Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence? Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories. Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including: - China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West? - Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority? - What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions? Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.
This book develops a framework for analyzing the creation and consolidation of democracy. Different social groups prefer different political institutions because of the way they allocate political power and resources. Thus democracy is preferred by the majority of citizens, but opposed by elites. Dictatorship nevertheless is not stable when citizens can threaten social disorder and revolution. In response, when the costs of repression are sufficiently high and promises of concessions are not credible, elites may be forced to create democracy. By democratizing, elites credibly transfer political power to the citizens, ensuring social stability. Democracy consolidates when elites do not have strong incentive to overthrow it. These processes depend on (1) the strength of civil society, (2) the structure of political institutions, (3) the nature of political and economic crises, (4) the level of economic inequality, (5) the structure of the economy, and (6) the form and extent of globalization.
Clearly written and provides students, bewildered by a first confrontation with Aristotle, with a key that will open the door to many of the chief ideas of the philosopher. I would also recommend it as a refreshing read to the more advanced philosopher. . . . just what the professor ordered (or can order) as the supplement to reading the original text in a course, especially an undergraduate one." --Joseph A. Novak, University of Waterloo
It has been widely assumed that there were 6 million Christians (or 10% of the population of the Roman Empire) by around the year 300. The largely-unexamined consensus view is also that Christianity was an urban movement until the conversion of Emperor Constantine. On close examination, it appears that these two popular views would nearly saturate every urban area of the entire Roman Empire with Christians, leaving no room for Jews or pagans. In Who Were the First Christians?, Thomas Robinson shows that scenario simply does not work. But where does the solution lie? Were there many fewer Christians in the Roman world than we have thought? Was the Roman world much more urbanized? Or, is the urban thesis defective, so that the neglected countryside must now be considered in any reconstruction of early Christian growth? Further, what was the makeup of the typical Christian congregation? Was it a lower-class movement? Or was it a movement of the upwardly mobile middle-class? Arguing that more attention needs to be given to the countryside and to the considerable contingent of the marginal and the rustic within urban populations, this revisionist work argues persuasively that the urban thesis should be dismantled or profoundly revised and the growth and the complexion of the early Christian movement seen in a substantially different light.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a transformative force reshaping industries, economies, and societies worldwide. This book aims to provide an overview of AI, elucidating its definition, historical evolution, and the profound impact it has on modern civilization. By examining AI's inception and development this book navigates the landscape of AI, unraveling its significance and future trajectory in leadership and business.
Why is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their latest book, The Narrow Corridor, they have answered this question with great insight." -Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post From the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others--and explains how it can continue to thrive despite new threats. In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that countries rise and fall based not on culture, geography, or chance, but on the power of their institutions. In their new book, they build a new theory about liberty and how to achieve it, drawing a wealth of evidence from both current affairs and disparate threads of world history. Liberty is hardly the "natural" order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats, or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society. There is a Western myth that political liberty is a durable construct, arrived at by a process of "enlightenment." This static view is a fantasy, the authors argue. In reality, the corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society: The authors look to the American Civil Rights Movement, Europe’s early and recent history, the Zapotec civilization circa 500 BCE, and Lagos’s efforts to uproot corruption and institute government accountability to illustrate what it takes to get and stay in the corridor. But they also examine Chinese imperial history, colonialism in the Pacific, India’s caste system, Saudi Arabia’s suffocating cage of norms, and the “Paper Leviathan” of many Latin American and African nations to show how countries can drift away from it, and explain the feedback loops that make liberty harder to achieve. Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. We need liberty more than ever, and yet the corridor to liberty is becoming narrower and more treacherous. The danger on the horizon is not "just" the loss of our political freedom, however grim that is in itself; it is also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. The opposite of the corridor of liberty is the road to ruin.
