Using global comparative data, this book shows why culture, not institutions or policies, is the difference-maker behind China's rapid rise.

Can America Govern Itself? brings together a diverse group of distinguished scholars to analyze how rising party polarization and economic inequality have affected the performance of American governing institutions. It is organized around two themes: the changing nature of representation in the United States; and how changes in the political environment have affected the internal processes of institutions, overall government performance, and policy outcomes. The chapters in this volume analyze concerns about power, influence and representation in American politics, the quality of deliberation and political communications, the management and implementation of public policy, and the performance of an eighteenth century constitution in today's polarized political environment. These renowned scholars provide a deeper and more systematic grasp of what is new, and what is perennial in challenges to democracy at a fraught moment.

China's rapid rise is doubtless the most significant economic and geopolitical event in the 21st century. What has led to its rise? What does it mean for the rest of the world? When will China overtake the US? Will the conflict between the two superpowers derail its further rise? Can China's development experience be emulated by other countries? These are some of the important questions addressed in this jargon-free, yet rigorous book. It debunks many popular explanations of China's rapid economic growth ranging from abundance of cheap labor, export promotion, demographic dividend, strong government, to mercantilist policies and IP theft. Taking a global comparative approach, this book demonstrates convincingly that the true differentiating factor making China grow faster than other developing countries over the past four decades is the Confucian culture of savings and education. This cultural perspective yields powerful new insights into many questions regarding China's rise.

Yong Zhao, a distinguished professor at Michigan State University who was born and raised in China, offers a compelling argument for what schools can--and must--do to meet the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization and technology.

På baggrund af en beskrivelse af det sovjetiske ballistiske missilforsvar samt informationerne om en stadig udvikling og udbygning af dette system, rejser forfatteren spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt det amerikanske SDI er hensigtsmæssigt og up-to-date.

"This book is the outcome of the conference held in Caen (France) in September 1997, in preparation for the International Economic History Congress in Madrid (August 1998). This collection of essays provides, for the first time, a systematic overview of the productivity missions organised in the years following the Second World War, to investigate in situ the production and management techniques adduced to account for the American lead. Bringing together research workers from many countries (Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States), the volume addresses four successive themes. The first one concerns the part played by the United States and that country's action on the international scene. This, in turn, leads to the subsequent query: Did the productivity missions constitute tools for modernisation, or were they devices of domination? The second part considers three national experiences: the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. The third part examines a number of branches: iron and steel, electrical engineering, petrochemicals, and the tyre industry. The final part seeks to assess the impact of the missions. Ultimately, one needs must make a distinction between the rhetoric of productivity, on the one hand, and actual achievements, on the other; the missions were part of a wider process of Americanisation, wherein lies one of the keys to the economic miracles of the post-war era."--Page 4 of cover.