bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ARTICULATE STORYLINE ON PROBLEM-SOLVING ABILITY AND STUDENT SELF-CONFIDENCE
Authors: Muslimah Amelia , Nasrullah Anton , Putri Alyfha , Dzakiroh Finda , Fatimah Fatimah , Ratnasari Silvia
Published: February 2025

In education, many students need more confidence in problem-solving and a lack of confidence. This study compares the problem-solving abilities and mathematical confidence of students who use Articulate Storyline media versus traditional learning. The design of this study was quasi-experimental with the nonequivalent control group. The experimental class uses Articulate Storyline media, while the control class uses traditional learning. Students from X TKI 6 (Experiment) and X TKI 5 (Control) participated in this study. Mathematical problem-solving ability tests and self-confidence questionnaires were used to collect data for this study. Data analysis using the Mann-Whitney test revealed that Articulate Storyline media substantially increased students' problem-solving skills and mathematical confidence.
The Moral Values found in EFL Textbook "When English Rings a Bell"
Authors: - Dela Leka Andromeda , Nirwanto Rahmadi , Qamariah Zaitun
Published: February 2025

This study aims to find out what moral values are represented in an EFL textbook for Indonesian Junior High School students: “When English Rings a Bell”. This study used a qualitative research. This study was be focused on the English textbook "When English Rings a Bell" produced by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia for eighth grade junior high school students. The data are collected using content analysis methods. The findings revealed the total frequencies from chapter one until chapter thirteen from the least to the most apparent in the English Textbook “When English Rings a Bell”. The result of the data also showed the most frequently moral values that appeared in this English textbook are Discipline (20%), Hard work (16%), Love to Read (9%). These three words the most apparent in the particular chapter of the English textbook and they related to the eighteen moral values in the table.
Karakter Pendidik dalam Pembelajaran Sebuah Analisis Tinjauan Persfektif Hadist
Authors: Ramdhani Muhammad Rendi , Nursafinah Siti , Fikriawan Muhammad
Published: February 2025

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui gambaran tentang bagaimana nilai-nilai karakter pendidik dalam perspektif hadist nabi muhammad SAW. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah menggunakan metode kualitatif dan library research atau studi kepustakaan yang mana mengolah data berbasis literatur, adapun yang menjadi sumber pustaka dalam artikel ini adalah buku dan jurnal  yang relevan dengan penelitian, serta pendekatan yang digunakan adalah content analisis dengan cara menelaah materi secara deskriptif dan mendalam. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa seorang pendidik harus memiliki sifat kasih sayang, lemah lembut, memiliki sifat yang penyabar, pemaaf, selalu tawadhu, fasih dan berwibawa, memilik toleransi yang tinngi, demokratis dan terbuka, memiliki selera humor, dan adil.
Implementasi Pembiasaan Profil Pelajar Pancasila pada Aspek Beriman Bertakwa kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Esa dan Berakhlak Mulia di Sekolah Dasar
Authors: Oktaviani Azra , Prasetyo Teguh , Sumarni Dedeh
Published: February 2025

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan implementasi Pembiasaan Karakter Profil Pelajar Pancasila pada Aspek Beriman, Takwa kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Esa, dan Akhlak Mulia di SDN 3 Cicurug. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif, dengan evaluasi deskriptif terhadap data yang dihasilkan. Studi kasus menjadi kerangka teoritis dalam penelitian ini. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa setiap guru di SDN 3 Cicurug memiliki berbagai strategi dan kebiasaan dalam membentuk profil karakter siswa Pancasila. Beberapa kebiasaan ini meliputi berdoa sebelum belajar, membaca Juz'amma sebelum belajar, melaksanakan sholat dzuhur berjamaah, memberikan sedekah dan tausiyah Jumat, berperilaku jujur, menghormati guru, dan saling membantu. Selama pelaksanaan kegiatan pembiasaan karakter ini, faktor-faktor pendukung dan penghambat memengaruhi efektivitasnya.
The Effect of Recognition of Revenue, Contract Liabilities and Contract Assets Under Psak 72 on Financial Performance of Telecommunication Companies Listed on The Idx for The 2015-2020 Period
Authors: Masril Masril , Yusuf Muhammad , Novianti Dian
Published: February 2025

