Stein Ringen's Books

The Perfect Dictatorship

China in the 21st Century

By: Stein Ringen

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The Perfect Dictatorship

China in the 21st Century

By: Stein Ringen

The Chinese system is like no other known to man, now or in history. This book explains how the system works and where it may be moving. Drawing on Chinese and international sources, on extensive collaboration with Chinese scholars, and on the political science of state analysis, the author concludes that under the new leadership of Xi Jinping, the system of government has been transformed into a new regime radically harder and more ideological than the legacy of Deng Xiaoping. China is less strong economically and more dictatorial politically than the world has wanted to believe. By analysing the leadership of Xi Jinping, the meaning of ‘socialist market economy’, corruption, the party-state apparatus, the reach of the party, the mechanisms of repression, taxation and public services, and state-society relations, the book broadens the field of China studies, as well as the fields of political economy, comparative politics, development, and welfare state studies. ‘A new interpretation of the Chinese party-state—shows the advantage that derives from a comparative theorist looking at the Chinese system.’ —Tony Saich, Harvard University ‘This is an excellent book which asks important questions about China’s future. In a lively and persuasive manner, the author vividly analyses key data in a comparative and theoretical manner. Far and away the best introduction to how the CCP dictatorship works.’ —Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin-Madison ‘There is no lack of scholars and pundits abroad who tell us that dictatorship in China is for the greater good. In a timely and engagingly written book, Stein Ringen systematically demolishes all the components of this claim.’ —Frank Dikötter, University of Hong Kong ‘Stein Ringen shows how the Chinese state has used both fear and material inducements to build a “controlocracy” of a size and complexity unprecedented in world history. Perfect as a dictatorship, but brutal, destructive, and wasteful. The author’s encyclopedic understanding of his topic is based on a mastery of relevant scholarship and is delivered in clear, no-nonsense prose that bows to no one. Ideal as a textbook.’ —Perry Link, University of California, Riverside ‘China is a complex country, and there is a range of reasonable interpretations of its political system. Professor Ringen’s interpretation is different than my own, but China watchers need to engage with his thought-provoking and carefully argued assessment. If current trends of repression intensify, less pessimistic analysts will need to recognise that Ringen’s analysis may have been prescient.’ —Daniel A. Bell, Tsinghua University ‘Inspirational and trenchant. Stein Ringen’s book is a must-read to understand China’s politics, economy, ideology and social control, and its adaptability and challenges under the CCP’s rule, especially in the 21st century.’ —Teng Biao, Harvard Law School and New York University ‘Stein Ringen’s insights as a prominent political scientist enable a powerful examination of the Chinese state in a penetrating analysis that reaches strong conclusions which some will see as controversial. The book is scholarly, objective, and free from ideological partiality or insider bias. Whether one ultimately wishes to challenge or embrace his findings, the book should be read.’ —Lina Song, University of Nottingham Click on these links for more information: Blog: https://thechinesestate.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stein.ringen.7/about

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208

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Hong Kong University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

9888208934

ISBN 13

9789888208937

Citizens, Families, and Reform

By: Stein Ringen

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Citizens, Families, and Reform

By: Stein Ringen

Modern families are economic institutions of great productivity. They contribute as much to a society's economic well-being as does worker productivity in formal markets. In Citizens, Families, and Reform, Stein Ringen shows how long-standing inequalities of income and class are flexible and changing in post-industrial societies. Such inequalities respond to structural changes such as social mobility and to public policies such as those of the welfare state. His book is a study of the process from careful statistical analysis to specific policy recommendations. The book draws on two strands of research, one on children and families and the other on social inequality. Both summarize detailed statistical analysis. Ringen's basic premise is that prudent social policy should start from investment in families. Progress and reform in society, such as extended access to education, tends to modify social divisions and stimulate open opportunity, particularly in the area of higher education. The book addresses the situation of children, who have a surprisingly lower standard of living than adult population groups by most measures of well-being. Ringen attributes this disparity to flaws in the distribution of power, which leads to the disenfranchisement of children as citizens. He addresses this problem by discussing children and voting rights, building a case for realizing the ideal of one person, one vote, by extending the vote to children. Real democracies are necessarily imperfect. Ringen argues for the classical liberal theory of social progress through economic growth and equality of opportunity and warns against the "terrible temptation towards perfection." His new introduction reviews the debates sparked by the book's original publication in 1997 and suggests areas in which his arguments have been vindicated. Stein Ringen is professor of sociology and social policy and fellow of Green College, University of Oxford. He has held various academic posts in government, including assistant director general in the Norwegian Ministry of Justice. He is the author of The Possibility of Politics, to be reissued by Transaction in 2006.

