The convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting raises many questions. What form will convergence take in the future? When convergence produces new opportunities in the information, education and entertainment markets, what sort of rules of the game will be required? How will the players behave in these new markets? What policies might be needed?

This book examines the development of television broadcasting in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. It explores the policy regimes guiding the development of television broadcasting as a powerful institution and the extent to which new forms of television have become part of each country’s contemporary media mix. It analyses the interests involved in key policy decisions, the institutional dynamics promoting or inhibiting new media markets, and the relative importance in the different countries of cable, satellite, digital broadcasting, and the use of the Internet for purposes associated with television broadcasting. The nature of television regimes in each of the three countries is very different, and the contrasting situations provide great insights into how television is developing, and how it could develop further, both in East Asia and worldwide.

Modern Germany explores life, society, and history in this comprehensive thematic encyclopedia, spanning such topics as geography, pop culture, the media, and gender. Germany and its capital, Berlin, were the fulcrum of geopolitics in the twentieth century. After the Second World War, Germany was a divided nation. Many German citizens were born and educated and continued to work in eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic). This title in the Understanding Modern Nations series seeks to explain contemporary life and traditional culture through thematic encyclopedic entries. Themes in the book cover geography; history; politics and government; economy; religion and thought; social classes and ethnicity; gender, marriage, and sexuality; education; language; etiquette; literature and drama; art and architecture; music and dance; food; leisure and sports; and media and pop culture. Within each theme, short topical entries cover a wide array of key concepts and ideas, from LGBTQ issues in Germany to linguistic dialects to the ever-famous Oktoberfest. Geared specifically toward high school and undergraduate German students, readers interested in history and travel will find this book accessible and engaging.

This book outlines the development currently underway in the technology of new media and looks further to examine the unforeseen effects of this phenomenon on our culture, our philosophies, and our spiritual outlook.

What is the impact of institutional reform implemented by the Nice Treaty on European Governance? What should be done to enhance democratic legitimacy in the EU? This book provides an up-to-date guide to understanding the European Union as an institution. Globalisation has led to enormous changes in the international environment which, in turn, have demanded institutional reform of the European Union in the form of the Nice Treaty. European Governance After Nice scrutinises how, and to what extent, the treaty will contribute to the solution of existing problems, examining both its positive effects and its limitations and examines the reforms within the EU through political science, law and economics, in order to express the full extent of the different effects of the Nice Treaty on non-member as well as member countries. The contributors suggest that the threat of varying exchange rates in the future, when the Treaty has an expansionary effect on economic scale, will lead to a deepening interdependence between the excluded countries.

In this volume, a group of international scholars address issues relating to community wellbeing and the role of politics, law and economics in Europe and Japan in achieving human-centred symbiotic governance. Case-studies and suggestions for reform are presented in the arenas of economy, government administration, management, university governance, health, agriculture, the environment and urban planning. This book will prove a useful tool to those in business research institutes, members of administrative research institutes, NGO's and non-profit organizaions while also providing students of business, Asian studies, politics and law with an insight into possible areas of reform.