PSAK 72 has been established as the single accounting standard for revenue recognition from contracts with customers which officially replaces all standards related to revenue recognition. Recognition of revenue under PSAK 72 will also result in the recognition of contract liabilities and contract assets. PSAK 72 can now be applied early with the active year January 1, 2020. The financial performance of telecommunications companies is calculated using financial ratios, namely the activity ratio (total asset turnover). Researchers used secondary data sources in the form of financial reports with data collection techniques, namely documentation. The population of this research is 11 companies using purposive sampling technique so that the research sample becomes 7 telecommunications companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2015-2020. The analytical technique used is descriptive statistical analysis and analyzed through multiple linear regression to test the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The results of the study partially recognize contract liabilities have no effect on the financial performance total asset turn over, while the income variable has a partial and significant effect on the financial performance of total asset turnover and contract asset variable has a partial but no significant effect on the total asset turn over. The results of the study show that simultaneous revenue recognition, contract liabilities and contract assets simultaneously and significantly affect the financial performance of total asset turnover.
АМИЛОИДОЗ СЕРДЦА (ОБЗОР ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ)
Authors: Гафиатулин Марат Риатович , Артюх Линард Юрьевич
Published: February 2025

Амилоидоз представляет собой большую группу заболеваний, характеризующихся накоплением нерастворимых, неправильно свернутых белков в тканях, которые могут откладываться системно или в отдельных органах. Сердечно-сосудистые проявления при легкоцепочечном амилоидозе (ЛА) почти в 90% случаев приводят к повреждению сердца и, как следствие,сердечной недостаточности. Внесердечными проявлениями легкоцепочечного амилоидоза обычно являются нефротический синдром, гепато- или спленомегалия, снижение веса и усталость. Не существует специфической лабораторной диагностики, однако высокие уровни натрийуретического пептида B-типа (BNP) и N-концевого proBNP (NT-proBNP) могут указывать на возможность данной патологии и способствовать прогнозированию состояния пациентов с диагностированной ЛА. Эхокардиографическая картина пациентов с сердечным амилоидозом варьирует в зависимости от типа амилоидоза. В данной публикации представлен краткий обзор клинический картины, диагностики и специфического лечения амилоидоза сердца.

Amyloidosis is a large group of diseases characterized by the accumulation of insoluble, improperly folded proteins in tissues that can be deposited systemically or in individual organs. Cardiovascular manifestations in light chain amyloidosis (LA) in almost 90% of cases lead to heart damage and, as a result, heart failure. Extra-cardiac manifestations of easily chain amyloidosisare usually nephrotic syndrome, hepatomegaly or splenomegaly, weight loss and fatigue. There is no specific laboratory diagnosis, but high levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) may indicate the possibility of this pathology and help prognosticate the condition of patients diagnosed with LA. The echocardiographic picture of patients with cardiac amyloidosis varies depending on the type of amyloidosis. This publication provides a brief overview of the clinical picture, diagnosis and specific treatment of cardiac amyloidosis.
Challenges of Doing Corpus Linguistics in Africa
Authors: Esimaje Alexandra
Published: February 2025

Corpus linguistics, although a relatively new field of research endeavour, has made great strides in language research and teaching. Yet, it is relatively unknown in particularly African linguistic academies and as such its gains lost to the communities and language teaching-learning contexts where it has made its most significant impacts. The state of corpus linguistics in Africa is therefore the prime interest of this paper. It seeks to define and illustrate the extent of its knowledge, use, outcomes, and impact, and also to examine the challenges facing its growth as a field of study and adoption as a reliable method of linguistic enquiry. Through ethnographic surveys of corpus linguistics studies across the countries of: Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa; Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya in East Africa; Zimbabwe and South Africa in Southern Africa; and Cameroon in Central Africa, this paper provides some insights into the state of corpus research in Africa and reveals the challenges facing it. The conclusion that forces its way through is that in Africa, corpus linguistics may remain ‘relatively new’, not in terms of age nor in terms of its appropriateness but rather in terms of its feasibility or usability, due to the many limiting factors of underdevelopment and the management of higher education in the continent. This calls for collaborative interventions if the field is to be sustained and its impact globally recognized.
Wetin Concern Agbero with Overload? Metaphorical Mapping and Nigerian Pidgin Proverbs
Authors:   Covenant University, Chimuanya Lily , Olajide Favour ,   Covenant University
Published: February 2025

This paper explores the linguistic complexity and cultural significance of Nigerian Pidgin (NP) proverbs through the lens of metaphorical mapping, shedding light on the intricate interplay between indigenous Nigerian folkloric traditions, cultural values, and contemporary NP discourse. Proverbs are carriers of attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies and this study shall describe cross-domain mappings in selected NP proverbs, examining how they are shaped by context in production as well as in comprehension. Particularly, it shall explore the influence of indigenous languages on the proverb-telling culture of NP speakers. Using insights from Kövecses’s (2021) Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the study shall describe the contextual dimensions – situational factors, cultural backgrounds, and communicative intents – that shape the dynamic and adaptive nature of metaphor production in NP discourse. Ultimately, it shall argue that Nigerian English, despite its lexifier being English, maintains strong ties to indigenous Nigerian folkloric traditions and values via proverbial sayings, both in their structure and usage. The findings of this research will be valuable not only to linguists and cultural researchers but also to educators, policymakers, and language preservationists, providing insights into the profound cultural signi1cance and linguistic depth of NP proverbs.
DO AUDIT COMMITTEE AND BOARD ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCE ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF LISTED FIRMS IN NIGERIA
Authors: Musa Haruna Muhammed
Published: February 2025