How do you tailor education to the learning needs of adults? Do they learn differently from children? How does their life experience inform their learning processes? These were the questions at the heart of Malcolm Knowles’ pioneering theory of andragogy which transformed education theory in the 1970s. The resulting principles of a self-directed, experiential, problem-centred approach to learning have been hugely influential and are still the basis of the learning practices we use today. Understanding these principles is the cornerstone of increasing motivation and enabling adult learners to achieve. The 9th edition of The Adult Learner has been revised to include: Updates to the book to reflect the very latest advancements in the field. The addition of two new chapters on diversity and inclusion in adult learning, and andragogy and the online adult learner. An updated supporting website. This website for the 9th edition of The Adult Learner will provide basic instructor aids. For each chapter, there will be a PowerPoint presentation, learning exercises, and added study questions. Revisions throughout to make it more readable and relevant to your practices. If you are a researcher, practitioner, or student in education, an adult learning practitioner, training manager, or involved in human resource development, this is the definitive book in adult learning you should not be without.
This masterful survey of world religions presents a clear and concise portrait of the history, beliefs, and practices of Eastern and Western religions. The authors, both respected scholars of world religions, have over 50 years of combined teaching experience. Their book is accessibly written for introductory classes, can be easily adapted for one- or two-semester courses, and employs a neutral approach for broad classroom use. The third edition has been revised throughout, with updated material on the history and contemporary configurations of each tradition and new sections addressing gender, sexuality, and the environment. It also includes effective sidebars, photographs, timelines, charts, calendars, glossaries, and a spelling guide. Online resources through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources include Powerpoint/Keynote slides, new maps and videos, and a large question bank of multiple-choice test questions (available to professors upon request).
As increasingly contentious politics in the United States raise concerns over the "politicization" of traditionally non-partisan institutions, many have turned their attention to how the American military has been--and will be--affected by this trend. Since a low point following the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military has experienced a dramatic reversal of public opinion, becoming one of the most trusted institutions in American society. However, this trend is more complicated than it appears: just as individuals have become fonder of their military, they have also become increasingly polarized from one another along partisan lines. The result is a new political environment rife with challenges to traditional civil-military norms. In a data-driven analysis of contemporary American attitudes, Dangerous Instrument examines the current state of U.S. civil-military affairs, probing how the public views their military and the effect that partisan tribalism may have on that relationship in the future. Michael A. Robinson studies the sources and potential limits of American trust in the armed services, focusing on the interplay of the public, political parties, media outlets, and the military itself on the prospect of politicization and its associated challenges. As democratic institutions face persistent pressure worldwide, Dangerous Instrument provides important insights into the contemporary arc of American civil-military affairs and delivers recommendations on ways to preserve a non-partisan military.
From I Love Lucy to Will & Grace, this book looks at the television comedies that have tackled social issues, facilitated discussion, or in some other way have broken down barriers. Other landmark shows discussed here include All in the Family, Ellen, The Golden Girls, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Maude, Modern Family, Roseanne, and Soap.
Opera and Ideas is a study of the connections between music and intellectual history. Through lucid analysis of six operas and two song cycles, Paul Robinson shows how operas give musical and dramatic expression to ideas about the self, society, and history.
White privilege and racial injustice persist in the Church; and despite a commitment to promote justice for all, racism is a reality of life, and has been since before the founding of our nation. In addition throughout most of our nation’s history, theology, as a discipline, has remained silent about racism and, at its worst, overtly supported racist practices. This book, examines: 1) what racism is and how it functions, especially in the contemporary setting; 2) how the United States has claimed to be God’s chosen nation, yet systematically disadvantages persons of color; 3) how theology’s silence sustains racial injustice in the Church, rather than excises it; and 4) how reformulating theological discourse can contribute to racial justice within ecclesial communities and the larger landscape of society. The Horizons in Theology series offers brief but highly engaging essays on the major concerns and questions in theological studies. Each volume addresses in a clear and concise style the scope and contours of a fundamental question as it relates to theological inquiry and application; sketches the nature and significance of the subject; and opens the broader lines of discussion in suggestive, evocative, and programmatic ways. Written by senior scholars in the field, and ideally suited as supplements in the classroom, Horizons will be an enduring series that brings into plain language the big questions of theology. It will inspire a new generation of students to eagerly embark on a journey of reflective study.
