Margaret Thatcher was prime minister from 1979 to 1990, during which time her Conservative administration transformed the political landscape of Britain. Science Policy under Thatcher is the first ...book to examine systematically the interplay of science and government under her leadership. Thatcher was a working scientist before she became a professional politician, and she maintained a close watch on science matters as prime minister. Scientific knowledge and advice were important to many urgent issues of the 1980s, from late Cold War questions of defence to emerging environmental problems such as acid rain and climate change. Drawing on newly released primary sources, Jon Agar explores how Thatcher worked with and occasionally against the structures of scientific advice, as the scientific aspects of such issues were balanced or conflicted with other demands and values. To what extent, for example, was the freedom of the individual scientist to choose research projects balanced against the desire to secure more commercial applications? What was Thatcher’s stance towards European scientific collaboration and commitments? How did cuts in public expenditure affect the publicly funded research and teaching of universities? In weaving together numerous topics, including AIDS and bioethics, the nuclear industry and strategic defence, Agar adds to the picture we have of Thatcher and her radically Conservative agenda, and argues that the science policy devised under her leadership, not least in relation to industrial strategy, had a prolonged influence on the culture of British science.
German Unification and the Union of Europe discusses some of the most interesting questions in the study of comparative politics and international relations. The book studies the sources of ...continuity and change in German policy toward the European Union, set in the context of the competing pulls of integration into the EU, and unification of East and West Germany. Employing a framework of analysis premised on the interaction of interests, institutions and ideas, the book asks: how has the domestic politics of unification influenced German policy toward Europe? why has continuity reigned in some areas, whereas in others significant changes, sometimes reversals, have been registered? what are the implications of this checkered pattern of outcomes for Germany and for Europe? Jeffrey Anderson's book focusses on the political economy issues (such as trade, internal market, energy, and industrial policy) which represent key components of both German domestic politics and Germany's relationship with Europe.
Awarded the DAAD 2000 Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in German Studies: Politics and Foreign Policy.
This 2003 book offered the first in-depth international survey of contemporary research and debates in business history. Over the two decades leading to its publication, enormous advances had been ...made in writing the history of business enterprise and business systems. Historians are documenting and analyzing the evolution of a wide range of important companies and systems, their patterns of innovation, production, and distribution, their financial affairs, their political activities, and their social impact. Each essay is written by a prominent authority who provides an assessment of the state and significance of research in his or her area. This volume is a reference work that will be of immense value to historians, economists, management researchers, and others concerned to access the latest insights on the evolution of business throughout the world.
Since German unification in October, 1990, arguments have raged as to whether the integration process of the former East Germany into the western system has been a success. These essays offer fresh ...insight and perspectives explaining the effects of unification on Germany and the EU as a whole.
In his compelling follow-up to The Rise of the Creative Class , Richard Florida outlines how certain cities succeed in attracting members of the 'creative class' - the millions of people who work in ...information-age economic sectors and in industries driven by innovation and talent.
"Florida and others are changing the American urban agenda. This is a guidebook to the new knowledge-based economy. He mines the best available research to lay out powerful new policy options. No wonder he is in such demand." - Terry Nichols Clark, Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project, University of Chicago
Richard Florida is the Hirst Professor in George Mason University's School of Public Policy and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings
Institution. He lives in Washington DC.
Signed into law in July 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became effective two years later, and court decisions about the law began to multiply in the middle of the decade. In The ...Disability Pendulum, Ruth Colker presents the first legislative history of the enactment of the ADA in Congress and analyzes the first decade of judicial decisions under the act. She assesses the success and failure of the first ten years of litigation under the ADA, focusing on its three major titles: employment, public entities, and public accommodations.The Disability Pendulum argues that despite an initial atmosphere of bipartisan support with the expectation that the ADA would make a significant difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities, judicial decisions have not been consistent with Congress' intentions. The courts have operated like a pendulum, at times swinging to a pro-disabled plaintiff and then back again to a pro-defendant stance. Colker, whose work on the ADA has been cited by the Supreme Court, offers insightful and practical suggestions on where to amend the act to make it more effective in defending disability rights, and also explains judicial hostility toward enforcing the act.