Abstract Corporate environmental practices have faced intense stakeholder scrutiny due to severe ecological concerns affecting local communities and global stakeholders. Using correlational design, this study investigates how audit committee and board of directors’ attributes impact on environmental disclosure among the Nigerian listed firms. A dataset of 95 listed Nigerian companies across diverse sectors was analyzed using regression analysis for the period of 2012-2022. Fixed effect regression results indicates that audit committee independence and board of directors’ nationality positively influence the environmental disclosure of the Nigerian listed firms. On the contrary, frequency of audit committee meetings has significant negative effect on environmental disclosure. This study’s outcome offer valuable insight for Nigerian regulatory bodies and policymakers to inform environmental reporting guidelines alongside financial reporting in annual reports. The study recommends among others that regulators such as Security and Exchange Commission should encourage firms in considering appointing expert foreign nationals to their board as evidenced that their presence can significantly impact environmental information disclosure, leveraging their diverse expertise and experience to enhance management’s handling of environmental issues.
Reeling with Laughter
Authors: Tueth Michael V.
Published: February 2025

Film comedy has been around as long as cinema itself. Over the years, particular forms of the genre have emerged, evolved, and spawned other branches of comedy. While these subgenres may vary in their approach to humor, all of them have the same goal: amusing audiences. In Reeling with Laughter: American Film Comedies—From Anarchy to Mockumentary, Michael V. Tueth examines some of the most enjoyable comic movies of all time. Beginning with the anarchic romp Duck Soup (1933), each chapter explores a specific subgenre through a representative film. Along with the Marx Brothers’ classic, other subgenres discussed in this volume include romantic comedy (It Happened One Night), screwball comedy (Bringing Up Baby and What’s Up, Doc?), musical comedy (Singin’ in the Rain), sex farce (Some Like It Hot), satire (Dr. Strangelove), parody (Young Frankenstein), neurotic comedy (Annie Hall), Dionysian comedy (Animal House), mockumentary (Waiting for Guffman), and animated comedy (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut).

In this volume, Tueth provides the background of each film’s production and discusses their audience reception, critical appraisal, and the qualities that have characterized these enduring works. Reeling with Laughter will appeal to film students, as well as the general public eager to revisit these great American films.
Bach's Testament
Authors: Göncz Zoltán
Published: February 2025

Written late in his life, J. S. Bach’s The Art of Fugue has long been admired—in some quarters revered—as one of his masterworks. Its last movement, Contrapunctus 14, went unfinished, and the enigma of its incompleteness still preoccupies scholars and musical conductors alike. In 1881, Gustav Nottebohm discovered that the three subjects of the movement could be supplemented by a fourth. In 1993, Zoltán Göncz revealed that Bach had planned the passage that would join the four subjects in an entirely unique way. This section has not survived, but, as Göncz notes, it must have been ready in the earliest phase of composition since Bach had created the expositions of the first three subjects from its “disjointed” parts. Göncz then boldly took on the task of reconstructing the original “template” by putting together the once separate pieces.

In Bach’s Testament: On the Philosophical and Theological Background of The Art of Fugue, Göncz probes the philosophic-theological background of The Art of Fugue, revealing the special structures that supported the 1993 reconstruction. Bach’s Testament investigates the reconstruction’s metaphysical dimensions, focusing on the quadruple fugue. As a summary of Zoltán Göncz’s extensive research over many years, which resulted in the completion of the fugue, this work explores the complex combinatorial, philosophical and theological considerations that inform its structure. Bach’s Testament is ideally suited not only to Bach scholars and musicologists but also intellectual historians with particular interests in 18th-century religious and philosophical ideas.
The Committed Reader
Authors: Stebbins Robert A.
Published: February 2025

Committed utilitarian reading is either dominantly practical or more or less equally practical and fulfilling. Pleasurable reading is conceptualized as an important kind of casual leisure, experienced primarily as relaxation, active entertainment, and sexual stimulation (racy, pornographic stories). Such reading can also be a launching pad for day-dreams or lively conversation. Self-fulfilling reading is explored in a disquisition on the liberal arts hobbies. This is no place for speed reading, but instead is where we care to pause often to appreciate the artistry of the writing, creativity of the plot, profundity of the message (i.e., the information it contains), and the like. And in fulfilling reading we sometimes want to analyze the material.

