5 Politics, Sociology eBooks

Economics of Urban Externalities: Analysis of Squatter Settlements in Kathmandu and Quito
The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 by Steven F. Hayward
The Political Economy of Local Regulation: Theoretical Frameworks and International Case Studies by Alberto Asquer
Global Sustainability, Cultural Perspectives and Challenges for Transdisciplinary Integrated Research
EU Electricity Trade Law: The Legal Tools of Electricity Producers in the Internal Electricity Market

Economics of Urban Externalities: Analysis of Squatter Settlements in Kathmandu and Quito
English | 2016 | ISBN: 9811005443 | 83 Pages | PDF | 5.6 MB
This book provides a fresh look at measuring negative externalities in the urbanization process. Meeting the challenges that come hand-in-hand with the contemporary age of rapid urbanization demands more extensive empirical knowledge. While most urbanization research focuses on positive externalities, this book is designed to offer insights into possible sources of negative externalities and the measurement thereof. In economics, the measurement of externalities is a challenging task that demands innovative research designs; however, previous research has failed to capture all of these externalities. The technique described in this book is carefully designed to measure negative externalities, particularly those related to squatter settlements that have been hitherto largely ignored by urbanization literature. The existence of negative externalities and the unintended consequences of rapid urbanization, particularly those related to squatter settlements, can be found in Latin America and Asia. This book provides comparative insights based on extensive primary surveys of households in squatter and non-squatter settlements of Kathmandu, Nepal and Quito, Ecuador. It is considered a case study that will improve the understanding of urbanization issues between Latin America and Asia. Societal benefits can be improved through the reduction of negative externalities. This book helps policy makers in Kathmandu and Quito fine-tune their policies to address the source of urban externality, as well as provide new insights into the nexus between urbanization and development. An investment in the reduction of negative externalities is profitable, thus presenting the government and international partners with a great opportunity. This book contributes to existing literature and will be useful for researchers and students.

The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 by Steven F. Hayward
English | August 25, 2009 | ISBN: 1400053579, 1400053587 | EPUB | 768 pages | 2.4 MB
“Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.”
–President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981
Hero. It was a word most Americans weren’t using much in 1980. As they waited on gas and unemployment lines, as their enemies abroad grew ever more aggressive, and as one after another their leaders failed them, Americans began to believe the country’s greatness was fading.
Yet within two years the recession and gas shortage were over. Before the decade was out, the Cold War was won, the Berlin Wall came crashing down, and America was once more at the height of prosperity. And the nation had a new hero: Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Reagan’s greatness is today widely acknowledged, but his legacy is still misunderstood. Democrats accept the effectiveness of his foreign policy but ignore the success of his domestic programs; Republicans cheer his victories over liberalism while ignoring his bitter battles with his own party’s establishment; historians speak of his eloquence and charisma but gloss over his brilliance in policy and clarity of vision.
From Steven F. Hayward, the critically acclaimed author of The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, comes the first complete, true story of this misunderstood, controversial, and deeply consequential presidency. Hayward pierces the myths and media narratives, masterfully documenting exactly what transpired behind the scenes during Reagan’s landmark presidency and revealing his real legacy.
What emerges is a compelling portrait of a man who arrived in office after thirty years of practical schooling in the ways of politics and power, possessing a clear vision of where he wanted to take the nation and a willingness to take firm charge of his own administration. His relentless drive to shrink government and lift the burdens of high taxation was born of a deep appreciation for the grander blessings of liberty. And it was this same outlook, extended to the world’s politically and economically enslaved nations, that shaped his foreign policy and lent his statecraft its great unifying power.Over a decade in the making, and filled with fresh revelations, surprising insights, and an unerring eye for the telling detail, this provocative and authoritative book recalls a time when true leadership inspired a fallen nation to pick itself up, hold its head high, and take up the cause of freedom once again.

The Political Economy of Local Regulation: Theoretical Frameworks and International Case Studies by Alberto Asquer
English | 2016 | ISBN: 1137588276, 9781137588272, B01MPXNPAL | 377 Pages | PDF | 5.25 MB
This book offers theoretical and methodological guidelines for researching the complex regulation of local infrastructure, utilities and public services in the context of rapid urbanisation, technological change, and climate change. It examines the interactions between regulators, public officers, infrastructure and utilities firms, public service providers, citizens, and civil society organisations. It contains contributions from academics and practitioners from various disciplinary perspectives and from many regions of the world, illustrated with case studies from several sectors including water, natural gas and electricity distribution, local public transport, district heating, urban waste, and environmental services.

Global Sustainability, Cultural Perspectives and Challenges for Transdisciplinary Integrated Research
2015 | 303 Pages | ISBN: 3319164767 | PDF | 6.3 MB
This book offers new perspectives of transdisciplinary research, in methodological as well as theoretical respects. It provides insights in the two-fold bio-physical and the socio-cultural global embeddedness of local living conditions on the basis of selected empirical studies from Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. The theoretical foundations of ecological research and sustainability policies were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. They are largely based on investigations of living spaces and the evolution and differentiation of varied life forms. This perspective is embedded in the practical and theoretical European problem situations of the past and lacks social and cultural differentiation. The transformation of spatial and natural relations as a result of the globalization process is so radical that new theories are needed to solve 21st century ecological problems. Moreover, in view of the lack of an ontologically sound and promising strategy for transdisciplinary problem solving, as well as an acceptable consideration of the power of cultural schemas relating to natural living's interpretations, there is a strong need to focus on sustainable social practices, habits and routines, rather than on predominantly living spaces or eco-topes. This book elaborates on the transdisciplinary approach by reflecting on the theoretical heritage and a global perspective of sustainability, by focusing on the primary role of a social approach in sustainability research and by putting emphasis on cultural dimension of sustainability. It postulates that global sustainability is grounded in a global understanding of our everyday activities.

EU Electricity Trade Law: The Legal Tools of Electricity Producers in the Internal Electricity Market
2015 | 621 Pages | ISBN: 3319165127 | PDF | 7.0 MB
This book aims to describe the mechanisms of the internal wholesale electricity market in terms of the legal tools and practices used by electricity producers, the most important market participants. In this regard, the focus is on Northwestern Europe. Because of the book's functional perspective, it is not limited to the external regulation of electricity markets at the EU level and also describes the business models and practices employed by electricity producers. Both the physical and financial marketplaces are examined and topics including electricity supply, balancing, transmission and derivatives are covered.The target for the completion of the EU's internal electricity market was 2014. The internal wholesale electricity market is very important not only for electricity producers, suppliers and major end consumers but also for network operators, marketplace operators, electricity technology firms, investment firms and market regulators.