This book presents a new 'partitional' approach to understanding or interpreting the math of standard quantum mechanics (QM). The thesis is that the mathematics (not the physics) of QM is the Hilbert space version of the math of partitions on a set and, conversely, the math of partitions is a skeletonized set level version of the math of QM. Since at the set level, partitions are the mathematical tool to represent distinctions and indistinctions (or definiteness and indefiniteness), this approach shows how to interpret the key non-classical QM notion of superposition in terms of (objective) indefiniteness between definite alternatives (as opposed to seeing it as the sum of 'waves'). Thus, the book develops a new mathematical, or indeed, logical, approach to the century-old problem of interpreting quantum mechanics, ensure it is of interest to philosophers of science as well as mathematicians and physicists.

This book examines modernity itself. A single overarching policy recommendation is defended, namely, that the West ought not to defect from modernity's core commitments to the sciences, market economics and liberal democracy despite the litany of complaints that have been, and continue to be levelled against it. But in addition to this overarching recommendation, numerous policy suggestions are made. The reader will find discussions as wide-ranging as electoral regimes and judicial procedure, banking regulations and the ethics of a modern civil service. What binds these disparate subsidiary recommendations together is that they are designed to meet the challenges facing modernity while remaining true to its core commitments. These subsidiary policy recommendations, in turn, are not developed in an ad hoc manner, but are themselves motivated by a distinct philosophy of modernity which is termed natural law liberalism.

The book explores the development of the American eugenics movement and how it still plays a role in American life. Building on a brief overview of the concept of eugenics, Shannon Bow O'Brien charts the foundations of the ideas, significant influences, and influencers of the movement in the last 19th and early 20th centuries. She discusses how these ideals and social life shaped American culture and encouraged attitudes toward racial and ethnic biases, including immigration policies in that period.

O'Brien examines how the founding of the United States of America was built on unwanted individuals from the United Kingdom; transported felons and indentured servants were many of the original colonists. As the population forged its new nation, many of these individuals were the focus of restrictive immigration policies that sought to amend the identity of the American citizen and sought to define acceptable roles for Black persons within American society. Faithful slave monuments provided physical models to help engrain these roles within American life. O'Brien traces the development of the Mammy statue movement and its intersectionality with the restrictive immigration laws.

Finally, she turns to the rhetoric of Donald Trump and contextualizes his speech in the ideology of the superiority of White Nordic nativism within American life.

This open access book assesses the consequences of contemporary economic and political crises for intergovernmental relations in Europe. Focusing on the crises arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, surges in migration, and the resurgence of regional nationalist movements, it explores the shifting power balances within intergovernmental relations' systems. The book takes a comparative analytical perspective on how intergovernmental relations are changing across Europe, and how central governments have responded to coordination challenges as recent crises have disrupted established service delivery chains and their underpinning political and bureaucratic arrangements. It also examines the relationship between recent crises and the sub-national resurgence of territorial politics in many European countries. The book will appeal to those with interests in public administration, sub-national governance and European politics.

In today's rapidly evolving political landscape, the intersection of democracy, leadership, and governance with artificial intelligence (AI) has become a focal point for academic inquiry and practical explorations. This book is a machine-generated literature overview that explores the opportunities, challenges, and impacts of integrating AI technologies in democratic processes, leadership dynamics, and sustainable governance. Through a collection of thought-provoking chapters, readers will gain insights into the transformative potential of AI that revisits the tenets of deliberative democracy, redefines leadership roles, and rejuvenates public service delivery. This volume offers a comprehensive exploration of the processes and practices of democratic decision-making, leadership development, and sustainable governance. It serves as a valuable resource to academics, policymakers, and practitioners navigating through the concepts, dimensions, and praxis of democracy, leadership, and governance. It is an important value addition to the body of knowledge and paves the way for informed decision-making and responsible application of digital technologies for good governance.

