Providing historical analyses of colonization, liberalism, and democracy, John A. Doces challenges the prevailing notions of liberal democracy and instead identifies its promotion as a form of political control and the latest manifestation of the colonial endeavor. Utilizing original data from 11 African case studies, the book finds that non-Western countries do not have the foundations to support competitive processes like democratic elections, which are associated with spikes in violence and fear. Adopting a comparative approach, Doces concludes that imposing Western liberal democracy upon developing societies inflicts harm that persists over time, limiting rather than promoting prosperity.

This topical book is invaluable for students and scholars of international relations, political science and public policy, security studies, democracy, regulation and governance, and development studies. Its empirical research will also be of use to policymakers and advisors working in developing countries.

This book focuses on how Burmanization created and reinforced ethnic divides since the 1962 coup d'etat. when General Ne Win concentrated all authority in the Burmese speaking army. Background research for the book includes Burmese language materials from the Burmese Socialist Party (BSP) and others that describe with what the BSP believed in their own terms. This is unique from previous works on the topic which either simply pointed out that the policies "didn't work" and therefore are uninteresting, or to claim that they were "necessary" given the chaos of the previous regime. The authors agree that Ne Win's policies "didn't work." However, the book goes further by elaborating why Burmanization policies developed in the 1960s are important for understanding Burmese society today. Most importantly, Ne Win's ideology reflects how patterns of interethnic relationships in Myanmar lead to the "intractability" of the battles in early twenty-first century Myanmar.

Lusophone Africa has been neglected in Anglophone historiography. With the exceptions of a narrow set of episodes, figures, and interpretations, all of which appear in a fragmented set of journal articles, its struggles against Portuguese colonialism have remained outside the grand narratives of decolonisation.

In this open access book, a group of established and up-and-coming historians of Lusophone Africa bring much-needed coherence to this interconnected set of anti-colonial struggles in order to show how people and ideas from these countries crossed borders around the globe. Its international team of contributors draws on a an underutilized range of source material beyond the usual Western state archives in order to cover a wide geographic scope, from North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia, all while critically examining the consequences of such international connections within the Lusophone states themselves.

For its empirically rich, original contributions to the grand narratives of African independence struggles, this book is a must-read for students and scholars interested in African history, decolonization, and the Cold War, and it is of keen interest to anyone interested in alternative histories of decolonization.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Bloomsbury Open Collections Library Collective.

Expert authors examine core concepts in the study of corruption, identifying important areas where gender is often overlooked. They investigate key issues such as anti-corruption efforts, sextortion, clientelism, and the perception of corruption. Chapters detail the relationship between gender and corruption across branches of government and in a wide range of cultural contexts, including those beyond the West. The Handbook also assesses methodological challenges and ethical considerations for researchers and outlines innovative approaches and guidelines for studying corruption.

The Handbook on Gender and Corruption in Democracies is a vital read for students and scholars of political science, regulation and governance, public administration and management, and gender politics. It is also an illuminating resource for policy-makers seeking to combat corruption and advance women's representation and access to public services.

This open access book examines the implications for the EU of a radically changed international context characterized by systemic rivalry, competition over norms and regulations, and growing strategic tension. Globalization that once tied national economies together and internationalized social phenomena, such as education, research and innovation, and tourism, has gone in reverse. An opposite trend is driving the world into distinct spheres of competing models of governance, regulation, technological development, and communication. Facing the most extensive rupture of economic and inter-state relations since the onset of the Cold War, the management of the EU's internal and external borders is taking on a completely new meaning. The open access book brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide up dated assessments and policy advice on the insecurity in the neighborhood and war in Ukraine, the EU's role in the future European security architecture,weaponized energy dependence, and the global competition on norms.

This open access book explores the complexity of the lex sportiva, the transnational legal regime governing international sports.

Pioneering in its approach, it maps out the many entanglements of the transnational governance of sports with European legal processes and norms. The contributors trace the embeddedness of the lex sportiva within national law, European Union law and the European Convention on Human Rights. While the volume emphasizes the capacity of sports governing bodies to leverage the resources of national law to spread the lex sportiva globally, it also points at the fact that European legal processes are central when challenging the status quo as illustrated recently in the Semenya and Superleague cases. Ultimately, the book is also a vantage point to start critically investigating the Eurocentricity and the complex materiality underpinning the lex sportiva.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swedish Studies Network.

This open access anthology takes a holistic approach to how Russia carries out hybrid warfare against its neighbouring countries - states at the intersection between the East and West.

The book addresses the vulnerabilities of these countries to Russian influence and hybrid warfare tactics, as well as their responses to this security challenge. It includes a close examination of local developments in states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Armenia, Serbia and many others, analysing specific scenarios and practices, and draws on these observations to develop the current conceptual understanding of hybrid warfare as a phenomenon. Scholarship frequently focuses only on Russia and treats countries subjected to Russian hybrid measures as passive victims, thus providing an overly schematic picture of Russian behaviour. This book instead treats these states as actors in their own right, assessing their potential to address and counter the specific security problems arising from their geographic and political position.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

The rekindling of the European Union enlargement talks and Brexit require a reappraisal of the law of the EU's proximity policies. In that light, this book turns Wider Europe into an analytical concept to capture the legal and political facets of the extension of the EU's legal space in the Union's neighbourhood.

The book follows three lines of inquiry. Firstly, it reflects on the similarities and differences between internal and external integration, drawing a distinction between EU membership law and EU neighbourhood law. Secondly, it unravels the techniques for the extension of the EU's legal space across different partnerships in the Union's neighbourhood. Thirdly, it sheds light on the political covenants underlying the variety of institutional arrangements of the extended EU's legal space.

The book discusses how EU neighbourhood law entails a reconfiguration of how sovereignty is exercised both in the EU and in third countries participating in the Wider Europe.

Scholars from countries both in and outside of the EU provide a full stocktake of the political and economic benefits of EU membership. They critically assess monetary integration and the path it has followed in the wake of the global financial crisis. Chapters delineate key comparisons between the EU and other governance models, between EU members and non-EU members, and between euro and non-euro member States of the Union.

Students of law, economics and politics will benefit from this timely book. It should also be of interest to policymakers around the world who interact with EU countries and those who may be contemplating similar forms of economic and monetary integration in their region.

Expert contributors analyze the evolution of theoretical approaches and best practices for public service delivery in light of fundamental changes to the socio-political and cultural environment. Tracing connections between different aspects, they illustrate the flexible, collaborative and innovative modes of delivery that are supplementing traditional centralized models. Chapters investigate how to manage important considerations including citizen expectations, economic efficiency, democratic accountability and limitations on capacity. Ultimately, the Handbook demonstrates that in order to be effective, public service delivery must be adapted to specific local and national contexts.

Examining both the theory and practice of public service delivery, this Handbook is an essential resource for students and scholars in public administration and management, public sector economics and public policy. It will also be of great use to professionals in government and NGOs seeking to optimize public service delivery.