Central books

This first volume in the series examines such topics as improving public policy toward and within developing nations, economic development and decentralized government, policy evaluation methods for developing country energy issues, and the law of developing nations and super-optimum solutions.

This second volume in the series is divided into four distinct sections, entitled: institutional fragmentation and policy conference; re-thinking the challenge in teaching; institutions as allies and constraints; and, toward institutional redesign in school governance.

This serial publication focuses more on theoretical than practical analyses. It encourages historical as well as contemporary cases of social policy development and implementation, and also stresses unconventional interpretations of social policies.

This book is directed at a wide range of readers interested in transport and/or European policies. It gives an overview of the current problems and challenges facing the European transport system and explains how a new European policy on transport infrastructure is emerging. The author argues that strong action at the EU level is needed to prevent the collapse of long distance transport. Without adequate measures in the transport sector to cope with the increase of trade and mobility associated with the development of the Single Market, European integration will stagnate.The book includes an overview of the actions undertaken in the past and the first comprehensive critical analysis of the Guidelines on trans-European transport networks (TEN's) decided by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in July 1996. From this, the author proposes a framework, based on efficiency, sustainability and cohesion objectives, for the establishment of a new multimodal TEN that would supersede the current TENs design. He pays particular attention to the transport implications of both the accession to the EU of Central and Eastern European countries and of the strengthening of the links with the Mediterranean neighbours. After a discussion of the political and financial difficulties of implementing TENs, he makes some practical proposals regarding the interaction between European institutions and the Member States vis-a-vis the new transport infrastructure policy. Finally, the critical questions of decision making and financing of major transport infrastructure projects are analysed to ascertain the many transformations required to introduce market rules in the sector, in particular those needed to attract private financing, and he concludes with some proposals for major changes in the role of EU institutions.

New strategies and policies regarding higher education are needed to solve the present higher education crisis occurring in many developing countries. The important question is whether specific forms of government regulation are more effective than others in helping to solve this crisis. This book addresses this question by analysing the relationships between government and higher education in 12 states in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Recent changes in these relationships are explored in an attempt to discover which are the most effective. Each chapter contains a case study of a specific country, exploring issues such as the market as a mechanism for coordination, autonomy in higher education, state control and supervision, governmental steering models, the question of "governance fit" and innovations in higher education. The final chapter combines theoretical concepts with the observations made in the country case-studies to formulate overall conclusions.

This book contains a number of cross-national analyses of policies and policy-processes regarding higher education. Design, dynamics and outcomes of a variety of policies are studied at both the national and the institutional level. The theoretical perspectives on which the empirical studies are mainly based are founded in public administration, political science, economics, and sociology. Comparisons are made within Europe, and between Europe, the United States and Australia. Next to comparative insights in higher education policy, the book also offers up-to-date and comparable information on these higher education systems. The book is highly relevant for administrators, policy-makers, researchers and students in the field of higher education. In addition, it offers a wealth of information for everyone interested in the application of policy-analysis in general.

In this timely collection of essays, leading American and German scholars analyse immigrant incorporation into the welfare state from a comparative economic, social, and political viewpoint by applying data from the 1980s and 1990s. New insights are revealed into how ethnic stratification and socioeconomic integration is promoted by specific programs and other institutionalized policies in education, labour markets, and welfare. This volume will be an important resource not only to scholars and students in economics and the social and political sciences, but also for professionals in education, social work, journalism, politics, and community groups.

Industrial Development and the Social Fabric

This is the fourth volume in a series of studies on advances in educational policy. It is divided into sections which examine: equal opportunities in developing countries; economic gap, racial change and social challenge; and, programme intervention and evaluation.

This text addresses the concerns of human rights in developing nations, reviews research, and suggests solutions for the problems. It is divided into three parts. The first section of the book presents an overview, in terms of the history of political terror in the developing world in the years 1980-1991 and also in examining the very term "human rights". The papers in Part II present different ways of looking at, conceptualizing and measuring human rights policies, practices or conditions. This is followed by an assessment of exactly why there are differences in human rights policies, practices and conditions in developing countries. The final chapter in this section reports the results of a study showing that good human rights practices in developing countries are promoted by the presence of democratic institutions.