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190

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Transaction Pub

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ISBN 10

1412804981

ISBN 13

9781412804981

The Story of Scandinavia

From the Vikings to Social Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

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The Story of Scandinavia

From the Vikings to Social Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

In The Story of Scandinavia, political scholar Stein Ringen chronicles more than 1,200 years of drama, economic rise and fall, crises, kings and queens, war, peace, language and culture. Scandinavian history has been one of dramatic discontinuities of collapse and restarts, from the Viking Age to the Age of Perpetual War to the modern age today. For a thousand years, the Scandinavian countries were kingdoms of repression where monarchs played at the game of being European powers, at the expense of their own populations. The brand we now know as "Scandinavia" is a recent invention. During most of its history, Denmark and Sweden, and to some degree Norway, were bloody enemies. These sentiments of enmity have not been fully settled. Under the surface of collaboration remain undercurrents of hatred, envy, contempt and pity. What does it mean today to be Scandinavian? For the author, whose identity is Scandinavian but his life European, this masterly history is a personal exploration as well as a narrative of compelling scope.

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519

Publisher

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Published Date

ISBN 10

1474625223

ISBN 13

9781474625227

Fighting Poverty

Caring for Children, Parents, the Elderly and Health

By: Stein Ringen,Philip R. Dejong

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Fighting Poverty

Caring for Children, Parents, the Elderly and Health

By: Stein Ringen,Philip R. Dejong

First published in 1999, this volume is the fifth in a series on international studies of issues in social security. The series is initiated by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS). One of its aims is to confront different academic approaches with each other, and with public policy perspectives. Another is to give analytic reports of cross-nationally different approaches to the design and reform of welfare state programs.

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Page Count

370

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

0429851243

ISBN 13

9780429851247

The Story of Scandinavia

From the Vikings to Social Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

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The Story of Scandinavia

From the Vikings to Social Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

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519

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Weidenfeld & Nicolson

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ISBN 10

1474625223

ISBN 13

9781474625227

The Korean State and Social Policy

How South Korea Lifted Itself from Poverty and Dictatorship to Affluence and Democracy

By: Stein Ringen,Huck-ju Kwon,Ilcheong Yi,Taekyoon Kim,Jooha Lee

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The Korean State and Social Policy

How South Korea Lifted Itself from Poverty and Dictatorship to Affluence and Democracy

By: Stein Ringen,Huck-ju Kwon,Ilcheong Yi,Taekyoon Kim,Jooha Lee

There are two great mysteries in the political economy of South Korea. How could a destroyed country in next to no time become a sophisticated and affluent economy? And how could a ruthlessly authoritarian regime metamorphose with relative ease into a stable democratic polity? South Korea was long ruled with harsh authoritarianism, but, strangely, the authoritarian rulers made energetic use of social policy. The Korean State and Social Policy observes South Korean public policy from 1945 to 2000 through the prism of social policy to examine how the rulers operated and worked. After the military coup in 1961, the new leaders used social policy to buy themselves legitimacy. That enabled them to rule in two very different ways simultaneously. In their determination to hold on to power they were without mercy, but in the use of power in governance, their strategy was to co-opt and mobilize with a sophistication that is wholly exceptional among authoritarian rulers. It is governance and not power that explains the Korean miracle. Mobilization is a strategy with consequences. South Korea was not only led to economic development but also, inadvertently perhaps, built up as a society rich in public and civil institutions. When authoritarianism collapsed under the force of nationwide uprisings in 1987, the institutions of a reasonably pluralistic social and political order were there, alive and well, and democracy could take over without further serious drama. This book is about many things: development and modernization, dictatorship and democracy, state capacity and governance, social protection and welfare states, and Korean history. But finally it is about lifting social policy analysis out of the ghetto of self-sufficiency it is often confined to and into the center ground of hard political science.

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146

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199875936

ISBN 13

9780199875931

A Usage Dictionary English-German / German-English - Gebrauchswörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch / Deutsch-Englisch

By: Gabriele Stein

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A Usage Dictionary English-German / German-English - Gebrauchswörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch / Deutsch-Englisch

By: Gabriele Stein

The dictionary is based on a new concept which takes into account recent developments and findings in lexicographical research. It combines the best features of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries as well as learner dictionaries. Every sense of a word is first fully explained and then provided with translation equivalents. The grammatical behaviour of the words, their construction patterns are described in a language that is clear and easy to understand. Every sense of a word, every construction pattern is illustrated with an example. These example sentences are given in English and German so that the word looked up is shown in actual use and the translation guarantees its understanding and promotes retention. Special care is taken to explain differences between English and German in language use and culture. A new reader-friendly layout ensures that users will easily and speedily find the answer to what they want to know.

