Using a unique interdisciplinary, cultural-institutional analysis, Politics of Control is the first comprehensive study of how, in the early decades of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party reshaped people’s minds using multiple methods of control. With newly available archival material, internal circulars, memoirs, interviews, and site visits, the book explores the fascinating world of mass media, book publishing, education, religion, parks, museums, and architecture during the formative years of the republic. When the Communists assumed power in 1949, they projected themselves as not only military victors but also as peace restorers and cultural protectors. Believing that they needed to manage culture in every arena, they created an interlocking system of agencies and regulations that was supervised at the center. Documents show, however, that there was internal conflict. Censors, introduced early at the Beijing Daily, operated under the “twofold leadership” of municipal-level editors but with final authorization from the Communist Party Propaganda Department. Politics of Control looks behind the office doors, where the ideological split between Party chairman Mao Zedong and head of state Liu Shaoqi made pragmatic editors bite their pencil erasers and hope for the best. Book publishing followed a similar multi-tier system, preventing undesirable texts from getting into the hands of the public. In addition to designing a plan to nurture a new generation of Chinese revolutionaries, the party-state developed community centers that served as cultural propaganda stations. New urban parks were used to stage political rallies for major campaigns and public trials where threatening sects could be attacked. A fascinating part of the story is the way in which architecture and museums were used to promote ethnic unity under the Chinese party-state umbrella. Besides revealing how interlocking systems resulted in a pervasive method of control, Politics of Control also examines how this system was influenced by the Soviet Union and how, nevertheless, Chinese nationalism always took precedence. Chang-tai Hung convincingly argues that the PRC’s formative period defined the nature of the Communist regime and its future development. The methods of cultural control have changed over time, but many continue to have relevance today.

Why does corporate governance--front page news with the collapse of Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat--vary so dramatically around the world? This book explains how politics shapes corporate governance--how managers, shareholders, and workers jockey for advantage in setting the rules by which companies are run, and for whom they are run. It combines a clear theoretical model on this political interaction, with statistical evidence from thirty-nine countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America and detailed narratives of country cases. This book differs sharply from most treatments by explaining differences in minority shareholder protections and ownership concentration among countries in terms of the interaction of economic preferences and political institutions. It explores in particular the crucial role of pension plans and financial intermediaries in shaping political preferences for different rules of corporate governance. The countries examined sort into two distinct groups: diffuse shareholding by external investors who pick a board that monitors the managers, and concentrated blockholding by insiders who monitor managers directly. Examining the political coalitions that form among or across management, owners, and workers, the authors find that certain coalitions encourage policies that promote diffuse shareholding, while other coalitions yield blockholding-oriented policies. Political institutions influence the probability of one coalition defeating another.

Civil society groups can strengthen an autocratic state's coercive capacity, helping to suppress dissent and implement far-reaching policies.

"This book is the classic work on the tumultuous national gun debate in the US. The eighth edition brings together the latest research in gun politics, policy, law, history, and criminology and covers new topics including the Second Amendment sanctuary movement, the connection between the concealed gun carry movement and crime, the cascading troubles besetting the National Rifle Association coupled with a surging gun safety movement, the bump stock controversy, and the rise of red flag laws. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible source widely used by scholars, journalists, and in classrooms. New to the Eighth Edition - Covers the ascendance of the Second Amendment sanctuary and gun safety movements, resulting from heinous shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida. Tracks the financial, political, and legal crises that threaten the dominance of the National Rifle Association. Examines new policy measures including universal background checks, limits on large capacity ammunition magazines, the bump stock controversy, and "red flag" laws, among others"--

What is meant by crime, crime prevention and crime control? Who defines the acts which are deemed as criminal? Who devises the sanctions and who acts as agents of social control? This timely and challenging book brings together a group of leading international criminologists from all sides of the political spectrum. They first examine the formation and implementation of official crime prevention and control policies. In the second part they look at a range of critical perspectives which explore the definition of crime and discuss proposals for its prevention and control.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many questioned whether the large number of political appointees in the Federal Emergency Management Agency contributed to the agency's poor handling of the catastrophe, ultimately costing hundreds of lives and causing immeasurable pain and suffering. The Politics of Presidential Appointments examines in depth how and why presidents use political appointees and how their choices impact government performance--for better or worse. One way presidents can influence the permanent bureaucracy is by filling key posts with people who are sympathetic to their policy goals. But if the president's appointees lack competence and an agency fails in its mission--as with Katrina--the president is accused of employing his friends and allies to the detriment of the public. Through case studies and cutting-edge analysis, David Lewis takes a fascinating look at presidential appointments dating back to the 1960s to learn which jobs went to appointees, which agencies were more likely to have appointees, how the use of appointees varied by administration, and how it affected agency performance. He argues that presidents politicize even when it hurts performance--and often with support from Congress--because they need agencies to be responsive to presidential direction. He shows how agency missions and personnel--and whether they line up with the president's vision--determine which agencies presidents target with appointees, and he sheds new light on the important role patronage plays in appointment decisions.

First Published in 1992. The federal budget has attained unparalleled significance at the heart of American politics in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The modern budget system has become the mechanism by which a distinctively American administrative state was put in place and made operative. The growth of the administrative state has transformed politics in America, but many Americans are unaware of its existence. This study looks at budget control within the realms of Congress, the Presidency and the development of the Administrative State.