Series: Energy, Ecology, and the Environment Series; 8 ; The importance of energy to the functioning of any economy has meant that energy industries are amongst the most regulated of industries. What might appear to be purely private decisions are made within a complex and evolving web of government regulations. This book provides an economic history of the petroleum industry in Alberta as well as a detailed analysis of the operation of the markets for Alberta oil and natural gas, and the main governmental regulations (apart from environmental regulations) faced by the industry. The tools used within this study are applicable to oil and gas industries throughout the world. ; Yes ; 2014-03-06
Despite the close ties between tax-generated revenue and government policies, little is known about how political institutions shape the structure of tax choices across income levels. We propose and test a model based on the selectorate perspective, which predicts that leader choices regarding taxing and spending are driven by their desire to maximize their survival prospects against domestic challengers. The empirical tests investigate the conditions under which income taxes are non-existent, flat, more regressive or more progressive, and the degree of heterogeneity in tax systems as a function of governance institutions. The empirical results strongly and robustly support the theoretical predictions while also shedding light on how tax structures implemented in large coalition systems reduce income inequality.
The volume highlights ongoing changes in the political economy of small cities in relation to the field of culture and leisure. Culture and leisure are focal points both to local entrepreneurship and to planning by city governments, which means that these developments are subject to market dynamics as well as to political discourse and action. Public-private partnerships as well as conflicts of interests characterise the field, and a major issue related to the strategic development of culture and leisure is the balance between market and welfare. This field is gaining importance in most cities today in planning, production and consumption, but to the extent that these changes have drawn academic attention it has focused on large, metropolitan areas and on creative clusters and flagship high culture projects. Smaller cities and their often substantively different cultural strategies have been largely ignored, thus leading to a huge gap in our knowledge on contemporary urban change. By bringing together a number of case studies as well as theoretical reflections on the cultural political economy of small cities, this volume contributes to an emerging small cities research agenda and to the development of policy-relevant expertise that is sensitive to place-specific cultural dynamics. In taking this approach, the volume hopes to contribute to emerging research on culture and leisure economies by developing a differentiated spatial dimension to it, without which sustainable urban strategies cannot be developed. This book integrates perspectives of economic development with questions of governance and equity in relation to the fields of culture and leisure planning and development. This book should be of interest to students and researchers of Urban Studies and Planning, Regional Studies and Economics, as well as Sociology and Geography.
The practice of science in the search for the First Americans is a flawed endeavor. Not only is science constrained by the shifting centers of cultural power external to science, but also by the institutions, elites, and cognitive values internal to science. Substantive disagreement over a cultural past is a reflection of unstabilized power relationships in the present. Although science traditionally is believed to speak truth to governmental power, federal law dictates that American Indian traditions hold an epistemological status equal to the methods of science when determining the cultural affiliation of, and access to, pre-European human remains. Consequently, discovery and examination of the most important First American artifacts occur only as a product of a negotiation between scientists and the very groups that frequently oppose them. This is a case study of the practice of science in its search for the First Americans in this unstable environment. This dissertation deconstructs: (1) the conflicts between the methods of science and the traditional beliefs of modern American Indians; (2) the power struggles for primacy of place internal to the sciences themselves; and (3) the interactions with external authorities such as government agencies, the press, universities, and museums. It is an examination into how the issues have been defined and how differences in cultural myths, scientific theories, research methodologies and public policy remain unsettled in modern America. It is an investigation of the blurred boundaries between science and myth as well as between fact and theory that ultimately weaken the credibility of science as a cultural mechanism for interpreting the natural world. Finally, this dissertation concludes that the absence of a firm American cultural ground upon which to place an epistemological fulcrum has greatly contributed not only to the First American identity search remaining unresolved, but also to the instability of the very science which is conducting the search. ; Ph. D.
"Statistical Inference via Data Science: A ModernDive into R and the Tidyverse provides a pathway for learning about statistical inference using data science tools widely used in industry, academia, and government. It introduces the tidyverse suite of R packages, including the ggplot2 package for data visualization, and the dplyr package for data wrangling. After equipping readers with just enough of these data science tools to perform effective exploratory data analyses, the book covers traditional introductory statistics topics like confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and multiple regression modeling, while focusing on visualization throughout"--
In the center of the article is an analysis of the transformation of Ukrainians and our civil society during the first year of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, conducted by the author with the aim of determining the possible limits of the format of the post-war normalization of the defects of Ukrainian democracy. Among the defects is the functioning of power, which gains the influence due to the electoral procedures of electoral democracies, but does not receive final legitimation due to the lack or even absence of public trust. The political product of the crisis of legitimacy of power in transit Ukrainian democracy is a weak state with dual institutions and an asthenic state of Ukrainian society with a dual national identity. The full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war created unique grounds (for the first time in 30 years after the renewal of Ukrainian independence) for the localization of the influence of the crisis of the legitimacy of power on the Ukrainian political system. The value evolution of Ukrainians, the active formation of national and civil identities, the unification of society, the formation of high level of trust of Ukrainians to the authorities, and the acquisition of new experiences by civil society – all these factors give hope for the formation and implementation of conventional instruments for overcoming crises and, accordingly, for the active promotion of Ukrainian democracy towards consolidation. The author notes that the qualitative construction of anti-crisis policies for the nearest future requires avoiding voluntarism when assessing the modernization potential of society, which determines the reforming potential of civil society. An objective look at modern Ukrainians forces us to recognize the fact that we have preserved a certain value dichotomy, certainly in much smaller sizes than on the eve of February 24, 2022. The axiological specificity of modern Ukrainians will also determine the post-war opportunities of civil society. Therefore, civil society will be active in the areas of supporting reforms, resuming all democratic procedures and processes after the end of hostilities, and actively formation of a new culture of discourse within the country. Advocacy of liberal democracy requires the participation of an exogenous actor.
