the politics of happiness: what government can learn from the new research on well-being

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During the past forty years, thousands of studies have been carried out on the subject of happiness. Some have explored the levels of happiness or dissatisfaction associated with typical daily activities, such as working, seeing friends, or doing household chores. Others have tried to determine the extent to which income, family, religion, and other factors are associated with the satisfaction people feel about their lives. The Gallup organization has begun conducting global surveys of happiness, and several countries are considering publishing periodic reports on the growth or decline of happiness among their people. One nation, tiny Bhutan, has actually made "Gross National Happiness" the central aim of its domestic policy. How might happiness research affect government policy in the United States--and beyond? In The Politics of Happiness, former Harvard president Derek Bok examines how governments could use the rapidly growing research data on what makes people happy--in a variety of policy areas to increase well-being and improve the quality of life for all their citizens.

Bok first describes the principal findings of happiness researchers. He considers how reliable the results appear to be and whether they deserve to be taken into account in devising government policies. Recognizing both the strengths and weaknesses of happiness research, Bok looks at the policy implications for economic growth, equality, retirement, unemployment, health care, mental health, family programs, education, and government quality, among other subjects. Timely and incisive, The Politics of Happiness sheds new light on what makes people happy and how government policy could foster greater satisfaction for all.

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africa in world politics: reforming political order

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In this fully revised edition top scholars in African politics address the effects that major currents in Africa and world politics have upon each other and explore the ramifications of this interconnection for contemporary theories of international and comparative politics.

The fourth edition focuses on issues of reforming and strengthening states and their economies in sub-Saharan Africa. The nation-state as we know it is a legacy of European rule in Africa, and the primacy of the nation-state remains a bedrock of most contemporary theories of international relations. Yet in the fifth decade of Africa’s independence, this colonial inheritance has been challenged as never before by state weakness, internal and inter-state conflict, and internal and external demands for economic and political reform, with potentially far-reaching implications. Including new readings on the AIDS crisis in Africa and the regional war on terrorism, this text remains an invaluable resource for students of African and world politics.

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student atlas of world politics

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The Student Atlas series combines full-color maps and data sets to introduce students to the importance of the connections between geography and other areas of study such as world politics, environmental issues, and economic development. These thematic atlases will give students a clear picture of the recent agricultural, industrial, demographic, environmental, economic, and political changes in every world region........
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religion and politics in the united states (religion & politics in the united states)

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Religion and Politics in the United States, Sixth Edition, offers a comprehensive account of the role of religious ideas, institutions and communities in American life. This book examines the ways religion can both compel and constrain involvement in politics and policy. What facilitates political participation? What impedes it? What are the limits of religious mobilization and involvement? Are there benefits? Are there dangers? Religion and Politics in the United States addresses these questions by exploring how religion has influenced the structure of American government and law as well as how religious perspectives inform contemporary political issues including topics such as equal rights for women and gays. The book also explores the ways that religion has affected the orientation of partisan politics in the United States. Through a detailed review of the political attitudes and behaviors of major religious and minority faith traditions, the book establishes that religion continues to be a major part of the American cultural and political milieu while explaining that it must interact with many other factors to impact political outcomes in the United States. The sixth edition reviews the role of religion in the 2008 election, and includes fully up-to-date coverage of how religion informs the civil rights struggles of women and gay Americans........
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city politics (8th edition)

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Updated in its 8th Edition, City Politics argues that the politics of growth, the politics of governance, and enclave politics are the three imperatives that dissolve the past and present into a singular, continuous narrative.  Praised for the clarity of its writing, careful research, and distinctive theme - that urban politics in the United States has evolved as a dynamic interaction among governmental power, private actors, and a politics of identity - City Politics  remains a classic study of urban politics........

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the politics of public budgeting: getting and spending, borrowing and balancing

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Public budgeting is inherently political: too often, short-term partisan goals overrun long-term public interest. By presenting federal, state, and local budgeting within a clear, comparative framework, Rubins classic text focuses on the issues of federalism and the political jockeying that influences all governmental budgets.

Updated throughout to account for recent issues in budgeting, the sixth edition includes coverage of the Alternative Minimum Tax controversy, mayoral vetoes, state legislatures role in the budgeting process, conflicts between inspectors general and executives, PART evaluations, and more. In addition, Rubin now pays even greater attention to budgeting within state and local systems, incorporating examples from across the nation and better preparing students for future careers at all levels of government. Analyzing each strand of the decision-making process, Rubin shows the extraordinary coordination involved in passing a budget and achieving accountability.

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winner-take-all politics: how washington made the rich richer--and turned its back on the middle class

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A groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the great economic crimes of our time— the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich. We all know that the very rich have gotten a lot richer these past few decades while most Americans haven’t. In fact, the exorbitantly paid have continued to thrive during the current economic crisis, even as the rest of Americans have continued to fall behind. Why do the “haveit- alls” have so much more? And how have they managed to restructure the economy to reap the lion’s share of the gains and shift the costs of their new economic playground downward, tearing new holes in the safety net and saddling all of us with increased debt and risk? Lots of so-called experts claim to have solved this great mystery, but no one has really gotten to the bottom of it—until now. In their lively and provocative Winner-Take-All Politics, renowned political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson demonstrate convincingly that the usual suspects—foreign trade and financial globalization, technological changes in the workplace, increased education at the top—are largely innocent of the charges against them. Instead, they indict an unlikely suspect and take us on an entertaining tour of the mountain of evidence against the culprit. The guilty party is American politics. Runaway inequality and the present economic crisis reflect what government has done to aid the rich and what it has not done to safeguard the interests of the middle class. The winner-take-all economy is primarily a result of winner-take-all politics. In an innovative historical departure, Hacker and Pierson trace the rise of the winner-take-all economy back to the late 1970s when, under a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress, a major transformation of American politics occurred. With big business and conservative ideologues organizing themselves to undo the regulations and progressive tax policies that had helped ensure a fair distribution of economic rewards, deregulation got under way, taxes were cut for the wealthiest, and business decisively defeated labor in Washington. And this transformation continued under Reagan and the Bushes as well as under Clinton, with both parties catering to the interests of those at the very top. Hacker and Pierson’s gripping narration of the epic battles waged during President Obama’s first two years in office reveals an unpleasant but catalyzing truth: winner-take-all politics, while under challenge, is still very much with us. Winner-Take-All Politics—part revelatory history, part political analysis, part intellectual journey— shows how a political system that traditionally has been responsive to the interests of the middle class has been hijacked by the superrich. In doing so, it not only changes how we think about American politics, but also points the way to rebuilding a democracy that serves the interests of the many rather than just those of the wealthy few........
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