Cruise ship passengers and all-inclusive hotel-guests are increasing exponentially as these floating and fixed properties proliferate in size and number. This is especially true for developing economies that consider sun, sand and sea tourism as a form of growth. Tightly integrated, multi-billion dollar global enterprises mix with weak local institutions populated by local officials, some corrupt, vying for more investment to create a toxic cocktail with diminished social benefits as the hangover. Within view of the shoreline and the towering monoliths of hotels and ships, post-secondary education facilities teach normative concepts of good management to students who, upon graduation, fight for a decreasing number of poorly paid jobs. Meanwhile, local government officials tout vacuous GDP figures and hospitality companies make inflated claims of employment to garner federal funding for infrastructure expansion. Many observers have made similar claims that have been easily ignored to date due to an absence of studies integrating tax revenue, private and public finance, and social outcomes. This combination illustrates not only current structures, but also how they are engendered. Rather than relying on tourist satisfaction, much investment is driven by windfall profits and tax-loss carryforwards thanks to tax loopholes and willing local officials that ignore or aid in the violation of regulations. While foreign companies condemn the corruption and cronyism at destinations, local nationals decry the exploitative foreign companies. The simple truth is that they flourish symbiotically. As such, this book necessarily addresses both actors. However, rather than being simply critical or numerical, this book provides recommendations for multinational enterprises increasingly running the risk of detection of aggressive tax planning and greenwashing. For host countries, it provides recommendations of a virtuous cycle for improved public sector accountability to restore the beneficial effects of tourism. There is also a discussion on how a value-added study of the tourism industry within a jurisdiction could detect untaxed profits that are withheld through astute transfer-pricing schemes. This is a book for tourism managers and experts, as well as policy-makers in the Caribbean and any sun, sand and sea destination that attracts floating and fixed all-inclusives.

The latest edition in the International Library of Policy Analysis series explores a comprehensive overview of policy analysis in Argentina. It explores theoretical frameworks, views of the State, the development of the field, and current paradigms before examining knowledge produced at different levels (federal, provincial, and local); the application of the discipline by 'Internal Policy Advisory Councils, Consultants, and Committees'; the role of think tanks, NGOs, and political parties; and the developments provided by university teaching and research. Analysing the conceptual frameworks and methodologies used from a meta-theoretical perspective, it provides a panoramic picture of the perspectives and challenges of policy analysis in Argentina.

This book assesses the impact of decentralization on Mexico’s intergovernmental relations and examines the constraints upon the devolution of political power from the center to the lower levels of government. It also discusses the distribution of power and authority to governments of opposition parties within the context of a more open political space. Victoria Rodríguez uncovers a new paradox in the Mexican political system: retaining power by giving it away. She argues that since the de la Madrid presidency (1982–1988), the Mexican government has embarked upon a major effort of political and administrative decentralization as a means to increase its hold on power. That effort continued under Salinas, but paradoxically led to further centralization. However, since Zedillo assumed the presidency, it has become increasingly clear that the survival of the ruling party and, indeed, the viability of his own government require a genuine, de facto reduction of centralism.

This book seeks to enrich and, in some cases, reverse current ideas on corruption and its prevention. It is a long held belief that sanctions are the best guard against corrupt practice. This innovative work argues that in some cases sanctions paradoxically increase corruption and that controls provide opportunities for corrupt transactions. Instead it suggests that better regulation and responsive enforcement, not sanctions, offer the most effective response to corruption. Taking both a theoretical and applied approach, it examines the question from a global perspective, drawing on in particular a regulatory perspective, to provide a model for tackling corrupt practices.

El uso masificado de las nuevas tecnologías y la progresiva democratización de Internet han supuesto múltiples transformaciones de la realidad social en los últimos años. Los gobiernos están intentando brindar respuestas a las nuevas formas de interacción social presentes en el panorama cotidiano. Dentro de este esfuerzo, la incorporación de estrategias tecnológicas que permitan diseñar modelos alternativos de gestión pública surgen como una necesidad.En este contexto de configuración de nuevas estrategias de gestión pública se ha producido el surgimiento de un nuevo modelo que ha despertado la atención de académicos, funcionarios públicos y sociedad civil: el Gobierno Abierto (GA). Este modelo emergente propone reinventar la forma de gobernar introduciendo elementos que combinan el uso de nuevas tecnologías y fortalecen los valores democráticos.

La formacion del Estado nacional mexicano ha sido un tema muy frecuentado por historiadores y sociologos, pero solo ha sido abordado de manera marginal desde el mirador propio de la ciencia politica. De ahi que se deba a los primeros la mayor parte de la vision que tenemos no solo sobre el pasado politico de Mexico, sino incluso acerca de los grandes procesos nacionales que ocuparon la historia del siglo XIX, asi como de los personajes que los protagonizaron. En cambio, se sabia mucho menos acerca de la evolucion y el entramado de las instituciones politicas. Este libro recoge una de las primeras indagaciones sobre esa historia institucional de Mexico que estaba haciendo falta. En Gobierno local, poder nacional, las instituciones municipales se presentan como el hilo conductor de varios de los procesos politicos que llevaron a la construccion del Estado. Sin embargo, no se trata de una historia de los municipios o de los distritos del siglo pasado, sino de una investigacion de ciencia politica acerca del papel que jugaron los gobiernos locales como la base sobre la cual se levanto el edificio del Estado moderno. El lector especializado encontrara las bases de un programa de investigacion que busca explicar el origen y el sentido de las instituciones politicas mexicanas, mientras que el publico interesado, por su parte, hallara nuevos elementos para entender la historia de su pais desde una perspectiva muy poco explorada hasta ahora, en un texto ameno y bien escrito que, de paso, abre nuevos cauces para el debate presente sobre la reconstruccion del pasado mexicano.