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The book is the first attempt to investigate how and to what extent authoritarian (personalistic) regimes fail to provide fundamental goods and services. For two decades, Russian authorities spent much effort and money to improve health administration, but most success stories are borderline fake. The failure is by design; because personalistic regimes rely on personalized exchanges and bargains instead of impersonal rules and permanent organizations, all actors put self-interest ahead of patients’ needs. It is a severe problem because authoritarian principals proclaim social betterment as their central goal -- and many Russians take such claims at face value -- but incentivize their agent...
Although adopting global norms often improves domestic systems of governance, domestic obstacles to norm diffusion are frequent. States that decide to reinvent their political authority simultaneously evaluate which current global norms are desirable and to what extent. In this study, Vlad Kravtsov argues that recent debates about the nature of authority in Putin's Russia and Mbeki's South Africa have resulted in a set of unique ideas on the cardinal goals of the state. This is the first book to explore how these consensual ideas have shaped health governance and impinged on norm diffusion processes. Detailed comparisons of HIV/AIDS governance systems in Russia and South Africa illustrate th...
Although adopting global norms often improves domestic systems of governance, domestic obstacles to norm diffusion are frequent. States that decide to reinvent their political authority simultaneously evaluate which current global norms are desirable and to what extent. In this study, Vlad Kravtsov argues that recent debates about the nature of authority in Putin’s Russia and Mbeki’s South Africa have resulted in a set of unique ideas on the cardinal goals of the state. This is the first book to explore how these consensual ideas have shaped health governance and impinged on norm diffusion processes. Detailed comparisons of HIV/AIDS governance systems in Russia and South Africa illustrat...
Traces the evolution of South African immigration policy since the arrival of Indian contract laborers through to the aftermath of the May 2008 attacks.
This book argues that Putin's strategy for rebuilding the state was fundamentally flawed. Taylor demonstrates that a disregard for the way state officials behave toward citizens - state quality - had a negative impact on what the state could do - state capacity. Focusing on those organizations that control state coercion, what Russians call the 'power ministries', Taylor shows that many of the weaknesses of the Russian state that existed under Boris Yeltsin persisted under Putin. Drawing on extensive field research and interviews, as well as a wide range of comparative data, the book reveals the practices and norms that guide the behavior of Russian power ministry officials (the so-called siloviki), especially law enforcement personnel. By examining siloviki behavior from the Kremlin down to the street level, State Building in Putin's Russia uncovers the who, where and how of Russian state building after communism.
In 1900, German legislators passed the Civil Code, a controversial law that designated women as second-class citizens with regard to marriage, parental rights, and marital property. Despite the upheavals in early twentieth-century Germany – the fall of the German Empire after the First World War, the tumultuous Weimar Republic, and the destructive Third Reich – the Civil Code remained the law of the land. After Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945 and the founding of East and West Germany, legislators in both states finally replaced the old law with new versions that expanded women’s rights in marriage and the family. Entangled Emancipation reveals how the complex relationship between the d...
Despite the homogenizing effect of globalization, identity politics have gained significance¿numerous groups have achieved political goals and gained recognition based on, for example, their common gender, religion, ethnicity, or disability. Are each of these groups unique, or can comparisons be drawn among them? What is the impact of globalization on identity politics? The authors of Identity Politics offer a comprehensive analytical framework and detailed case studies to explain how identity-based collectives both exploit and are shaped by the new realities of a globalized world.
"This work identifies and explains significant variation in the extent and forms of NGO engagement with global governance institutions and how effective NGOs are in bringing the norms and policy recommendations from the global level to domestic arenas. We combine insights from international relations with the lens of comparative politics to understand NGO participation and mediation. We argue that "going global" in whatever form creates some common challenges for NGOs. If they go global to expand their influence - whether through funding, information, or stricter standards - they become caught between two institutional frameworks and sets of norms. There are challenges inherent to that multi-level activism regardless of the particular form of participation. At the same time, the specific nature of the challenges faced by NGOs depends on domestic political arrangements"--
Global health issues transcend national borders and state sovereignty. As a result, a collective response at the international level is necessary to effectively address these problems. This response, however, is not simply based on medical expertise or technology, but is largely dependent on politics. Health has become inextricably linked to policies developed by global governance, whether these policies involve the surveillance and the prevention of the spread of infectious disease across borders, the distribution and consumption of goods that pose a health risk through international commerce, the right to quality health for everyone, or the protection of human health from climate change and environmental degradation. International relations theories provide a key analytical tool for understanding the dynamics of the political process in global governance in addressing health issues in an increasingly globalized world. Each chapter will features boxes highlighting case studies relevant to the material, discussion questions, and suggested readings.
HIV represents not only an unprecedented pandemic but also a site of civil society innovation. In the midst of devastation, activists in sub-Saharan Africa are progressing from traditional forms of health advocacy to strategies that engage human rights principles, techniques, and language. Employing a comparative case-study approach, Resilience and Contagion considers the efforts of nine local civil society organizations in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, and Botswana. Kristi Heather Kenyon examines who adopts rights-based discourse and why, arguing that leadership, individual beliefs, and structure all play a critical role in framing advocacy. Beyond changing laws or policies, the most importa...