Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries


Arend Lijphart - 1999
    It demonstrates that consensual systems stimulate economic growth, control inflation and unemployment, and limit budget deficits.

Her Counterfeit Wedding to the Billionaire


Erica Penrod - 2019
    Dubbed Billionaire Bachelor Cove because of the resident's single status and income portfolios, The Cove is the perfect place to hide away from the world. But, as the residents soon find out, they can't hide from love. Her Counterfeit Wedding to the Billionaire When Koven Kent, self-made billionaire, discovers a bumped and bruised car in The Cove and learns that Jamon’s distant cousin from Texas has arrived to mooch off her billionaire cousin, Koven is immediately on guard. He’s is ready to send this gold digger on her way—until he meets Sky. Sky Bowen is put off by Koven’s offensive remarks. She’s a biochemist and excited to take on a new job in Jamon’s lab not some freeloader here to take advantage of her cousin. She tells Koven off and vows to keep her distance. However, one night in Vegas, after an extra dose of potent cough syrup and a run in with Sky’s ex, Koven and Sky find themselves at a drive through chapel. Ten minutes later, they’re man and wife. The marriage is a limited time business agreement and Sky knows the cash pay off will be worth tolerating Koven, at least for a little while. However, pretending to love a handsome billionaire becomes easier as she gets to know him, which creates another problem altogether. When Koven and Sky admit their feelings, outside forces seem determined to keep them apart. Is Koven and Sky’s love strong enough to conquer her past and his father’s scheming? Or will they concede, what was between them was counterfeit after all?

The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century


Robert Cooper - 2003
    Among first world nations, societies may operate on the basis of laws, openness and cooperative security. But when dealing with a hostile outside enemy, civilized countries need to revert to tougher methods from an earlier era – force, pre-emptive attack, deception – if we are to safeguard peaceful co-existence throughout the civilized worldLike Robert Kagan’s best-selling Of Paradise and Power, The Breaking of Nations is essential reading for a dangerous age, a cautionary tale for superpowers, and a prescient examination of international relations in the twenty-first century.

Approaches to Social Research


Royce A. Singleton Jr. - 1988
    Covering all of the fundamentals in a straightforward, student-friendly manner, it is ideal for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses across the social sciences and also serves as an indispensable guide for researchers. Striking a balance between specific techniques and the underlying logic of scientific inquiry, this book provides a lucid treatment of the four major approaches to research: experimentation, survey research, field research, and the use of available data. Richly developed examples of empirical research and an emphasis on the research process enable students to better understand the real-world application of research methods. The authors also offer a unique chapter (13) advocating a multiple-methods strategy.

Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics


Cynthia Enloe - 1990
    Cynthia Enloe pulls back the curtain on the familiar scenes—governments promoting tourism, companies moving their factories overseas, soldiers serving on foreign soil—and shows that the real landscape is not exclusively male. She describes how many women's seemingly personal strategies—in their marriages, in their housework, in their coping with ideals of beauty—are, in reality, the stuff of global politics. In exposing policymakers' reliance on false notions of "femininity" and "masculinity," Enloe dismantles an apparently overwhelming world system, revealing it to be much more fragile and open to change than we think.

The Interpretation of Cultures


Clifford Geertz - 1973
    This groundbreaking book, winner of the 1974 Sorokin Award of the American Sociological Association, helped define for an entire generation of anthropologists what their field is ultimately about.

Nations and Nationalism


Ernest Gellner - 1983
    Professor Gellner asserts here that a society's affluence and economic growth depend on innovation, occupational mobility, the effectiveness of the mass media, universal literacy, and an all-embracing educational system based on a shared, standard idiom. These factors, taken together, govern the relationship between culture and the state. Political units that do not conform to the principle, one state, one culture feel the strain in the form of nationalistic activity.

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy


Robert D. Putnam - 1992
    Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity.

