Freedom in the World

Freedom in the World

Author: Dale Bricker

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13:

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Today, perhaps more than any other time in history, are people conscious of the importance of political and civil liberties. The astonishing events of the last few years have opened eyes and drawn attention across the world to countless struggles for freedom. In this volume, Freedom House, the nation's leading human rights advocacy group, presents among other information the findings of the nineteenth Comparative Survey of Freedom. The background of freedom in each of the nations of the world is presented along with an account of the impact of current events. The status of political and civil liberties is assessed and the country is assigned a rating based on the assessment. The results of the survey are graphically presented in the colorful Map of Freedom, a wonderful display of the shifting geography of freedom. In addition to the country-by-country rating, the book offers invaluable resource information including tables and charts which show at a glance the major changes that have taken place over the last year. Regional overviews of Asia, Africa, the United States, etc. by acknowledged experts summarize the year's major events for different parts of the world.


Democracy and Development

Democracy and Development

Author: R.C. Bhardwaj

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-26

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0429865236

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Published in 1998. The question of whether democracy and development are allies or adversaries has long been debated and with the triumph of the democratic spirit worldwide the relationship between democracy and development has once again come to attract much attention globally. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the developments in Eastern Europe led to considerable rethinking in political circles on the efficacy of the economic policies pursued in those countries and the long-term viability of political systems prevalent there. Elsewhere, several newly industrialized countries are striving to consolidate their gains, though there are differing perceptions of whether their politics conform to the classical framework of democracy or not. In a remarkable turn-around, some other countries have initiated measures for economic reforms and structural adjustment, setting aside their earlier approaches towards economic management. In short, the last decades of this millennium have witnessed meaningful efforts worldwide on forging a new partnership between democracy and development. In February 1996, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association jointly organized a conference entitled 'Parliamentary Democracy and Development': Allies or Adversaries?’ with the Wilton Park, an international agency of the British Commonwealth and Foreign Office in Wilton House, West Sussex, United Kingdom. The week-long conference brought together parliamentarians, diplomats, administrators, political scientists, economists and specialists from all over the world. The participants shared their views and experiences on diverse aspects of the main theme. This publication presents an essentially parliamentary perspective on the correlation between democracy and development based on the discussions at the Wilton Park conference and in the light of current thinking on the subject matter.


River of Promise, River of Peril

River of Promise, River of Peril

Author: John E. Thorson

Publisher: Development of Western Resources

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13:

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Snaking 2,540 miles from Montana to the Mississippi River, the Missouri is the longest waterway in the nation. Its basin—stretching 530,000 square miles—extends broadly into ten states and twenty-five Indian reservations. For millions of years the river and its tributaries meandered untamed. But that irrevocably changed with the passage of the Pick-Sloan Plan, part of the Flood Control Act of 1944. In River of Promise, River of Peril, John Thorson takes the first comprehensive look at how and why the Missouri River basin-now with six major dams and hundreds of miles of navigation canals-has become one of the most significantly altered drainage systems in the country. He also looks at the consequences. The Pick-Sloan Plan, he argues, has not fared well over time, particularly in its failure to provide an effective blueprint for regional river management. Persistent conflicts over the river, he contends, illuminate important weaknesses of federalism in dealing with regional resources, the most glaring being the exclusion of any proactive role for Indian tribal governments. To support his argument, Thorson examines the physical, demographic, and political features of the river basin; analyzes the comprehensive river development that gave birth to the Pick-Sloan Plan; reveals why the original goals of the legislature were never achieved; explores the deep-seated and continuing tensions between basin governments; and investigates how Indian tribes, the river's ecology, and federalism have been damaged as the river has been developed. He also describes the various associations created and later abandoned from the sixties to the eighties and assesses their virtues and limitations. Thorson sees in the story of the Missouri River Basin the vertical and horizontal strains of federalism-the states chafing against federally mandated and controlled projects exacerbated by the lack of constitutional guidance for handling conflicts among neighboring states and with Indian nations. Not just bent on spotlighting problems, Thorson also evaluates different approaches for improved river system management and recommends a Missouri River management institution based on environmentally sensitive policies, a strong state role, and full participation by the basin's tribal governments.