A timely resource for Black professionals on how to rise to the top of their organizations or industries and, just as importantly, to stay there. Black Faces in High Places is the essential guide for Black professionals who are moving up through their organizations or industries but need a roadmap for how to get to the top and stay there. Based on the authors' considerable experiences in business, in the public eye, and as a minority, the book shows how African-American professionals can (and must) think and act both entrepreneurially and "intrapreneurially". In this book, you will: Expand yourself beyond your comfort zone Recognize and demonstrate the four facets of excellence Build beneficial relationships and powerful networks Identify different mentors and learn from others' experiences Discover ways of working with others to facilitate collective action Black Faces in High?Places highlights the experiences of other Black faces in high places who were able to navigate various crossroads, reach the top, and stay there, including insights from President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Cathy Hughes, Angela Glover Blackwell, Ken Chenault, Senator Cory Booker, Geoffrey Canada, and others.
If you like variety, youll find it in this book of poetry, plays, short stories, and short memoir essays. A sense of humor pervades and Ms. Robinson pulls no punches when writing about sensitive social issues. It is lovingly conceived and written. The collection reminds one a bit of E. B. Whites Second Tree from the Corner.
If you're ready to strengthen your connection to the wise part of you that always has your best interest at heart, you simply need to follow the practical path that Lynn offers in the book. --Cheryl Richardson, author of Stand Up for Your Life This is the book that will point you in the direction of a new life--the life of your dreams. In Compass of the Soul, Lynn Robinson leads you on a journey of discovery to a life that's full of joy and purpose. She shows you how to tap into your own intuition to reveal the endless possibilities of the life you were meant to live. Each of the 52 chapters contains a motivational quote, an intuition exercise, and a thought-provoking question that you can answer in an intuition journal. The chapters are easy to read and full of practical, down-to-earth advice about how to tune in to what Lynn describes as your inner success coach. You will learn how to: * Take small steps to create positive changes in your spiritual, personal, and financial life. * Use your thoughts, beliefs, and expectations to change your life. * Find freedom from debt, worry, and fear. * Discover your purpose in life. Do one chapter a week, read the whole book all at once, or pick and choose the areas you want to concentrate on first. More than simply paying attention to your intuition, living an intuitive life means acting on the wisdom you receive. Make the opening of this book the first act in creating the life of your dreams.
Technology is changing the way we do business, the way we communicate with each other, and the way we learn. This new edition is intended to help technical writers, graphic artists, engineers, and others who are charged with producing product documentation in the rapidly changing technological world. While preserving the basic guidelines for developing manuals and warnings presented in the previous edition, this new edition offers new material as well, including a much-expanded section on hazard analysis. Features Provides more explicit guidance on conducting a hazard analysis, including methods and documentation Offers in-depth discussion of digital platforms, including video, animations, and even virtual reality, to provide users with operating instructions and safety information Incorporates current research into effective cross-cultural communication—essential in today’s global economy Explains new US and international standards for warning labels and product instructions Presents expanded material on user analysis, including addressing generational differences in experience and preferred learning styles Writing and Designing Manuals and Warnings, Fifth Edition explores how emerging technologies are changing the world of product documentation from videos to virtual reality and all points in between.
In the tradition of Silent Spring, Raoul Robinson's Return to Resistance calls for a revolution. Traditional plant breeding techniques have led us to depend more and more on chemical pesticides to protect ourcrops. Return to Resistance shows gardeners, farmers, and plant breeders how to use a long-neglected technique to create hardy new plant varieties that are naturally resistant to pests and disease. Horizontal resistance breeding has been largely ignored in this century due to the popularity and apparent successes of the Mendelian geneticists. However the colossal, unrecognized failure of m.
