This report introduces a new assessment framework for legitimacy and illegitimacy that governments, businesses, and other organizations can use to better understand the sources and dynamics of support or opposition for any entity, policy, or program. It includes an intellectual history of the concept of legitimacy, summarizes the literature, introduces a new conceptualization of illegitimacy, and outlines four types of legitimacy assessments, from a rapid to a comprehensive assessment.
Most violent conflicts since the turn of this century were in countries that had experienced an earlier violent conflict. How can we tell when a country is likely to remain stuck in a cycle of violence? What factors suggest it might be “ripe” for stabilizing and peace building? The authors studied four cases: Chad is stuck in a cycle of violence, while El Salvador, Laos, and Mozambique have had different results in their transitions from violence to stability to peace. Conflicts without internal cohesion of combatants or pressure from foreign patrons to stop fighting are probably not ripe for stabilizing. Where there are subnational or regional actors committed to violence, post-conflict peace building is not likely to succeed without enforcement capacity to contain violence or demonstrated commitments to increasing political inclusion and making material improvements in the lives of residents.
This book charts the history of graphene, depicting how it has made an impact in the field of electrochemistry and how scientists are trying to unravel its unique properties. Graphene has grasped the attention of academia and industry worldwide due its unique structure and reported advantageous properties. This was reflected via the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene. One particular area in which graphene has been extensively explored is electrochemistry where it is potentially the world’s thinnest electrode material. Graphene has been widely reported to perform beneficially over existing electrode materials when used within energy production or storage devices and when utilized to fabricate electrochemical sensors. A fundamental introduction into Graphene Electrochemistry is given, through which readers can acquire the tools required to effectively explain and interpret the vast array of graphene literature. The readers are provided with the appropriate insights required to be able to design and implement electrochemical experiments when utilizing graphene as an electrode material. This new, updated and extended second edition also explores other 2D materials and covers a chapter on the use of graphene in additive manufacturing.
Now in its Ninth Edition, Public Budgeting Systems is a complete and balanced reference that surveys the current state of budgeting throughout all levels of the United States government. The text emphasizes methods by which financial decisions are reached within a system as well as ways in which different types of information are used in budgetary decision-making. It also stresses the use of program information, since, for decades, budget reforms have sought to introduce greater program considerations into financial decisions. The Ninth Edition has been updated to give particular attention to several recent developments in public budgeting and finance including: • Steps that have been taken by governments to battle the effects of the “Great Recession” and to enhance economic recovery. In the US, this includes the actions of the Federal Reserve as well as legislative efforts, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. • Significant increase in use of fiscal policy tools to stimulate economic recovery, in contrast to most recent previous 20 year period. • The federal government’s direct role in the operations of the private sector will be explored. The government has become a major stockholder and therefore has a financial stake in seeing that corporations succeed. • Unprecedented federal deficits, as well as extreme budgetary challenges at the state and local level, including a discussion of causes and possible solutions. • Other changes during the Obama presidency, including the passage of comprehensive health care reform and changes in the management agenda. • Continued developments in financial and debt management, including additional GASB requirements and the effects of the recent economic contraction on the borrowing prospects for state and local governments. • Additional recognition of the effects of the global economy, resulting in an increase in the pages devoted to discussing international examples.
