This book reflects on the research and career of political theorist Russell Hardin from scholars of Political Science, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, and Law, among other disciplines. Contributions address core issues of political theory as perceived by Hardin, starting with his insistence that many of the basic institutions of modern society and their formative historical beginnings can be understood as proceeding primarily from the self-interested motives of the participants. Many of the contributions in this volume struggle with the constraints imposed on political theorizing by the idea of self-interested agents, or homo economicus. Some reject the idea as empirically unfounded. Others try to show that homo economicus is even more versatile than Hardin depicts. And yet others accept the constraints and work within them. But all pay tribute to the lasting intellectual contribution of Russell Hardin and the challenge he poses. The book should appeal to scholars and students interested in collective action, public choice and democracy, moral reasoning and its limits, constitutionalism, liberalism, conventions and coordination, trust, identity politics, social epistemology, and methods in politics philosophy.

Seumas Miller provides an exciting new philosophical theory of contemporary social institutions and the ethical challenges they confront.

This book investigates the functioning and effects of moral rules and values as endogenous elements of governance structures when applied to economic and social transactions. The point of departure and framework of this book is Josef Wieland's theory of Ethics of Governance. Its focal point is the governance of the normative aspects of corporations. The Ethics of Governance is a comparative research project on business and economic ethics which started 15 years ago. Divided into five chapters, the book provides a comprehensive insight into the theoretical foundation and application-oriented results of the research project. It covers theoretical, conceptual and practical challenges in the global economy with regard to a sustainable economy, the social responsibility of corporations, and their transcultural and normative management. By offering comprehensive insight into the research results of the Ethics of Governance project, this book provides a unique scientific work on business and economic ethics.

The book highlights the ethical aspects and issues that are inherent to economics in the context of today’s prominent social institutions. It reviews a range of problems concerning dominant social institutions, namely markets, government agencies, corporate entities, financial networks, and religious systems. Further, in each case, the book takes a detailed look at the economic problems as they arise within a broader sociological and political environment, taking into account the respective ethical/philosophical paradigms. It analyzes from an ethical point of view topics like the evolution of economic thought, happiness and spirituality, and human values in relation to ethics.

This book brings together research works, ideas, critical reviews and strategic proposals encompassing various ethical and corporate governance issues in workplaces and organizations around the globe. For the most part, organizations are managed by policies, guidelines and systems. Good ethics and solid corporate governance help to tie these three elements together so that an effective and successful organization is established. Alongside corporate governance, ethics play an integral role in ensuring the long term survival of businesses. Multidisciplinary in approach, this book provides a platform for scholars and researchers from various backgrounds and interdisciplinary expertise to showcase their research work, ideas, critical review and strategic proposals on the ethical aspects, governance and risk management issues in organizations. The book includes discussions of ethical issues in a variety of organizations around the globe including the non-profit and non-governmental sector and also provides readers with ideas, guidelines and strategic recommendations for handling such issues.

Oxford Handbooks offer authoritative and up-to-date reviews of original research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned chapters from leading figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates, as well as a foundation for future research. Oxford Handbooks provide scholars and graduate students with compelling new perspective upon a wide range of subjects in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Book jacket.

Recent research demonstrates that the quality of public institutions is crucial for a number of important environmental, social, economic, and political outcomes, and thereby human well-being. The Quality of Government (QoG) approach directs attention to issues such as impartiality in the exercise of public power, professionalism in public service delivery, effective measures against corruption, and meritocracy instead of patronage and nepotism. This Handbook offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of this rapidly expanding research field and also identifies viable avenues for future research. The initial chapters focus on theoretical approaches and debates, and the central question of how QoG can be measured. A second set of chapters examines the wealth of empirical research on how QoG relates to democratization, social trust and cohesion, ethnic diversity, happiness and human wellbeing, democratic accountability, economic growth and inequality, political legitimacy, environmental sustainability, gender equality, and the outbreak of civil conflicts. The remaining chapters turn to the perennial issue of which contextual factors and policy approaches—national, local, and international—have proven successful (and not so successful) for increasing QoG. The Quality of Government approach both challenges and complements important strands of inquiry in the social sciences. For research about democratization, QoG adds the importance of taking state capacity into account. For economics, the QoG approach shows that in order to produce economic prosperity, markets need to be embedded in institutions with a certain set of qualities. For development studies, QoG emphasizes that issues relating to corruption are integral to understanding development writ large.