This wide-ranging, two-volume encyclopedia of musicals old and new will captivate young fans—and prove invaluable to those contemplating staging a musical production. Written with high school students in mind, The World of Musicals: An Encyclopedia of Stage, Screen, and Song encompasses not only Broadway and film musicals, but also made-for-television musicals, a genre that has been largely ignored. The two volumes cover significant musicals in easily accessible entries that offer both useful information and fun facts. Each entry lists the work's writers, composers, directors, choreographers, and cast, and includes a song list, a synopsis, and descriptions of the original production and important revivals or remakes. Biographical entries share the stories of some of the brightest and most celebrated talents in the business. The encyclopedia will undoubtedly ignite and feed student interest in musical theatre. At the same time, it will prove a wonderful resource for teachers or community theatre directors charged with selecting and producing shows. In fact, anyone interested in theatre, film, television, or music will be fascinated by the work's tantalizing bits of historical and theatre trivia.
Songs written for Disney productions over the decades have become a potent part of American popular culture. Since most Americans first discovered these songs in their youth, they hold a special place in one's consciousness. The Disney Song Encyclopedia describes and discusses hundreds of famous and not-so-famous songs from Disney films, television, Broadway, and theme parks from the 1930s to the present day. Over 900 songs are given individual entries and presented in alphabetical order. The songwriters and original singers are identified, as well as the source of the song and other venues in which it might have been used over the years. Notable recordings of the song are also listed. But most important, the song is described and what makes it memorable is discussed. This is not a reference list but a true encyclopedia of Disney songs. The book also contains a preface describing the criteria for selecting the songs, a glossary of song terms, a list of all the Disney songs and their sources, a songwriter's directory in which every song by each composer/lyricist is listed, a bibliography, a guide to recordings and DVDs of Disney productions, and an index of people and titles.
A powerful, practical guide to using intuition during stressful life transitions * Intuition has become widely recognized as a sixth sense that we all have. But just how do we routinely access this remarkable inner guide—especially in times of crisis? And how do we use it not only to survive but actually to thrive? Listen has the answers, and Lynn Robinson, M.Ed., delivers them with clarity and style. Intuition, says Robinson, is vitally important, particularly when personal crises meet global, economic ones. It’s our inner compass that points us in the direction of success—in love, finances, career choices, and everyday decisions. Written in the engaging style that has made her a popular speaker, this deep, wise, and spiritual book demystifies intuition and reveals the secrets of how to listen to one’s inner voice and interpret intuitive signs such as feelings, symbols, words, dreams, and physical sensations. Ultimately, readers learn how to move safely through the inevitable crises of life, and steadily toward their hopes and dreams. Features: * Quizzes, tips, exercises, and journal questions that suggest creative soluitions to problems and help readers identify the ways intuition communicates with them * Words of wisdom from people who have successfully used intuition in their lives
Discover how African-American professionals can combine their personal strengths with the wisdom of others to plant the seeds of a positive, lasting legacy in the workplace. Randal Pinkett was the first African-American winner on The Apprentice. When he won, he also became the only contestant to be asked to share his victory with a white woman. For generations, African-Americans have been told that they need to work twice as hard as everyone else to succeed. However, as millions of black Americans were reminded by Pinkett's experience, sometimes hard work is not enough. Black Faces in White Places is about "the game", the competitive world in which we all live and work. The book offers 10 revolutionary strategies for playing, mastering, and changing the game for the current generation, while undertaking a wholesale redefinition of the rules for those who will follow. In this book, you will: Expand yourself beyond your comfort zone Recognize and demonstrate the four facets of excellence Build beneficial relationships and powerful networks Identify different mentors and learn from others' experiences Discover ways of working with others to facilitate collective action Based on the authors' considerable experiences in business, in the public eye, and in the minority, the book shows how African-American professionals can (and must) think and act both entrepreneurially and "intrapreneurially". Black Faces in White Places not only explains shattering the old "glass ceiling” and changing the concept of success, but also examines the four dimensions of the contemporary black experience: identity, society, meritocracy, and opportunity.