This book examines how fashion intersects with political expression in the United States and across the globe. The chapters cover a diversity of perspectives, including experiences of men, minoritized people and women, and LGBTQ persons, as well as examining strategic choices by political actors ranging from dictators to elected officials and from protesters to mothers. Perhaps more importantly, this handbook allows chapters written about the US by mainly US-based academics to be in dialogue with scholarship about other regions of the world largely written by non-US and non-European scholars. Several chapters address regions of the world often understudied by political scientists, including Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Liberia, Nigeria, and Cameroon); Asia (North Korea, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, and Pakistan); and Latin America (Argentina and Mexico). This work goes beyond the usual analyses that cast clothing choices as trivial or constraining and shows how political actors from dictators to elected officials and from citizen activists to social movement leaders incorporate strategic choices about their clothing - ranging from uniforms and business attire to hijab and traditional ethnic attire - in order to advance their political agendas.

This open access book analyses the convergence between 'post-truth' political culture and the politics of populism. The premise is that there is an intrinsic link between post-truth discourse (referring to mis/disinformation, 'alternative facts', 'fake news', conspiracy theories and the general distrust of expert knowledge and official sources of information) and the central narrative of populism, which opposes the 'common sense' wisdom of ordinary honest people to the 'expert knowledge' of duplicitous technocratic elites. The book investigates the current post-truth phenomenon as a distinct feature of contemporary political life, and the specific ways in which it intersects with the resurgence of populism. While there has been a considerable literature on both post-truth and populism, they are largely treated as separate phenomena, and very little research has been conducted on their actual connection. The original contribution of this book to an emerging field of study is to develop a strong, coherent and empirically informed theoretical framework for understanding the specific paradigm of post-truth populism. The authors propose this paradigm as a way of interpreting different contemporary political phenomena, such as conspiracy theories, political destabilisation, and debates around immigration, the role of journalists and the media, climate change, gender and sexuality, Islam, and minority rights, as well as a way of understanding the threats and challenges this poses to the liberal democratic model and way of life.

This book presents a series of interconnected studies designed to understand systemic corruption in local governments. Coined as the Corruption Consolidation Framework (CCF), this novel approach elucidates how corruption becomes the rule in formal institutional settings and further consolidates. The CCF analyzes the problem along four dimensions, offering a unique contribution to make sense of a complex problem without oversimplifying the subject. Chapters in the book explore the CCF in case studies conducted across Latin American municipalities in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico, however, authors believe the CCF is applicable around the world both in the Global South and in Western countries. The volume is a promising tool for the academic community in the public administration, policy studies, and local government fields. It can also be used in undergraduate and graduate courses on corruption, governance, local governments, and Latin American studies. Finally, it offers a general roadmap to citizens and policymakers about what can be done in cases where corruption has become the rule of the game in local governments.

Since the famous book of Klitgaard Corrupt Cities, the world has been waiting for a follow-up on municipal corruption. This collection of LA studies crosses the borders of the continent and makes indispensable reading for students of corruption and local government everywhere -- Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Professor at LUISS Guido Carli. Author of "The Quest for Good Governance. How Societies Build Control of Corruption"

The book fills this gap and takes the reader on an enlightening journey into the world of systemic corruption in municipalities through a collection of well-written chapters with a concept that unifies these cases in a theoretically grounded yet highly applicable framework. -- David Jancsics, Professor at San Diego State University. Author of "Sociology of Corruption: Patterns of Illegal Association in Hungary"

Theoretically rich and empirically rigorous, this volume provides a fresh, grounded perspective on the governments residents most often engage. It is a must-read for scholars and practitioners alike. -- Patricia Strach, Professor at Albany, State University of New York. Author of The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929

The framework of corruption consolidation helps explain appropriately how this phenomenon can become the status quo of governance in institutionally weak public administrations. It is a must-read to analyze and understand corruption in the global South. -- Pablo Sanabria-Pulido at Florida Atlantic University.

The book explores the close relationship between media institutions and power elites in Arab societies. This relationship exists within an unprecedented state of competition among global powers for influence and control over necessary resources and consumer markets in the Middle East. These conflicts still ravage these societies, including Palestinian society, designated as a region characterized by "organized chaos," dominated by multiple forms of increasing political instability and complex sources of internal turmoil. Taking the specificity of the Palestinian internal conflict as a case study, the book explores the interrelationships between power elites at the three levels of international, regional, and domestic politics, via the news message of satellite TV news media outlets. This book will interest scholars of the Middle East, of media and authoritarianism, and of the sociology of the Arab world.

