoirs locaux et régionaux Reproduction of the texts in this publication is authorised provided that the full title of the source, namely the Council of Europe, is cited. If they are intended to be used for commercial purposes or translated into one of the non-official languages of the Council of Europe, please contact [email protected]. Cover and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP), Council of Europe This publication has not been copy-edited by the SPDP Editorial Unit to correct typographical and grammatical errors. Council of Europe, July 2019 Printed at the Council of Europe Contents FOREWORD 5 FIGHTING NEPOTISM WITHIN LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 7 Introduction 10 Background 11 Public or private interests? Clientelism and favouritism in human resource management 13 The importance of impartial recruitment systems 16 Counteracting nepotism: the international anticorruption framework 23 National case studies 30 Conclusions and policy recommendations 43 RÉSOLUTION 441 (2019) 47 RECOMMENDATION 428 (2019) 53 ► Page 3 Foreword With the continuing decline in people’s trust in public authori- ties, the fight against nepotism and the need to ensure impar- tial recruitment procedures have never been so important. The report adopted on this subject by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is part of a comprehensive strategy for fighting corruption. -
Governance and Financing of Long-Term Care
Governance and financing of long-term care National Report Denmark Lorna Campbell | Lis Wagner Odense | March 2010 European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (AT) • Ecole d'études sociales et pédagogiques (CH) • University of Southern Denmark (DK) • National Institute for Health and Welfare – THL (FI) • Institut de Recherche et Documentation en Economie de la Santé – IRDES (FR) • Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur (DE) • Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung – WZB (DE) • CMT Prooptiki ltd. (EL) • University of Valencia – ERI Polibienestar (ES) • Studio Come S.r.l. (IT) • Stichting Vilans (NL) • Institute for Labour and Family Research (SK) • Institute of Public Health (SI) • Forum for Knowledge and Common Development (SE) • University of Kent – CHSS (UK) • University of Birmingham – HSMC (UK) Funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme Grant agreement no. 223037 Table of contents 1 Key contextual factors 3 2 The governance and financing of long-term care services for older people 4 3 Key barriers to joint working 8 3.1 Structural 8 3.2 Procedural 8 3.3 Financial 9 3.4 Professional 9 3.5 Issues of status and legitimacy 9 4 Key enablers 10 4.1 Shared vision 10 4.2 Clarity of roles and responsibilities 10 5 The funding of long-term care services 11 6 Financial sustainability 11 7 Good practice 12 7.1 Telemedicine 14 8 Ongoing tensions 14 9 Embedding good practice in everyday practice 15 10 References 16 Campbell | Wagner Governance and financing of LTC | National Report Denmark 1 Key contextual factors The background to how long-term care for older people in Denmark is governed is the major sea change in housing and care for older people that began in the 1980s.