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2499

Publisher

Walter de Gruyter

Published Date

ISBN 10

3110297027

ISBN 13

9783110297027

Normative Foundations of the Welfare State

The Nordic Experience

By: Nanna Kildal,Stein Kuhnle

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Normative Foundations of the Welfare State

The Nordic Experience

By: Nanna Kildal,Stein Kuhnle

This is a sharp analysis of the unique Nordic welfare system with urgent lessons for governments and societies across the globe. Welfare programs and institutions tend to be analyzed as instrumental arrangements, overlooking the fact that welfare programs are essentially expressions of moral conceptions and values. This book recognises this distinction and offers analyses, perspectives and interpretations of the normative foundation of the 'Nordic welfare state model'. These authors examine the main normative principles in this model, exploring their origins and the relationship between them. Paying particular attention to the principles of 'universalism', 'public responsibility for welfare', and 'work for all', they consider their significance for current welfare policy and question whether external economic and ideological pressures are threatening these principles. The book is divided into three clear parts: *Part I considers the historical trajectories behind the Nordic welfare model *Part II looks more specifically on normative tensions and dilemmas in current welfare policies with a focus on women friendly welfare, attitudes to basic income and alcohol and drug misuse *Part III focuses on the possible change in the normative foundation of the Nordic welfare states This book will be essential reading for researchers and students of the welfare state and also to those in the fields of social policy, comparative politics and political economy.

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319

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Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134272820

ISBN 13

9781134272822

Searching for Health Information

The Cancer Information Service Model

By: Vicki S. Freimuth,Judith A. Stein,Thomas J. Kean

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Searching for Health Information

The Cancer Information Service Model

By: Vicki S. Freimuth,Judith A. Stein,Thomas J. Kean

Searching for Health Information reviews the research on the process of seeking health information and contributes to that literature by analyzing the largest available database on health-information-seeking behavior, the Cancer Information Service (CIS), a referral service sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. But the book is not only about CIS. Vicki S. Freimuth, Judith A. Stein, and Thomas J. Kean describe the general context in which people search for health information about a variety of diseases and other health concerns. They then present a theoretical overview of the nature of information and the way people search for it. By analyzing data obtained from more than a million calls to CIS over a four-year period and by studying follow-up surveys of over 7500 of these callers, the authors contribute to our understanding of the process of information seeking. The communication of health information is increasingly important, and this book breaks new ground in its analysis of one successful system.

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270

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

081221272X

ISBN 13

9780812212723

Nation of Devils

Democratic Leadership and the Problem of Obedience

By: Stein Ringen

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Nation of Devils

Democratic Leadership and the Problem of Obedience

By: Stein Ringen

How does a government get the people to accept its authority? Every government must make unpopular demands on its citizens; the challenge is that power is not enough, the populace must also be willing to be led.

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315

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300199015

ISBN 13

9780300199017

Field Marshal Von Manstein

The Janushead - A Portrait

By: Marcel Stein

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Field Marshal Von Manstein

The Janushead - A Portrait

By: Marcel Stein

Most military historians are in agreement that Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein was the most outstanding German high commander of the Second World War. Many view him as the foremost exponent of large-scale mobile operations in any of the Second World War armies. Surprisingly, no biography of him has yet been written. To this day, his family refuses to release the papers of his estate to the German military archives at Freiburg. Furthermore the contradictions in the personality of von Manstein make it difficult to generate a synthesis. On one side there is an extraordinary military talent, on the other many political and moral aspects. His military achievements stand in sharp contrast to his inhumane policy of occupation in Russia, his active participation in the slaughter of Jews in Southern Ukraine and the Crimea and his ambivalent attitude to the military resistance movement. These contradictions have led the author to describe Manstein as the Janushead - the term chosen for the title of the book. He has not written a traditional biography but a portrait. A complete account of all phases of Mansteins career is given in one chapter, seven more chapters deal extensively with milestones in Mansteins career: his successful plan for the battle of France which led to the defeat of the French Army in less than one month, his dereliction of duty during the battle for Stalingrad, his hubris which led to the disaster of the battle for Kursk, his refusal to take part in the military resistance movement, his compliance with the Commissar order and his involvement in the Holocaust. he author has widened the subject well beyond the personality of its central figure. It shows how the Nazi system, step by step, succeeded in perverting the centuries-old traditions of the Prussian and German officer corps.

