Comparativist scholarship conventionally gives unbridled primacy to external, material interests–chiefly votes and rents–as proximately shaping political behaviour. These logics tend to explicate elite decision-making around elections and pork barrel politics but fall short in explaining political conduct during credibility crises, such as democratic governments facing anti-corruption movements. In these instances, Baloch shows, elite ideas, for example concepts of the nation or technical diagnoses of socioeconomic development, dominate policymaking. Scholars leverage these arguments in the fields of international relations, American politics, and the political economy of development. But an account of ideas activating or constraining executive action in developing democracies, where material pressures are high, is found wanting. Resting on fresh archival research and over 120 original elite interviews, When Ideas Matter traces where ideas come from, how they are chosen, and when they are most salient for explaining political behaviour in India and similar contexts.
Asia is a crucial battleground for power and influence in the international system. It is also a theater of new experiments in regional cooperation that could redefine global order. Whose Ideas Matter? is the first book to explore the diffusion of ideas and norms in the international system from the perspective of local actors, with Asian regional institutions as its main focus. There's no Asian equivalent of the EU or of NATO. Why has Asia, and in particular Southeast Asia, avoided such multilateral institutions? Most accounts focus on U.S. interests and perceptions or intraregional rivalries to explain the design and effectiveness of regional institutions in Asia such as SEATO, ASEAN, and the ASEAN Regional Forum. Amitav Acharya instead foregrounds the ideas of Asian policymakers, including their response to the global norms of sovereignty and nonintervention. Asian regional institutions are shaped by contestations and compromises involving emerging global norms and the preexisting beliefs and practices of local actors. Acharya terms this perspective "constitutive localization" and argues that international politics is not all about Western ideas and norms forcing their way into non-Western societies while the latter remain passive recipients. Rather, ideas are conditioned and accepted by local agents who shape the diffusion of ideas and norms in the international system. Acharya sketches a normative trajectory of Asian regionalism that constitutes an important contribution to the global sovereignty regime and explains a remarkable continuity in the design and functions of Asian regional institutions.
The path to success is littered with great ideas poorly marketed. Don't let yours be one of them. "A little book with a very big message. Your idea is worth a great story, well told." SETH GODIN- Author of All Marketers Tell Stories Make Your Idea Matter is a call to action for entrepreneurs, emerging brands and anyone with a great idea, who knows that to stand out in today's noisy world they need to tell a better story. It is full of bite-sized business and brand storytelling ideas originally sparked on Bernadette Jiwa's award-winning business blog TheStoryofTelling.com. Use this book as both inspiration and guide to help you tell the best stories you can tell about your business, your ideas and the work that matters to you. You don't have to start on page one and work your way through, or even read it from front to back. Each topic stands on its own so dip in and out. Reawaken a thought or an idea you've already had. Spark new ones. Discover different ways of thinking about your business, what you do and how you tell your story. Then go make your idea matter. ADVANCE PRAISE FOR MAKE YOUR IDEA MATTER "Every story you tell is a choice, and the choices you make matter. For best results make the choice to read this book." CHRIS GUILLEBEAU- Author of The $100 Startup "Make Your Idea Matter' is a book that's easy to get into and hard to escape. Full of valuable, original, engaging content.Bernadette Jiwa has been likened to 'a female Seth Godin' and I have to agree." ROBERT GERRISH- Director of Flying Solo,Australia's Micro Business Community "The most brilliant people I have known have the rare ability to distill complexity to an essence. This is what Bernadette Jiwa does for entrepreneurs in Make Your Idea Matter." MARK SCHAEFER- Author of Return on Influence & The Tao of Twitter "If I discover one useful insight in a business book, I consider the time well spent. This surprising little book delivers them in spades!" TOM ASACKER - Author of A Clear Eye for Branding "Now is your time to make a difference, your time to be the best at what you love doing, your time to use your skills to enrich not only your own life, but the lives of each and every individual you do business with. More and more small businesses are taking impressive leads in their industries, making giant multinationals look cumbersome and unfriendly in comparison. You can do the same, and the first thing on your "to do" list should be to read this book. Bernadette has written a fantastic collection of stories to inspire, to provoke, to make you think, to generate ideas, and to bring your business to the next level.It doesn't matter if your idea has been done before, because as Bernadette rightly points out, it hasn't been done by you." DAVID AIREY - Author of Logo Design Love
This book is a primer on mobilizing political power to achieve enlightened goals in a democracy. This is a book about how good politicians can compromise without abandoning moral principles. This is a book that will inspire future political leaders to hold on to their idealism rather than spiral into a cynical distrust of politics and government. Rep. Dwight Evans shows us that politics is a noble art, and with enough research, hard work and knowledge of the legislative process, politics can be the art of the impossible.
The President of Ireland since 2011, when he was elected by a final tally of almost 57% of the votes, Michael D. Higgins has used his time in office to setout a vision of what he calls 'an ethical Republic'. In a series of remarkable and urgent speeches, which are anything but the bland commentaries of a ceremonial head of state, Michael D. Higgins has urged his fellow citizens to consider what makes the good life. He has asked how human rights, an active and empowered citizenry, women's equality and the right to health and a life free of corrosive anxiety might be achieved. He has highlighted the plight of refugees. And he has criticised the ways in which work is becoming dehumanised.
This collection presents Thomas G. Weiss' most important contributions to debates on UN Reform, non-state actors and global governance and humanitarian action in a turbulent world.
Everett Piper, Ph.D., is president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. His book "The Wrong Side of the Door - Why Ideas Matter" is a collection of commentaries and discussions relating to the fact that ideas have consequences and that liberty is found in understanding what is right, just and real.
Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) is history's most celebrated urban critic. In addition to her classic, Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs authored another half dozen influential books on urban planning, economics, and design. She was also a tireless advocate of vibrant city neighborhoods. Ideas that Matter: The Worlds of Jane Jacobs offers students, enthusiasts, and critics unprecedented insights into the work of this seminal thinker. Originally published in 1997, and continually sought after ever since, this 2011 edition includes a new introduction by distinguished urban scholar Mary Rowe. The book is a unique combination of Jacobs' own writing (including previously unpublished speeches, letters, and articles), biography, and analysis by other scholars. Arranged by topic, it sheds light both on the development of Jacobs' theories and her life. A chapter on Death and Life of American Cities reveals a debate between the author and her publisher about changing the book's title. A section on Europe includes letters home from Frankfurt, Paris, London, Venice, and other cities that shaped her sensibilities. And a chapter titled "Ideas" offers analysis from ten contributors who examine Jacobs' thoughts on issues from population growth to urban infill, self-employment to the wealth of nations. What results is a captivating scrapbook, offering a distinctive understanding of Jacobs' most important ideas.
"First published in the United Kingdom as: Greek and Roman political ideas: a Pelican introduction, by the Penquin Group, Penguin Books ... London"--T.p. verso.