In view of events such as the public denial of climate change research by well-known politicians, the effects of postfactual disinformation and emotionalisation are discussed for science. Here, so-called 'fake news' are of focus. These are considered problematic, particularly in a high-choice media environment as users tend to show selective behaviour. Much research has demonstrated this selective exposure approach, which has roots in the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957). However, research on the processes of coping with dissonance is still considered sparse. In particular, communication scholars have overlooked emotional states and negotiations. This article analyses the affects that are aroused when users are confronted with opinion-challenging disinformation and how they (emotionally) cope by using different strategies for online information. For this, we used the context of climate change that is widely accepted in Germany. The innovative research design included pre- and post-survey research, stimulus exposure (denying 'fake news'), observations, and retrospective interviews (n = 50). Through this, we find that perceptions and coping strategies vary individually and that overt behaviour, such as searching for counter-arguments, should be seen against the background of individual ideas and motivations, such as believing in an easy rejection of arguments. Confirming neuroscientific findings, participants felt relieved and satisfied once they were able to dissolve their dissonant state and negative arousal. Dissatisfaction and frustration were expressed if this had not been accomplished.
The connection between politics & religion in the evolution of the US's political self-understanding is examined. It is contended that approaches to studying US political self-understanding have traditionally been dominated by liberal perspectives but are presently being challenged by national-democratic approaches; the features of these liberal & national-democratic features are discussed in detail. Analysis of religious history, regime theory, women's history, & religious sociology is performed to demonstrate how these distinct paradigms have intersected over time, especially during the late 20th century. John Rawls's (1971) liberal approach to US political self-understanding is reviewed, pointing out two principal alternative perspectives toward comprehending national self-understanding. Rather than continue to support either the liberal or national-democratic paradigms, it is recommended that a "multiple secularisms" approach provides a viable alternative for conceptualizing the connection between politics & religion in the present-day US; nonetheless, it is noted that this proposed paradigm shares more in common with the national-democratic approach, not Rawls's liberal model. J. W. Parker
SUMMARYAn extended editorial essay examines the nature of the basic needs debate, providing a context for the discussion taken up in subsequent articles. Particular and distracting attention is usually paid in that debate to national "count‐cost‐supply" exercises—assessing physical deficits and social targets and establishing the capacity to supply and ensure service delivery. But the emphasis should be rather on the systematic study of class and other political demands and their implications for 'basic needs' project formulation and implementation. The complexity and contingency of the linkages between needs should re‐focus the debate on the critical process of exclusion and the structure of demands for minima. The concern with basic needs is more than a new fashionable slogan but might be more effective if access to political and administrative institutions was at the top of its agenda and the rallying cry became 'essential guarantees'.RESUMENExigencias políticas y garantías fundamentales: EditorialEn este extenso ensayo editorial se examina el carácter del debate sobre las necesidades básicas que ofrece un ámbito para el estudio que se hace en artículos posteriores. Se suele prestar especial atención en dicho debate, que sólo sirve para distraer a los ejercicios nacionales sobre "numero‐costo‐efectivos" evaluándose los deficits fisicos y los objetivos sociales y estableciéndose la capacidad para proveer y garantizar la entrega de servicios. Pero debiera más bien ponerse de relieve el estudio sistemático de las exigencias de clases y otros tipos politicos y sus reper‐cusiones para formular y ejecutar proyectos sobre "necesidades básicas".La complejidad y contingencias de los vínculos entre las necesidades debieran permitir un reenfoque del debate sobre el proceso critico de la esclusión y la estructura de las demandas de mínimos. La preocupación con las necesidades básicas es algo más que un nuevo tema de moda pero podria ser más eficaz si en cabeza de su orden del día se colocase el acceso a las instituciones administrativas y politicas y el grito solidario fuera "las garantías fundamentales".RESUMEExigences politiques et garanties essentielles: éditorialCe long éditorial examine la nature du débat sur les besoins fondamentaux, fournit un contexte pour la discussion entamée dans les articles suivants. Dans ce débat il est en général prêté à tort une attention particulière aux exercices nationaux "compte‐coût‐fourniture", évaluant les déficits physiques et les objectifs sociaux et établissant la capacité à fournir et à assurer la prestation de services. Mais l'accent devrait plutôt porter sur l'étude systématique des exigences politiques de classes et autres et leurs implications pour la formulation et la mise en oeuvre de projets de "besoins fondamentaux". La complexité et la contingence des liens entre les besoins devraient ré‐orienter le débat sur le processus critique de l'exclusion et de la structure des demandes pour un minimum. L'intérêt porté aux besoins fondamentaux est plus qu'un slogan à la mode, mais serait peut‐être plus efficace si l'accès aux instititutions politiques et administratives était en tête de ses priorités et si le cri de ralliement devenait "garantie essentielle".
Shipping list no.: 95-0123-P. ; Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche. ; At head of title: Committee print. ; Mode of access: Internet.
