Modern medicine has put a new twist on one of our most fundamental values . . . self-determination. A patient's right to self-determination becomes a poignant and volatile issue in the context of modern life-sustaining technologies. When the benefit of medical treatment is overshadowed by the resulting burdens, treatment may ethically be withdrawn. Patients have the right to make this decision, assuming they still have the capacity to make it. Through advance directives a competent patient can extend his right to consent to or refuse medical treatment indefinitely into the future. Whether...

This book is an English language edition of the official social statistics compiled by the State Statistical Bureau of the People's Republic of China (SSB). It offers essential basic information on China's social development. In addition to the statistics, the book contains the SSB's Statistical Communique. The English language Editorial Board was responsible for the translation and annotation of this volume; it is composed of representatives of the China Statistical Information and Consultancy Service Center, an Affiliate of the SSB, and the China Statistical Archives, a research center...

Part of the "Praeger Series in Political Communication," "Playing the Game" offers an exploration of the rhetoric of the Reagan Revolution. The book fully explores how the rhetoric supported, impeded, and affected Reagan's policy goals and political success. In this work, the author shows how Reagan's use of language in his public speech was instrumental in the creation of the Teflon Presidency, and how use of this language created a situation whereby the President would not remain unscathed forever--as was the case in 1986. Further, Stuckey shows how Reagan's rhetorical success was built...

The latest edition in the "China Statistics Series," "China Statistical Abstract 1989" offers essential basic information on China's economic and social development in 1988. It also illustrates the major trends in this development since 1978. This book contains key statistics for principal sectors of the national economy by selected years since 1978. There are nine sections: General Survey; Population and Labor Force; Agriculture; Industry; Transportation, Postal and Telecommunication Services; Investment in Fixed Assets; Finance, Trade and Price; People's Livelihood; Education, Science,...

Presidential debates are forums designed to present and select candidates for national office: Their purpose is to provide opportunities for candidates to win over undecided voters, to reinforce voters who have already made a decision about who to vote for, and to change the minds of those who are willing to reconsider their initial judgments concerning which candidate seems more fit to serve as president. Edward Hinck argues that debates are not primarily about presidential policy-making. Rather, they are opportunities to demonstrate a candidate's ability to lead by summarizing, in a...

This study fills a void in the literature of Latin American politics by offering a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the state and its bureaucratic components in the various nations of the region. The author notes at the onset that the complexity of the state apparatus in Latin America--ranging from the entrenched bureaucracy of Brazil to the minimal administrative capabilities of Nicaragua--presents both a challenge and a problem for analysts. His unique contribution here is combining an overview of public bureaucracy in Latin America with a series of country and regional profiles....

Most information about the role of political consultants in elections has been limited to analyses of the few major firms that manage presidential and major congressional contenders. Political Empiricism shifts the focus of research to state and regional races, examining the strategies and variables unique to the smaller political campaigns. Rita Kirk Whillock describes how severe budgetary constraints, inexperienced campaign staffs, and extremely limited voter research change the face of political campaigns on the state and local levels.

Each chapter of this volume presents a mixture...

In this timely new book, Carolyn Smith develops a methodology for the study and criticism of presidential press conferences. Moving away from the traditional method of studying the presidential rhetoric of prepared speeches, Smith proposes methods of criticism for the quasi-spontaneous environment of the press conference where the control of messages is divided between the president and the press. The book offers a detailed critical assessment of Ronald Reagan's relationship with reporters during his eight years in office. From this assessment, Smith develops her approach to press...

Rhetoric, Lynn Boyd Hinds and Theodore Windt argue, is central to shaping both political consciousness and political culture. In this important new contribution to Praeger's Series in "Political Communication," they examine how the rhetoric of the early Cold War years was used to create and develop a national and international reality. The pervasive political view of events, motives, actions, and policy was largely created in the years between 1945 and 1950 and grew from a pre-existing set of rhetorical beliefs as well as from the political speeches and pronouncements of the time.

Hinds...