Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Public Policy - General

This major new...

U.S. congressional debates over the last few years have highlighted a paradox: although research demonstrates that emergencies are most effectively managed at the local level, fiscal support and programmatic management in response to disasters has shifted to the federal level. While the growing complexity of catastrophes may overwhelm local capacities and would seem to necessitate more federal engagement, can a federal approach be sustainable, and can it contribute to local capacity-building?

This timely book examines local capacity-building as well as the current legal,...

Emigration in 21st-Century India is the first definitive exposition of contemporary Indian labour migration. The book provides a comprehensive appraisal of the policies, legislation and institutional architecture governing emigration at both federal and state levels. It posits that, geographically, emigration is now a more inclusive, pan-India phenomenon with many distinct features.

It draws critical attention to the multiple dualities in Indian emigration, showing how the artificial distinction between a universal pravasi ('expatriate' or 'migrant') and a...

Income tax policy and politics is an inherently complex and potentially confusing topic. This book makes the tax loophole system understandable for those without in-depth knowledge about taxes, explaining what our tax system looks like, why it is set up as it is, and what effects it has on raising revenue (and thus deficits) and the furtherance of other policy goals. Additionally, it explains why, despite popular and political desires, a significant overhaul of the tax system is very unlikely to be enacted: because tax expenditures (otherwise known as loopholes) benefit all Americans in...

This Brief presents a benefit-cost analysis of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as an evaluation of its cumulative socioeconomic effects. Created by Congress in 1968, the NFIP provides flood insurance protection to property owners, in return for local government commitment to sound floodplain management. Since 1994, the NFIP has included a Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program to provide local communities with support for flood mitigation. This book offers quantitative evidence of the net social benefit of the NFIP for the years 1996-2010, including an independent...

The greatest problems facing humanity today are climate change, poverty, and the increasing separation between the rich and poor. The aim of this book is to examine the social constructions that have led to these breakdowns, and provide potential solutions that are based on a fundamental change in the structure of society and the values on which a new and better social system can be built.

Unless we as a society set a drastically different course soon, human life as we know it will suffer greatly, perhaps even cease altogether. Excess consumption is becoming anti-social as the effects...

This book provides an easy, but comprehensive and rigorous access to the main concepts, terminology, methods and procedures of risk analysis intended for all those involved in the EU policy and regulatory decision making on risks. It establishes a common ground of knowledge which enables a more informed dialogue on risks, a closer collaboration between decision makers and scientists and a better appraisal of the potential and limits of risk science. The book also brings together in an accessible way much multidisciplinary knowledge which had been dispersed over many technical documents and...

This book explores experiences, issues and challenges which have emerged since Constitutional status was granted to the local bodies at grassroots level in India in the early 1990s. Among other issues, it focuses on:

• the contrasting political ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar on Panchayati Raj Institutions
• the legal and constitutional provisions which were introduced through the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts
• the devolution process, status and challenges of democracy for local governmental bodies
• empowerment of the women and...