This book explores three main motives for reading identified as utilitarian, pleasurable, and fulfilling. Its principal object is to deepen our understanding of why some adults (and eager late adolescent readers) go in for “committed reading,” or reading that, as we strive to acquire literary knowledge and experience, necessarily consumes considerable time and requires continuous concentration. The conceptual frameworks guiding this endeavor are library and information science and the serious leisure perspective. Through their lenses the author examines the reading of books, magazines, manuals, reports, and other lengthy material as carried out in the three domains of life: work, leisure, and non-work obligation. In brief, committed reading provides its enthusiasts with knowledge and experience, which among other ways, are sought, acquired, interpreted, organized, and sometimes disseminated within the three domains.

This book also examines committed reading in daily life, its ease, convenience, affordability, and enduring effects. There follows a portrait of the various reading environments, including music to read by, reading at airports and on airplanes, reading in one’s study, in a park, on public transit, in public libraries, and elsewhere. This is part of the reader’s social world, which is further comprised of book clubs, bookstores, Amazon.com, censorship, author public readings, and more.
Drum Kit Secrets
Authors: Dean Matt
Published: February 2025

Modeled on the brilliant approach first formulated by distinguished professor of music and master clarinetist Michele Gingras in Clarinet Secrets and More Clarinet Secrets (both available from Scarecrow Press), the Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician series is designed for instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, and other instructors and professionals seeking quick pointers to improve their work as performers and producers of music. Easy to use and intended for the advanced musician, contributions to Music Secrets fill a niche for those who have moved beyond what beginners and intermediate practitioners need.

Drum Kit Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Drummer is an indispensable guide for any drum kit player. Drummer and historian Matt Dean covers a broad range of drum kit–related subjects to assist drummers already well versed in the instrument to advance and polish their skills for both live and studio performance.

Drum Kit Secrets includes topics and tips on how and what to practice; how to develop one’s timing and master the metronome; how to prepare for auditions and overcome stage fright; how to stay healthy as a drummer through proper eating, tried-and-true warm-up routines, and correct drum kit set up; how to select and maintain drum equipment; and how to create drum solos and improvise with ease. He also includes tips and tricks for mastering the studio setting, getting the most from one’s drum kit, writing quick and easy drum charts, preparing for gigs, marketing oneself as a drummer, and much more.

Drum Kit Secrets is the perfect resource for intermediate-level amateurs to working professionals. Dean draws on his many years as teacher and drum professional in this unique compilation of tips and performance strategies for advanced and expert players.
Literary Research and the British Eighteenth Century
Authors: Keeran Peggy , Bowers Jennifer
Published: February 2025

The 18th century in Britain was a transition period for literature. Patronage, either by a benefactor or through subscription, lingered even as the publishing and bookselling industries developed. The practice of reviewing books became well established during the second half of the century, with the first periodical founded in 1749. For the literary scholar, these gradual changes mean that different search strategies are required to conduct research into primary and secondary source material across the era.

Literary Research and the British Eighteenth Century addresses these unique challenges. It examines how the following all contribute to the richness of literary research for this era: book and periodical publishing; a growing literate society; dissemination of literature through salons, private societies, and coffee houses; the growing importance of book reviews; the explosion of publishing; and the burgeoning of primary source material available through new publishing and digital initiatives in the 21st century.

This volume explores primary and secondary resources, including general literary research guides; union library catalogs; print and online bibliographies; scholarly journals; manuscripts and archives; 18th-century books, newspapers, and periodicals; contemporary reception; and electronic texts and journals, as well as Web resources. Each chapter addresses the research methods and tools best used to extract relevant information and compares and evaluates sources, making this book an invaluable guide to any literary scholar and student of the British eighteenth century.
Zora Neale Hurston
Authors: Davis Cynthia , Mitchell Verner D.
Published: February 2025

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), the most prominent of the Harlem Renaissance women writers, was unique because her social and professional connections were not limited to literature but encompassed theatre, dance, film, anthropology, folklore, music, politics, high society, academia, and artistic bohemia. Hurston published four novels, three books of nonfiction, and dozens of short stories, plays, and essays. In addition, she won a long list of fellowships and prizes, including a Guggenheim and a Rosenwald. Yet by the 1950s, Hurston, like most of her Harlem Renaissance peers, had faded into oblivion. An essay by Alice Walker in the 1970s, however, spurred the revival of Hurston’s literary reputation, and her works, including her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, have enjoyed an enduring popularity.

Zora Neale Hurston: An Annotated Bibliography of Works and Criticism consists of reviews of critical interpretations of Hurston’s work. In addition to publication information, each selection is carefully crafted to capture the author’s thesis in a short, pithy, analytical framework.

Also included are original essays by eminent Hurston scholars that contextualize the bibliographic entries. Meticulously researched but accessible, these essays focus on gaps in Hurston criticism and outline new directions for Hurston scholarship in the twenty-first century.

