Redressing The Balance

Gathers humorous stories, poetry, and essays by American writers from Anne Bradstreet to Erma Bombeck and Erica Jong.

The balance of power between central and local government matters because it affects the responsibility and accountability for delivery of services and improvements to local people and communities. Democracy is strengthened where local people understand what local government is responsible for in terms of both policy and resources, where they can hold to account local government for its performance, and where, crucially, they believe that local government can make a real difference. Local authorities should have the freedom to shape the development of their communities and the scope to unlock the full potential of local innovation. Yet the predominant trend, particularly since the second world war, has been for central government to increase its powers and responsibilities at the expense of local government. This report looks at the current role of local government, assessing where it could be more proactive in making best use of existing structures, and where change is required elsewhere - by central government and its agencies and by Parliament - to increase the scope for autonomous local government activity. It considers the role of central government, and the advantages to be gained at both the local and the national levels from adopting a "minimalist" as opposed to a "maximalist" role in relation to local government, advocating further cultural change within central government to facilitate a decentralised balance of power structure. The Committee also addresses the pressing need for reform of local government financial arrangements, with a view to enabling local government to raise more of its own money.

"David Rooney has done Wingate's memory a signal service." The Spectator. Major General Orde Wingate, DSO and two bars, who had created and personally led the Chindits, was killed in an air accident in 1944, at the height of the second Chindit campaign. General Slim joined the world-wide tributes paid to Wingate: but by 1956, to the distress of the Chindits, in his book Defeat Into Victory, Slim was dismissive of Wingate. What had happened to change Slim's mind so completely? David Rooney examines the life and achievements of a maverick soldier who inspired loyalty in some, hostility in others. Rooney's thoughtful and diligent research throws new light on Wingate's intriguing character, discovers why Slim changed his mind, and discloses details of the vendetta by which the military establishment, in the years after his death and following the viciously critical attack in the Official History, attempted to destroy Wingate's reputation. Rooney draws a balanced portrait of a military mind of daring originality, deserving of a better letter. This seminal work of military history is not only an insightful portrait of a unique British commander, but it is essential reading for anyone interested in the Second World War, special forces and the history of the British Army. Praise for Wingate and the Chindits. 'His current book is, therefore, an exercise in setting the record straight... Rooney is presenting an unabashed case for the defense, and he does so with skill. Every student of the Burma campaign will want to examine this book carefully.' (Raymond Callahan, author of Churchill and His Generals and Burma 1942-45) 'David Rooney's Wingate and the Chindits: Redressing the Balance ... attempts to redress the balance in favour of Wingate and to counter the unfair reputation he has acquired, in Rooney's view, among the military establishment.' (History Today)

Women are forced to survive under patriarchal boundaries even within the present-day world. Even though women of the century have faced certain economic, social, and political improvements, the male-supremacy has not weakened significantly: Capitalist system employs patriarchal tools and exploits women much more severely compared to men; women, restricted by patriarchal boundaries, are more frequently stigmatized as envious; language that shapes the masses’ perceptions still devalues women; rape and pornography degrade women and control their lifestyles; a great number of women are confined within the private sphere; and women still suffer from identity crises in the patriarchal system, as the contemporary British plays brought together in Midsummer Mischief: Four Radical Plays (2014) demonstrate. This book focuses on specific marginalized female characters depicted in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Ant and the Cicada, Alice Birch’s Revolt. She said. Revolt again., E.V. Crowe’s I Can Hear You, and Abi Zakarian’s This is Not an Exit and discusses women’s marginalization in the patriarchal order in light of feminist theories. It questions how the playwrights mentioned above prompt the audience to become conscious of this unjust order and challenge it through their mischievous female characters. In other words, it seeks to analyze both the factors that marginalize women and the playwrights’ revolts against the patriarchal order.