No government jurisdiction in Canada has so radically transformed its public policies over the past decades as Ontario, and yet the province has also maintained a striking degree of political stability in its party system. Since the 1990s, neoliberalism has been the point of reference in constructing policy agendas for all of Ontario's political parties. It has guided the strategy for governance of the dominant Liberal Party since 2003, even as it divides the province between workers and employers, north and south, rural and urban, and racialized minorities and the majority population. With a focus on the governments of Mike Harris, Dalton McGuinty, and Kathleen Wynne, Divided Province brings together leading researchers to dissect the province's public policies since the 1990s. Presenting original, state-of-the-art research, the book demonstrates that, although the Conservative government of Mike Harris implemented the sharpest and most profound shift towards the establishment of a neoliberal regime in the province, the subsequent Liberal governments consolidated that neoliberal turn. The essays in this volume explore the consequences of this ideological turn across a spectrum of policies, including health, education, poverty, energy, employment, manufacturing, and how it has impacted workers, women, First Nations, and other distinct communities. The first book to offer a comprehensive critical account of neoliberalism in Ontario, Divided Province overturns conventional readings of the province's politics and suggests that building a more democratic and egalitarian alternative to the current orthodoxy requires nothing less than a radical rupture from existing policies and political alliances. Without such a decisive break, political space may well open up again for the populist right.

Divided looks at the last fifteen years in Saskatchewan, during which time the Saskatchewan Party government sought to reforge the province’s image into the New Saskatchewan: brash, materialistic, highly competitive and aggressively partisan. In the process, a climate of polarization and hyper-partisanship swept the province into a near-perpetual state of anger and social division. These actions are not without consequences. In Divided, diverse voices describe the impact on their lives and communities when simmering wedge issues burst open on social media and in public spaces. The collection dives deep into the long set-up to this moment, from the colonial past to the four decades of neoliberal economics that have widened social and economic gaps across all sectors. Divided positions Saskatchewan as a fascinating case study of the global trends of division and provides testament to the resiliency of a vision of social solidarity against all odds.

The oneness of China is the norm; periods of divisions are aberrations this is how Chinese thinkers, leaders and ultimately the majority of Chinese people have regarded Chinese politics and history for more than 2,000 years.The oneness was never perfect. However, as long as certain minimal conditions were met and the polity which proclaimed that oneness was widely acknowledged, that was enough. Chinese ruling elites adopted this pragmatic approach so they could ensure that the ideal could always approximate Chinas reality.This fascinating book is a revised edition of a study undertaken to explain what happened during one of the worst periods of division in Chinese history the Wu-tai (Five Dynasties) period. What were the key factors that helped the centripetal forces to get back to the imperial norm? It begins with the final stage of decline of the Tang dynasty (618907) and ends 50 years later, when it became clear that the foundations for a last push towards unification was in place.

A groundbreaking assessment of subnational politics in Canada's largest province.

Many societies are strongly divided, especially in ethnic, religious, racial, and ideological terms. Such divisions are usually related to the existence of divergent interests that may lead to serious conflicts between groups and/or between them and state authorities. In order to limit them, participation in decision-making processes by members of different groups is needed. However, it is extremely difficult to establish and maintain effective power-sharing arrangements. This book examines the cases of Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burundi, where hybrid models of power-sharing have emerged, combining specific elements of consociational and centripetal types. It also explains the specificity, life cycle, and performance of different hybrid systems.

In marked contrast to the United States, with its territorial stability, some countries, such as Bulgaria and Ethiopia, reorganize their regional subdivisions frequently. This large-format reference work simplifies the comparison of decades' worth of data from such countries: "With this book in hand, one can answer any administrative subdivision question about any state or province in the world from 1900 through 1998"--Abstracts of Public Administration, Development and Environment. For each country there is at least one table, and usually several. Histories of subdivision changes and lists of alternate names for subdivisions in each country add to the work's research value. All relevant national and international standards such as ISO and FIPS codes are listed, as well as time zones, populations, areas and capitals for each subdivision. There is a comprehensive index of names.