Comprehensive and up-to-date, this volume contains analytical summaries of the most important critical writings on Zora Neale Hurston from the 1970s to the present. In addition, entries from difficult-to-locate sources, such as small academic presses or international journals, can be found here. Although intended as a bibliographic resource for graduate and undergraduate students, this volume is also aimed toward general readers interested in women’s literature, African American literature, American history, and popular culture. The book will also appeal to scholars and teachers studying twentieth-century American literature, as well as those specializing in anthropology, modernism, and African American studies, with a special focus on the women of the Harlem Renaissance.
A Half Penny on the Federal Dollar
Authors: O'Hanlon Michael E. , Graham Carol L.
Published: February 2025

Spending on U.S. foreign affairs, which constitutes only about one percent of the federal budget, is being sharply reduced. Under the President's 1996 budget plan, it will decline by just as great a percentage as defense between 1990 and 2002and by substantially more than defense over the 1980-2002 period. No other major category of federal spending will undergo a real cut over either time period. The shrinking budget, totaling about $19 billion in 1997, will still have to fund the State Department, international broadcasting and educational exchanges, trade subsidies and investment guarantees for U.S. business overseas; United Nations operations including peacekeeping, and all types of foreign assistance.

In this book, O'Hanlon and Graham focus primarily on this last component of international spending. Specifically, they analyze U.S. official development assistance (ODA) to poor countries. The authors place U.S. ODA in a broad historical, international, and economic perspective. They then recommend an alternative approach to ODA for the United States as well as other donors. They favor continuing to provide humanitarian and grass-roots aid to most poor countries, but providing ODA to promote macroeconomic growth only to those countries that maintain coherent, market-oriented economic policy frameworks. The authors argue that to provide effective aid, as well as to maintain U.S. leadership in world affairs, net resources for ODA and the international account need to increase only modestly.
The College Aid Quandary
Authors: Gladieux Lawrence , Hauptman Art
Published: February 2025

Each year, millions of American families struggle with the expense of higher education. For the past fifty years, the U.S. government has helped students and families pay for college; but with the entire domestic policy agenda in flux, federal aid to education hangs in the balance. This book analyzes government policies for helping students pay for education beyond high school. It is being published at a time when aid to education is a prominent issue in battles over the federal budget and policymakers are debating the need for and effectiveness of federal student assistance programs. Starting with the post-World War II GI Bill, the book reviews the 50-year history of federal student aid legislation, assesses the results, and identifies trends and problems that cloud the future of this critically important national effort. The authors draw on the thinking of the country's top experts in examining the rationale and structure of the student aid system and how it might more effectively expand college opportunities while ensuring educational quality. Their analysis encourages policymakers to consider the multiple objectives of government aidnot just getting more students into college, but promoting student success and degree completion. The book offers a framework for future policy debates aimed at improving a system vital to America's economic future and its continued promise of opportunity. Copublished with the College Board / Dialogue on Public Policy
How to Be a Cheap Hawk
Authors: O'Hanlon Michael E.
Published: February 2025

Two important events in 1997--the balanced-budget deal and the completion of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR)--promise to shape U.S. military policy for the next several years. Unfortunately, they are at odds with each other. The balanced budget accord will result in a real level of defense spending that is 8 percent lower in 2002 than in 1998. But the proportionate cuts in personnel and weaponry that the QDR calls for are only about half that size. Moreover, the U.S. military is near the end of its so-called "procurement holiday" and will soon have to buy more equipment. In this study, Michael O'Hanlon suggests a way out of this budgetary fix. In contrast to the current U.S. military posture, built around a requirement to fight two Desert-Storm like wars at once, he offers an alternative force structure organized around the concept of a "Desert Storm plus Desert Shield plus Bosnia/IFOR" requirement. O'Hanlon also suggests that naval operations be conducted more efficiently by leaving ships on forward station for longer periods of time and rotating crews by airlift. Finally, he argues for a number of selected economies in weapons modernization programs, together with some increases in areas like strategic airlift, sealift, and transport helicopters. The resulting force would save over $10 billion a year.
Constitutional Reform and Effective Government
Authors: Sundquist James
Published: February 2025