Political Parties : A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy


Robert Michels - 1911
    It is considered one of the classics of social sciences, in particular sociology and political science.This work analyses the power structures of organizations such as political parties and trade unions. Michels's main argument is that all organizations, even those in theory most egalitarian and most committed to democracy – like socialist political parties – are in fact oligarchical, and dominated by a small group of leadership. The book also provides a first systematic analysis of how a radical political party loses its radical goals under the dynamics of electoral participation. The origins of moderation theory can be found in this analysis.(This is a translation. Book was first published in German under the title Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie; Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens.)

Understanding International Relations


Chris Brown - 1997
    The second edition has been revised and updated throughout with increased coverage of globalization and of the emerging 21st-century world order.

The World After, Book 3


Ryan Casey - 2017
    Scott Harvard is a survivor of that blast. He is alone, with just a young child and a dog for company, and has sworn to protect them both at any cost.When Scott learns of a rumoured military base one hundred miles away, he sees a potentially life-changing journey ahead of him. But no journey is without its challenges. A terrifying group with their own horrifying vision of the country's future are after him--and they want to take the young girl away.Now, with the harsh elements of winter rapidly worsening, and constantly facing the threat of starvation and dehydration, Scott must utilise his survival skills and get to this safe haven with the child and the dog by his side. But with threats around every corner, it might just be a journey too far...The World After: Book Three is the third book in a new post apocalyptic trilogy by Ryan Casey, author of Dead Days and Infection Z. It is sure to delight fans of the author's trademark complex characters, rapid pacing, and unexpected twists and turns.

Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead


Shannon K. O'Neil - 2013
    A Mexican drug cartel dismembers the body of a rival and then stitches his face onto a soccer ball. These are the sorts of grisly tales that dominate the media, infiltrate movies and TV shows, and ultimately shape Americans' perception of Mexico as a dangerous and scary place, overrun by brutal drug lords.Without a doubt, the drug war is real. In the last six years, over 60,000 people have been murdered in narco-related crimes. But, there is far more to Mexico's story than this gruesome narrative would suggest.While thugs have been grabbing the headlines, Mexico has undergone an unprecedented and under-publicized political, economic, and social transformation. In her groundbreaking book, Two Nations Indivisible, Shannon K. O'Neil argues that the United States is making a grave mistake by focusing on the politics of antagonism toward Mexico. Rather, we should wake up to the revolution of prosperity now unfolding there.The news that isn't being reported is that, over the last decade, Mexico has become a real democracy, providing its citizens a greater voice and opportunities to succeed on their own side of the border. Armed with higher levels of education, upwardly-mobile men and women have been working their way out of poverty, building the largest, most stable middle class in Mexico's history.This is the Mexico Americans need to get to know. Now more than ever, the two countries are indivisible. It is past time for the U.S. to forge a new relationship with its southern neighbor. Because in no uncertain terms, our future depends on it.

Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress


Lawrence E. Harrison - 2000
    Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the poor, between those living in freedom and those under oppression.

Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World


Arturo Escobar - 1994
    The development apparatus generated categories powerful enough to shape the thinking even of its occasional critics while poverty and hunger became widespread. Development was not even partially deconstructed until the 1980s, when new tools for analyzing the representation of social reality were applied to specific Third World cases. Here Escobar deploys these new techniques in a provocative analysis of development discourse and practice in general, concluding with a discussion of alternative visions for a postdevelopment era.Escobar emphasizes the role of economists in development discourse--his case study of Colombia demonstrates that the economization of food resulted in ambitious plans, and more hunger. To depict the production of knowledge and power in other development fields, the author shows how peasants, women, and nature became objects of knowledge and targets of power under the gaze of experts.

Offline: Free Your Mind from Smartphone and Social Media Stress


Imran Rashid - 2018
    In Offline, they deliver an eye-opening research-based journey into the world of tech giants, smartphones, social engineering, and subconscious manipulation. This provocative work shows you how digital devices change individuals and communities for better and worse.A must-read if you or your kids use smartphones or tablets and spend time browsing social networks, playing online games or even just browsing sites with news and entertainment.   Learn how to recognize ‘mind hacks’ and avoid the potentially disastrous side-effects of digital pollution. Unplug from the matrix. Learn digital habits that work for you.