Despite The System

Revealing the facts rather than the myths behind Orson Welles's Hollywood career, this groundbreaking history fills in the gaps behind the drama of one of the most well-known American filmmakers, delving into his enemies, his unwavering faith in his audience, and the brilliance of his films.

In recent years, airline flight delays have been among the most vexing problems in the national transportation system. They reached unprecedented levels in 2000, when one flight in four was delayed. Although bad weather has historically been the main cause of delays, a growing reason has been the inability of the nations air transport system to efficiently absorb all of the aircraft trying to use limited airspace or trying to take off or land at busy airports. Recent events most notably the terrorist attacks on buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C., using hijacked airliners, and the economic slowdown that preceded these attacks have changed the extent of the delay problem, at least for the short term. With many airlines cutting their flights by 20 percent or more, the air transport system is having less difficulty absorbing the volume of flights. Whether the volume of flights will continue at these lowered levels is unknown. However, it is likely that a more robust economy and less public apprehension about flying will lead to renewed demands on the air transport system. If so, concerns about delays and the actions being taken to address them may once again command national attention.

Why democracy is the most effective form of government despite irrational (and sometime oblivious) voters and flawed (and sometimes inept) politicians. Voters often make irrational decisions based on inaccurate and irrelevant information. Politicians are often inept, corrupt, or out of touch with the will of the people. Elections can be determined by the design of the ballot and the gerrymandered borders of a district. And yet, despite voters who choose candidates according to the boxer–brief dichotomy and politicians who struggle to put together a coherent sentence, democracy works exceptionally well: citizens of democracies are healthier, happier, and freer than citizens of other countries. In Democracy Despite Itself, Danny Oppenheimer, a psychologist, and Mike Edwards, a political scientist, explore this paradox: How can democracy lead to such successful outcomes when the defining characteristic of democracy—elections—is so flawed? Oppenheimer and Edwards argue that democracy works because regular elections, no matter how flawed, produce a variety of unintuitive, positive consequences. The brilliance of democracy, write Oppenheimer and Edwards, does not lie in the people's ability to pick superior leaders. It lies in the many ways that it subtly encourages the flawed people and their flawed leaders to work toward building a better society.

′Cavadino and Dignan′s Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach looks across national boundaries to see how penal systems differ and why. It is hands-down the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on the subject and should become a staple textbook for use in law and social science courses on comparative penal policy and practice′ - Michael H. Tonry, University of Minnesota ′This book is an important addition to the literature on punishment. It is a highly readable and very well researched overview of some of the major differences in punitiveness between neo-liberal, corporatist and social democratic countries... This is a major contribution to comparative penology by two of the leading authors in this field′ - Alison Liebling, Director of the Prisons Research Centre, UK ′A major and seminal work′ - David Downes, Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach is a comprehensive and original introduction to the comparative study of punishment. Analysing twelve countries, Cavadino and Dignan offer an integrated and theoretically rigorous approach to comparative penology. They draw upon material provided by a team of eminent penologists to produce an important and highly readable contribution to scholarship in this area. Early chapters introduce the reader to comparative penology, set out the theoretical framework and consider whether there is currently a ′global penal crisis′. Each country is then discussed in turn. Chapters on comparative youth justice and the privatization of prisons follow. Comparisons between countries are drawn within each chapter, giving the reader a synoptic and truly comparative vision of penality in different jurisdictions.

As contemporary education becomes increasingly tied to global economic power, national school systems attempting to influence one another inevitably confront significant tensions caused by differences in heritage, politics, and formal structures. Trajectories in the Development of Modern School Systems provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical critique of the reform movements that seek to homogenize schooling around the world. Informed by historical and sociological insight into a variety of nations and eras, these in-depth case studies reveal how and why sweeping, convergent reform agendas clash with specific institutional policies, practices, and curricula. Countering current theoretical models which fail to address the potential pressures born from these challenging isomorphic developments, this book illuminates the cultural idiosyncrasies that both produce and problematize global reform efforts and offers a new way of understanding curriculum as a manifestation of national identity.

In Global Political Economy and the Modern State System Tobias ten Brink contributes to an understanding of the modern state system, its conflicts, and its transformation. In contrast to the political attractiveness of optimistic theoretical approaches to globalisation, this book demonstrates how an analytical approach rooted in Global Political Economy (GPE) helps to explain both the tendencies towards integration and towards rivalry in international relations. By way of a historical reconstruction of different ‘world order’ phases in the twentieth century, ten Brink analyses multiple, phase-specific variations of socioeconomic and geopolitical conflicts that are significant for the modern capitalist world system. Revised edition of Geopolitik. Geschichte und Gegenwart kapitalistischer Staatenkonkurrenz, Verlag Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster, 2008.

This textbook addresses the range of issues that need to be considered when managing an information system. The author's aim is to encourage a more critical evaluation of computer-based information systems and to foster a more objective approach to the inherent advantages and disadvantages.