Power Voice And The Public Good

Focuses on such themes as - attention to the definitional and theoretical underpinnings of globalization; the ubiquitous nature and topical display of globalization; and, the possibilities of understanding, redefining and rethinking aspects of globalization with the backdrop of issues that relate to education, and the pursuit of public good.

This book focuses on the knowledge area of higher education governance, organisational dynamics, leadership and decolonisation. We have observed that governance discourse has been excluded in debates that concern the public good. The construct of public good seeks to support higher education that does not support a capitalist view of profit-making, arguably to respond to societal demands and needs such as developmental efforts through academic functions. Higher Education focuses on interconnected multi-disciplinary constructs, intending to provide services for the public good. The issue of public good is an interesting construct that puts universities on the spot since they are expected to be responsive to environmental changes and stakeholder needs through the functioning of accountable governance structures. These governance structures are compelled to comply with policy demands within external and internal environmental factors. This experience has exposed universities to systematic challenges that are local, regional and global, and which forces them to adapt while serving stakeholders and society. This book will also interrogate the governance of South African public universities in the post-decolonisation era and new demands from stakeholders.

This book provides a defense of democratic politics in American public service and offers the political ethics of public service as a realistic and optimistic alternative to the cynical American view toward politics and public service. The author’s alternative helps career public servants regain public trust by exercising constitutionally centered moral and political leadership that balances the regime values of liberty and equality in governing American society while contributing to the ethical progress of the nation. She identifies three distinct leadership styles of political ethics, enabling career public servants to reconcile their personal loyalties, morality, and consciences with the public and private morality of American society and their constitutional obligations to secure the democratic freedoms of Americans. Recognizing career public servants’ moral and institutional struggles, the book proposes a rigorous leadership development program to acclimate individuals to workplace psychological, moral, and political challenges. The view offered here is that career public servants must be a part of, rather than isolated from, American politics to be effective on the job.

This book analyzes the Chinese-centered globalization ‘from below’ brought about by China’s entrepreneurial migrants and conceived of as a projection of Chinese power in the Belt and Road Initiative partner states. It identifies the features of this globalization ‘from below,’ scrutinizes its mutually reinforcing relationship with China’s globalization ‘from above,’ and shows that these two globalizations are intrinsically related to the construction of a new international order. It outlines how the actors in China’s globalization ‘from below’ include Chinese emigrants who are located in informal transnational economic networks. It reveals that Beijing has enacted many laws that compel these emigrants to contribute to the development of their country of origin but also influences them through the successful promotion of a specific type of deterritorialized nationalism; and that China is ready to impose harsh punitive actions on political elites in partner states which fail to protect its migrants or limit their economic activities. Finally, it argues that China’s globalization ‘from below’ is fundamentally different from the non-hegemonic globalization ‘from below’ represented by, among others, Lebanese and East Indian traders, and that China’s globalization ‘from below’ is rather a self-interested national strategy intended to support the construction of a Chinese-centered international order.

Here is a systematic reconstruction of the theory underlying a free society. By examining three fundamental constitutents of contemporary life--social membership, temporality, and freedom--the author raises questions of the meaning of citizenship, principles of governance, and the ways in which the fruitful pursuit of livelihood and leisure may be best advanced. Each is seen to suggest moral imperatives for the guidance of a free society. Drawing on intellectual and political inheritance, Sherover establishes the foundations of a pluralistic republicanism that evaluates its advancement of human freedom in practical and concrete terms.

In recent years, many Americans and more than a few political scientists have come to believe that democratic deliberation in Congress—whereby judgments are made on the merits of policies reflecting the interests and desires of American citizens—is more myth than reality. Rather, pressure from special interest groups, legislative bargaining, and the desire of incumbents to be reelected are thought to originate in American legislative politics. While not denying such influences, Joseph M. Bessette argues that the institutional framework created by the founding fathers continues to foster a government that is both democratic and deliberative, at least to some important degree. Drawing on original research, case studies of policymaking in Congress, and portraits of American lawmakers, Bessette demonstrates not only the limitations of nondeliberative explanations for how laws are made but also the continued vitality of genuine reasoning on the merits of public policy. Bessette discusses the contributions of the executive branch to policy deliberation, and looks at the controversial issue of the proper relationship of public opinion to policymaking. Informed by Bessette's nine years of public service in city and federal government, The Mild Voice of Reason offers important insights into the real workings of American democracy, articulates a set of standards by which to assess the workings of our governing institutions, and clarifies the forces that promote or inhibit the collective reasoning about common goals so necessary to the success of American democracy. "No doubt the best-publicized recent book-length work on Congress is columnist George Will's diatribe in praise of term limits in which the core of his complaint is that Congress does not deliberate in its decision-making. Readers who are inclined to share that fantasy would do well to consult the work of Joseph M. Bessette. He turns up massive amounts of material attesting to the centrality of deliberation in congressional life."—Nelson W. Polsby, Presidential Studies Quarterly