This open access book provides an authoritative overview of public administration, public management and public governance in Japan. Japan is one of the leading countries on the international stage, with a reputation for effective government and administration. The book covers a wide range of themes, including social welfare, public employment, the education system, public finance, and crisis management. Written by a team of expert scholars, it will appeal to international researchers and practitioners interested in Japan, as well as public administration and public management more broadly. It will be the definitive guide to public administration and governance in Japan for years to come.

This book focuses on information seeking and the knowledge economy for teaching and research in Africa. The book first explores the evolution and current state of information-seeking behavior research, demonstrating its importance in informing practice, policy, and design of information systems. Despite the informal sector's substantial contributions to the national economy in Uganda, there is a lack of studies delving into its information needs, as well as an information gap in government, NGOs, and other stakeholders. The book proposes that an appropriate information behavior model for information-poor communities such as informal entrepreneurs must be grounded on oral traditions and indigenous knowledge and should be sensitive to poverty, infrastructure, and illiteracy. The negative impact of the lack of financial literacy skills for women entrepreneurs is investigated and solutions for this problem are suggested, including regular assessments of women entrepreneurs' financial literacy skills and the introduction of training courses. The role of academic libraries in universities, library services for students with disabilities, and accessibility of library services to students with disabilities is discussed, and theoretical models for enhancing service in academic libraries are presented. The book highlights the specific challenges and opportunities related to information literacy for secondary schools and concludes by examining the rapid changes in library and information science research in South Africa.

This book discusses the living conditions and resulting political attitudes and participation patterns of young people, especially in the countries of the "Global East"-regions of the world that have so far received little public attention-and which subjects growing up in these countries to an in-depth analysis. Today's youth is coming of age in a climate of social disparity and heterogeneous living circumstances. Amid the economic and political uncertainty in many of the world's crisis countries, adolescents are faced with a multiplicity of challenges which may manifest in social exclusion, unequal access to education, and high youth unemployment rates. The political circumstances from which these effects arise are varied in nature and include attempts at democratization and repressive tendencies in Arab states, financial crises in Southern Europe, and the growing alienation of South-Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union from the European Union as a result of disappointed expectations.

The empirical data basis of the individual articles is provided by current country-specific youth studies. The book is divided into three sections. Part One outlines the differences in the economic and political status of young people in selected countries. Part Two focuses on the political and social involvement of adolescents. Finally, Part Three discusses adolescents' responses to the situations in their home countries. A detailed presentation of the political behavior of young people in crisis countries, this book will be useful to students and researchers interested in political science, public participation, youth welfare, education, and social work.

Despite studying with Heinrich Rickert in Freiburg, Wilhelm Dilthey in Berlin, and Edmund Husserl in Goettingen, Wilhelm Schapp (1884-1965) has, until now, been largely neglected in phenomenological scholarship. As the first English-language volume dedicated to Schapp's thought, this book seeks to correct this by investigating Schapp's pioneering philosophy, his relationship to his contemporaries, and what we can learn from his work today.

In three parts, leading international scholars introduce the key themes of Schapp's philosophy, from his early writings to his mature reflections. The first part explores his phenomenology of perception and the bodily dimension of our existence in the world. Focus then moves to Schapp's philosophy of law and his ideas on the problem of value-based experience, followed lastly by his hermeneutics of stories and the narrative essence of human beings. The volume closes with an autobiographical piece by Schapp himself. Translated here in English for the first time, Schapp retrospectively outlines his position in relation to Husserl and the phenomenological school more broadly.

Crossing the divide between continental and analytic philosophy, The Philosophy of Wilhelm Schapp not only provides a fresh insight into the early development of the phenomenological tradition, but also demonstrates the relevance of Schapp's thought to recent debates in areas from the philosophy of mind to the theory of contracts.

Following the narratives explored in Hominescence, Incandescent and The Bough, Michel Serres continues and concludes his 'grand story' of humanity and humanism. This book weaves together and condenses the overriding philosophical narratives of the previous books and reflects upon Serres' own humanist theoretical system. With characteristic breadth and imagination, in telling the story of humanity, Serres also tells us why Orpheus lost his friend Euridyce; why Eve was really tempted in the garden of Eden, the history of Fetishism and how human being learned to think.

The book offers a challenge to the reader: a challenge to live in the fullness of one's humanity.