For years the public has become increasingly disillusioned and cynical about its governmental institutions. In the face of alarming problems-most notably the $400 billion budget deficit-the government seems deadlocked, reduced to partisan posturing and bickering, with the president and Congress blaming each other for failure. And neither party can be held accountable. The public tendency is to blame individual leaders- or politicians as a class-but an insistent and growing number of experienced statesmen and political scientists believe that much of the difficulty can be traced to the governmental structure itself, designed in the eighteenth century and essentially unchanged since then. Is that inherited constitutional system adequate to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, or has the time come for fundamental change? Should we adopt an electoral system that encourages unified control of the presidency, the Senate and the House? Lengthen terms of office? Limit congressional terms? Abolish or modify the electoral college? Introduce a mechanism for calling special elections? Permit legislators to hold executive offices? Redistribute the balance of powers within the governmental system? In this revised edition of his highly acclaimed 1986 volume, James Sundquist reviews the origins and rationale of the constitutional structure and the current debate about whether reform is needed, then raises practical questions about what changes might work best if a consensus should emerge that the national government is too prone to stalemate to meet its responsibilities. Analyzing the main proposals advanced to adapt the Constitution to current conditions, he attempts to separate the workable ideas from the unworkable, the effective from the ineffective, the possibly feasible from the wholly infeasible, and finally arrives at a set of recommendations of his own.
Competing Solutions
Authors: White Joseph
Published: February 2025

With health care reform at the top of the domestic agenda, this volume assesses the Clinton administration's proposals and several alternative plans by discussing how six other countries have organized health care finance and delivery to achieve universal access to comparable quality care at much lower costs. The six countries examined—Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan—reveal both the variety and fundamental similarities of medical care systems in the rest of the industrialized world.

Joseph White uses foreign experience to indicate the proper direction for American reform and to identify interesting alternatives that suggest compromises for what are usually presented in the U.S. as "either-or" choices. Examples include the role allowed for private insurance within all national systems; exceptions to fee schedules in Australia, France, and Germany; and the complaint mechanism for malpractice in New South Wales.

White begins by describing each country's system and then follows with chapters disucssing three classes of problems. "Quality and Access" uses the experience of other countries to establish a reasonable baseline for what the U.S. should aim to achieve. "Collecting the Money" discusses who pays and how. "Controlling Costs" explains how other countries have moderated their cost increases.

The final chapter assesses American reform proposals in light of the foreign evidence. White argues that a synthesis of "competition" and "regulation" is possible and that such a synthesis is approached by the Clinton proposals. But he also identifies areas where those proposals fall short or risk collapsing of their own weight. He concludes by comparing the administration's proposals to the major alternatives.

"This book is serious scholarship at its best. Comprehensive in scope, insightful in character, and compelling in its reasoning, the book presents a balanced treatment of alternative proposals."—Choice
Force Without War
Authors: Blechman Barry , Kaplan Stephen S.
Published: February 2025

The United States has used military force short of war as an instrument of diplomacy on many occasions and in many areas of the world in the years since the Second World War. This book describes and analyzes the circumstances accompanying 215 shows of force and examines how effective these actions were in helping to attain U.S. foreign policy objectives. Which type of force (air, ground, naval) was most often used? What did the forces do and how effective were they? Of what significance was Soviet involvement when U.S. military power was called upon to influence events? Was the threat presented by the alerting or deployment of strategic nuclear forces or by very large conventional forces especially telling? How clear is it that a desired effect was in fact caused by the demonstration of force? Barry Blechman and Stephen Kaplan explore these and other questions, examining also such elements as a President's domestic popularity and personal diplomacy preceding or during crises that led to U.S. military demonstrations. Complementing their analysis are five sets of case studies describing ten instances of the use of American military power to influence events in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. The case studiesby David K. Hall, William B. Quandt, Jerome N. Slater, Robert M. Slusser, and Philip Windsorfocus on the reasons for U.S. action and the methods adopted, on the behavior of other parties, and on the relation between the use of force and the resolution of the crisis. The book's main conclusion is that the demonstrative use of U.S. armed forces has often stabilized a deteriorating situation enough to avoid further deterioration, relieved domestic and international pressure for more drastic and possibly self-defeating action, and gained time for diplomacy to achieve a more lasting remedy.
Energy Security in The 1980s
Authors: Bohi Douglas , Quandt William B.
Published: February 2025

Energy Security in the 1980s examines energy industries, power resources, and energy policy, and international economics.
Iraq
Authors: Helms Christine Moss
Published: February 2025

Iraq, holding oil reserves second only to those of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, is locked in a war with Iran whose outcome will affect Western energy supplies and the prospects for stability in the Arabian Gulf. Yet Iraq even now remains little known to Western governments and publics. This study is intended to enlarge understanding of Iraqi behavior and of the concerns that motivate its leaders. Some may find it unconventional. Rather than selecting issues of importance to other countries, the author focuses on the forces that influence policy formulation in Iraq and evokes the perspective from which the Iraqi government itself views its problems and sets its priorities. Part 1 examines the country's evolution into modern Iraq, explaining why problems that have recurred throughout Iraqi history have bedeviled all recent Iraqi governments and created tension between "Iraq the nation" and "Iraq the state." Part 2 discusses the Arab Ba'th Socialist party, which has dominated Iraqi political life since 1968. The author neither condemns nor praises this controversial party and its current leader, President Saddam Husain, but seeks to explain why they have adopted the positions and taken the actions that have characterized their rule. Part 3 analyzes the war between Iraq and Iran, its causes, and the decisions Iraq has made in light of its goals and its assumptions about Iran. The author finds that this is not simply "a war over borders" but a deeper conflict between Islamic conservatism and Arab nationalism. Looking beyond the war, the final chapter assesses Iraq's potential importance in the Middle East and to the world economy.
The Politics of Oil and Revolution in Iran
Authors: Bakhash Shaul
Published: February 2025

