Download Paradoxes of Modernization: Unintended Consequences of by Helen Margetts, Perri 6, Christopher Hood PDF

By Helen Margetts, Perri 6, Christopher Hood

This ebook explores the unintentional and unanticipated results linked to 'modernization' tasks and tackles the main query that they galvanize - why do policy-makers persist in such corporations within the face of proof that they generally tend to fail? Paradoxes of Modernization first discusses what's intended by means of 'modernization' and 'unintended consequences', putting public coverage reform inside extra common highbrow and social developments. It offers 8 case learn 'modernization' tasks. Their architects promised swifter trains, a extra effective and reactive overall healthiness provider, a extra encouraged public provider, higher appearing neighborhood govt, superior details for potential US college scholars, decreased premiums of kid malnutrition in constructing international locations, and a loose, open, secure, interconnected our on-line world for individuals to behavior their social and political existence. every one case presents a neat tale with a paradox that varies the modernization subject and tackles the query: why used to be the undertaking pursued? the realization categorizes the instances by way of their final result, from good fortune to unhappiness, and indicates a few options for a extra balanced model of modernization for present and destiny policy-makers.

Show description

Read or Download Paradoxes of Modernization: Unintended Consequences of Public Policy Reform PDF

Similar urban & regional books

Urban Dynamics and Growth: Advances in Urban Economics

The quantity goals to supply an up-to-date selection of complicated theories and strategies within the box of city regulations, and highlights smooth city regulations that stem from them. Contributions tension the boundaries of earlier theories and strategies, and emphasize the recent instructions which are built within the box, and limitations which are triumph over, offering during this method a dynamic viewpoint on theoretical and methodological wisdom within the box of city economics.

China's Emerging Cities: The Making of New Urbanism

With urbanism turning into the foremost driving force of socio-economic switch in China, this ebook offers a lot wanted updated fabric on chinese language city improvement. Demonstrating the way it transcends the centrally-planned version of financial development, and assessing the level to which it has long gone past the typical knowledge of chinese language ‘gradualism’, the ebook covers quite a lot of very important subject matters, together with: neighborhood land improvement the neighborhood kingdom private-public partnership international funding urbanization aging domestic possession.

Struggling for Leadership: Antwerp-Rotterdam Port Competition between 1870 –2000

The current quantity includes the court cases of a world convention at the monetary background of the seaports of Antwerp and Rotterdam (1870-2000). This venue used to be held at Antwerp on 10-11 may possibly 2001 and used to be hosted by way of the Antwerp Port Authority. This foreign convention geared toward confronting the advance of either ports.

Economic Transformation of a Developing Economy: The Experience of Punjab, India

Foreword by way of Prof. Kaushik BasuThis booklet strains the advance adventure of 1 of India’s so much dynamic and wealthy states, Punjab, which has supplied the rustic with a much-needed measure of foodstuff safeguard. The relative regression of Punjab’s financial system within the post-economic reforms interval and gradual present financial progress provide reason for quandary.

Additional resources for Paradoxes of Modernization: Unintended Consequences of Public Policy Reform

Sample text

That is why we changed the Labour party — to make New Britain. (Press Association, 30 Sept. 1997) The new government was soon described as ‘the government that promises in almost every breath to modernise Britain’ (The Times, 11Mar. 1998), as Anthony Giddens, the sociologist author of several books on modernity, was advising Tony Blair on his ‘Third Way’ for British politics, standing for ‘a modernised social democracy, passionate in its commitment to social justice and the goals of the centre-left, but flexible, innovative and forward-looking in the means to achieve them’ (Blair 1998: 128).

Indeed, the main value of looking across a range of cases such as those that follow is that it leads us beyond the obvious and trite conclusion that ‘the best laid schemes . . gang aft agley’ (go often askew)4 to greater understanding of the various different ways in which that can happen. 4 In the oft-quoted words of the penultimate verse of Robert Burns’s poem To a Mouse: On Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough (Nov. 1785). 16 2 Modernization Dreams and Public Policy Reform Helen Margetts As noted in the previous chapter, from the sixteenth century onwards, variants on the word ‘modern’ have been scattered liberally across writing, thought, and speech about economy, state, and society.

Finally, we are concerned here with modernizing reforms and initiatives that relate to public services in some way, rather than with other aspects of human activity. Not all of the initiatives we are concerned with here come from government bodies with the special legal powers of the state at their disposal — one of our cases consists of a ranking of US universities by a newspaper. Some of the internet developments we describe are only loosely connected with government in a narrow sense, and indeed some of the early developers of the internet evidently saw the new medium as a sort of imperium in imperio, providing a common social space that would or should be somehow beyond the reach of government.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.01 of 5 – based on 26 votes