One of the points clearly stressed in the beginning of this book is that the essential feature of any dynamic system is change and that, where there is change, there may also be growth and evolution. Plant breeding and plant protection have grown and evolved considerably during the past century; they have also witnessed several, important Hegelian changes. This book, by R.A.Robinson, is just such a change in scientific thinking. It is unique in presenting an entirely new insight to plant-parasite relationships, and in providing a practical guide for managing plant pathosystems for man's advantage in agriculture. The author brings together for the first time in a holistic manner the various plant protection and breeding disciplines; he analyses their past limitations and deficiencies and throws useful new light on the nature of parasitism. From this he is able to gain a clear understanding of the functions of the various pathosystem components. On the basis of this understanding he then proposes practical ways for using these components to achieve and maintain the type of balance which is the basis of survival in any evolutionary system, including that of man himself. All this is done in a lively and elegant manner, using logic as the main driving force to elucidate and define entirely new concepts without obstruse mathematical or biochemical formulae.
This book not only offers in-depth analysis of federal environmental statutes having a bearing on land use, but also looks closely at rules imposed by state and local governments.
For a thorough comprehension of the field of geophysics, we need to understand its origins. Basic Geophysics by Enders Robinson and Dean Clark takes us on a journey that demonstrates how the achievements of our predecessors have paved the way for our modern science. From the ancient Greeks through the Enlightenment to the greats of the contemporary age, the reasoning behind basic principles is explored and clarified. With that foundation, several advanced topics are examined, including: the 3D wave equation; ray tracing and seismic modeling; reflection, refraction, and diffraction; and WKBJ migration. The successful integration of the historical narrative alongside practical analysis of relevant principles makes this book an excellent resource for both novices and professionals, and all readers will gain insight and appreciation for the seismic theory that underlies modern exploration seismology.
Covering ideas and methods while concentrating on fundamentals, this book includes wave motion; digital imaging; digital filtering; visualization aspects of the seismic reflection method; sampling theory; the frequency spectrum; synthetic seismograms; wavelet processing; deconvolution; seismic attributes; phase rotation; and seismic attenuation.
Joyce Ann Burke had a family like all others. She found herself at age seven suddenly without any family. Her parents separated in 1942 and divorced (rare for that era). Her mother had custody and left the children alone (abandoned). Joyce Ann was awarded to the court, and they in turn incorporated her into the Hendricks County, Indiana Welfare system. She was a welfare child, no parents, no love and no home. She was a textbook waif. She was placed in the country farm home of a sixty one year old widow lady who owned a 110 acre working dairy farm. You see the picture. She was tiny for seven with snow white blond hair and blue eyes. A total stranger she called Grandma would be her new mother, of sorts. Joyce Ann would be the little running legs for this sixty one year old guardian, and essentially a child servant. The white frame farm house was typical of a 1940's farm home without electricity, plumbing, and central heat. This household was totally self-supporting from the farm. Foods were grown there and preserved for winter. Animals were butchered, cows were milked, hogs were slopped and fields were tended. The days were not programmed for play. Totally unaware, she learned life's lessons, and, although sometimes reluctantly, developed a 'powerful' work ethic. Fourteen years with Grandma produced a young woman who became her own person. It was not easy and decisions she had to make many times were difficult and unfair for a child. Joyce Ann could not afford to make mistakes. Why? She had no one and no where to go. Mistakes were not possible and she knew it. Well, Grandma scared her to death and she walked the walk! Thank you Grandma because Joyce Ann became a woman you would be proud to know today. You will read a very happy ending of the story of Joyce Ann's life, and how she flourished, despite a lonely beginning. She researched her family genealogy with intensity, and found she really did have a family she never shared. In short, she found peace and grateful thanks.
A guide for getting in touch with the inner wisdom that can lead to a more abundant and successful life When you are in touch with your intuition, every moment in your life takes on a whole new dimension as intuitive wisdom pours in. Your ability to assess each situation for immediate guidance allows you to move smoothly on your chosen path. Decision-making becomes quick, easy, and fruitful. And you move closer and closer to your best life by divining what is true for you. Divine Intuition is more than simply a book about paying attention to your intuition. The book is filled with inspirational quotes, helpful exercises, and information on how to live a life you love. Offers practical wisdom for creating an abundant life of purpose and fulfillment Shows how to look within for guidance and build patience, faith, and trust Helps to identify the primary ways that you can tap your intuition This inspirational book will give you the practical tools you need to envision, attract, and create the abundant and successful life you were meant to live.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.