This book discusses the influence of oil on the internal politics of Iran.
Open for Business
Authors: Hewett Ed A.
Published: February 2025

In December 1991 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republicsborn in violent revolution and dominated for more than six decades by highly authoritarian rulewas dissolved by its constituent republics. The causes for this remarkable event will be probed for many years to come. Our understanding of it may never be complete. Nevertheless, it is evident even now that part of the story lay in a conscious redirection of policy by specific individuals. Those at the center of political and economic power understood the flaws in their system well enough to initiate a process of reform, but one that triggered a more massive transformation than they had intended.

The process has left enormous turmoil in this wake. Political power has dissipated in all the new states emerging from the fragmented former USSR, and all are struggling to establish some constitutional order. They do so under conditions of severe austerity as they seed to reconstruct their once integrated, highly concentrated, internationally isolated economy into independent instruments of national viability. With no detailed blueprint available, and with only fractured mechanisms of policy control at their disposal, these new nations are being carried along by the inertia of state enterprises and by a spontaneous process or regeneration at the grass-roots level.

This book, which analyzes Gorbachev's foreign economic strategy, provides a window for understanding the disintegrative forces that stymied his reforms and eventually defeated him, undermining the country he sought to preserve. Gorbachev was committed to ending Soviet isolation from the world economy and at the same time saving Soviet socialism. Ironically, it is the destruction of Soviet socialism and the emergence of new post-Soviet states, that has begun to break down the isolationist barriers erected over the last seven decades. This book documents the incredibly complex legacies that Russia and the other new post-Soviet states face as t
The Key to the Asian Miracle
Authors: Campos Jose Edgardo , Root Hilton L.
Published: February 2025

"Easily the most informed and comprehensive analysis to date on how and why East Asian countries have achieved sustained high economic growth rates, [this book] substantially advances our understanding of the key interactions between the governors and governed in the development process. Students and practitioners alike will be referring to Campos and Root's series of excellent case studies for years to come." Richard L. Wilson, The Asia Foundation

Eight countries in East Asia--Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia--have become known as the "East Asian miracle" because of their economies' dramatic growth. In these eight countries real per capita GDP rose twice as fast as in any other regional grouping between 1965 and 1990. Even more impressive is their simultaneous significant reduction in poverty and income inequality. Their success is frequently attributed to economic policies, but the authors of this book argue that those economic policies would not have worked unless the leaders of the countries made them credible to their business communities and citizens.

Jose Edgardo Campos and Hilton Root challenge the popular belief that East Asia's high performers grew rapidly because they were ruled by authoritarian leaders. They show that these leaders had to collaborate with various sectors of their population to create an environment that was conducive to sustained growth. This required them to persuade the business community that their investments would not be expropriated and to convince the broader population that their short-term sacrifices would be rewarded in the future. Many of the countries achieved business cooperation by creating consultative groups, which the authors call deliberation councils, to enhance accountability and stability. They also obtained popular support through a variety of wealth-sharing measures such as land reform, worker cooperatives, and wider access to education.

F
Happiness Is Overrated
Authors: Belliotti Raymond Angelo
Published: February 2025

Happiness Is Overrated begins with an historical overview of the development of the concept of 'happiness' from Plato to contemporary writers, highlighting the best scholarship emerging from philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Belliotti includes practical advice on how to attain happiness and addresses issues centered on the meaning of life. Happiness, he argues, is not the greatest personal good, or even a great good in itself. In fact, sometimes happiness isn't a good at all. If we pursue worthwhile, exemplary lives and find happiness along the way, then we are lucky. If we don't, then we can take pride and derive satisfaction from a life well lived. Ultimately, the greatest personal good is realized in leading a robustly meaningful, valuable life.
Local Government in Early America
Authors: Janiskee Brian P.
Published: February 2025

Local Government in Early America is a concise and thought-provoking exploration of the American desire for political participation, most notably in the 'town hall meeting.' A product of early New England democracy, this form of direct local participation remains one of the most celebrated, yet feared, institutions in our political life. Depending upon one's political perspective on the issue at hand, a lively town hall meeting can be the glorious epitome of grassroots activism or the wretched embodiment of reactionary zeal. For all of the media attention devoted to the conservative revolt against health care reform at town hall meetings across the country, the political right is late to game on local activism. From resolutions opposed to the Patriot Act or the declaration of nuclear free zones in cities, the political left has used the rhetorical power of the local political pulpit to great effect for many years. All of this is possible because of the manner in which local governments were constructed during the colonial period. Author Brian Janiskee details the origins of our local system by examining key characteristics of local colonial political life, including what key founders like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had to say about the role of our villages, towns, and cities in our complex system of government. Through this timely analysis of our political heritage, Janiskee may cause observers to reevaluate the phrase 'all politics is local.' Indeed it may be the case that 'all local politics is national.'
In Good Company
Authors: Martin SJ James
Published: February 2025

The story of one young man's remarkable journey from corporate America to the Society of Jesus. James Martin leads you from his Catholic childhood through his success and ultimate dissatisfaction with the business world, to his novitiate and profession of vows as a Jesuit.
Gotham Chronicles
Authors: Karasu T. Byram
Published: February 2025

In a deeply layered psychological narrative, T. Byram Karasu, one of AmericaOs leading professors of psychiatry, illustrates that the age of narcissism has metamorphosed into the more virulent age of sociopathy, where selfishness, greed, and the violation of the rights of others have become fixtures of daily life. Gotham Chronicles tells the gritty story of Mallory, a young woman who offers Rolfing massage therapy to the elite of Manhattan. Gradually drawn into a world of prostitution and illicit drugs, she struggles to write a novel about her life. Her clients include an assistant district attorney, a hedge fund manager, a semiretired real estate tycoon, and a drug-addled college professor. Corruption, disloyalty, deception, arrogance, and treacherous cynicism rule the world of these intertwined lives, where sex, drugs, and excessive money lead to consequences both permanent and tragic. In a deeply psychological story, Karasu shows the age of narcissism has been replaced with a more malignant age of sociopathy. Selfishness, greed, and obsession have become part of everyday life and empathy seems to be a dying emotion. Mental health professionals and anyone interested in our own destructive psychology will find Mallory's story both interesting and revealing.
Everyday Injustice
Authors: Chávez Maria
Published: February 2025

As members of the fastest-growing demographic group in America, Latinos are increasingly represented in the professional class, but they continue to face significant racism. Everyday Injustice introduces readers to the challenges facing Latino professionals today. Examining the experiences of many of the most privileged members of the largest racial and ethnic community in the United States, Maria ChOvez provides important insights into the challenges facing racialized groups, particularly Latinos, in the United States. Her study looks at Latino lawyers in depth, weaving powerful personal stories and interview excerpts with a broader analysis of survey research and focus groups. The book examines racial framing in America, the role of language and culture among Latino professionals, the role of Latinos in the workplace, their level of civic participation, and the important role that education plays in improving their experiences. One chapter discusses the unique challenges that Latinas face in the workplace as both women and people of color. The findings outlined in Everyday Injustice suggest that despite considerable success in overcoming educational, economic, and class barriers, Latino professionals still experience marginalization. A powerful illustration of racism and inequality in America.
Mass Informed Consent
Authors: Simon Adam F.
Published: February 2025

Public opinion polling permeates today's politics, yet many seem suspicious of polls and skeptical in their prominence, fearing that overreliance on public opinion amounts to pandering or that pollsters can manipulate a feeble public. In this book Adam Simon argues that democracy requires that government listen to the public and that sample surveys are the finest democratic technology yet devised. He lays out the fundamentals of public opinion research and illustrates his discussion of the science of polling with recent political hot button issues as case studies_the decision to invade Iraq, partial birth abortion, and the Clinton health care debate. He advocates that poll results meet the standard for mass informed consent and should play a larger role in our politics. Simon concludes with recommendations to improve democracy from the standpoint of citizens, politicians, and the media. Mass Informed Consent will be of special interest to students of public opinion, political behavior, media and politics, interest group politics, and political communication.
Religion and Reaction
Authors: Hansen Susan B.
Published: February 2025

While the Religious Right has received considerable scholarly attention and media coverage in recent years, the story of the growing number of Secular Americans—those who identify themselves as atheists, agnostics, or as not having any religious ties—has yet to be told. In the first book devoted exclusively to Seculars, Susan B. Hansen argues that they are not only increasing in number and political involvement, but have devised strategies and alliances to counter the organization advantages of the Religious Right and its roots in church-based groups and the Republican party. Case studies of state and local battles over the issues of gay marriage, reproductive rights, and teaching evolution illustrate how Seculars have overcome organizational disadvantages to emerge as significant adversaries to the Religious Right. They have forged alliances with the media, the scientific community, minority groups, the Religious Left, and the Democratic Party to challenge the influence of traditional religious views on American politics and public policy.