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454

Publisher

Helion & Company Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

1906033021

ISBN 13

9781906033026

A History of German Literature

From the Beginnings to the Present Day

By: Wolfgang Beutin,Klaus Ehlert,Wolfgang Emmerich,Helmut Hoffacker,Bernd Lutz,Volker Meid,Ralf Schnell,Peter Stein,Inge Stephan

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A History of German Literature

From the Beginnings to the Present Day

By: Wolfgang Beutin,Klaus Ehlert,Wolfgang Emmerich,Helmut Hoffacker,Bernd Lutz,Volker Meid,Ralf Schnell,Peter Stein,Inge Stephan

Since the appearance of its first edition in Germany in 1979, A History of German Literature has established itself as a classic work used by students and anyone interested in German literature. The volume chronologically traces the development of German literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. Throughout this chronology, literary developments are set in a social and political context. This includes a final chapter, written for this latest edition, on the consequences of the reunification of Germany in 1990. Thoroughly interdiscipinary in method, the work also reflects recent developments in literary criticism and history. Highly readable and stimulating, A History of German Literature succeeds in making the literature of the past as immediate and engaging as the works of the present. It is both a scholary study and an invaluable reference work for students.

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1389

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134928165

ISBN 13

9781134928163

The Possibility of Politics

A Study in the Political Economy of the Welfare State

By: Stein Ringen

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The Possibility of Politics

A Study in the Political Economy of the Welfare State

By: Stein Ringen

Explores the power of political reform, specifically reform of the modern welfare state. This book is suitable for academics and advanced undergraduates interested in political theory, public economics, social administration and political sociology.

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Page Count

303

Publisher

Transaction Pub

Published Date

ISBN 10

1412805767

ISBN 13

9781412805766

Fighting Poverty

Caring for Children, Parents, the Elderly and Health

By: Stein Ringen,Philip R. Dejong

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Fighting Poverty

Caring for Children, Parents, the Elderly and Health

By: Stein Ringen,Philip R. Dejong

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458

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Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

0429851235

ISBN 13

9780429851230

How Democracies Live

Power, Statecraft, and Freedom in Modern Societies

By: Stein Ringen

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How Democracies Live

Power, Statecraft, and Freedom in Modern Societies

By: Stein Ringen

Preface: We Need Democracy -- The Problem of Power -- The Problem of Statecraft -- The Problem of Freedom -- The Problem of Poverty -- The Problem of Democracy -- Postscript: We Need to Talk about Democracy.

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228

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226819124

ISBN 13

9780226819129

The Korean State and Social Policy

How South Korea Lifted Itself from Poverty and Dictatorship to Affluence and Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

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The Korean State and Social Policy

How South Korea Lifted Itself from Poverty and Dictatorship to Affluence and Democracy

By: Stein Ringen

Introduction: the birth of the state -- The state meets modernity -- The state meets business -- The state meets voluntarism -- The state meets democracy -- Conclusion: the anatomy of the state.

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146

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199734356

ISBN 13

9780199734351

The Possibility of Politics

A Study in the Political Economy of the Welfare State

By: Stein Ringen

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The Possibility of Politics

A Study in the Political Economy of the Welfare State

By: Stein Ringen

The Possibility of Politics explores the power of political reform, specifically reform of the modern welfare state. Can reform be effective if limited to cautious and piecemeal interventions that avoid radicalism and revolution? Can it also avoid unwanted consequences? Will the welfare state survive in the future? Stein Ringen views the welfare state as a large-scale experiment in political reform. To ask if the welfare state works is to ask if political reform is possible at all. By its nature, the welfare state is reform on a grand scale, for it attempts to change the circumstances individuals and families live under without changing and disrupting society itself. But is it realistic to believe a population can get together, set goals and then try to meet these goals through collective actions, specifically public policies, without causing unintended consequences and destroying the state in the process? The welfare state attempts, idealistically, to redistribute welfare without reshaping the economic processes that cause inequities in the first place. Ringen considers how well redistribution has met the test in terms of political legitimacy, its intended effects on poverty and inequality, as well as its undesired and unintended effects on economic efficiency and the quality of private life. Ultimately, does the welfare state work? Further, is the welfare state a good thing? In considering these questions, The Possibility of Politics should be of particular value to academics and advanced students interested in political theory, public economics, social administration, and political sociology. Stein Ringen is professor of sociology and social policy at Oxford University and a Fellow of Green College. He teaches social and political theory and research methodology for graduates in social policy, sociology, politics, economic and social history and other subjects.

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Page Count

356

Publisher

Transaction Publishers

ISBN 10

141283161X

ISBN 13

9781412831611

Democracy, Science, and the Civic Spirit

An Inaugural Lecture

By: Stein Ringen

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Democracy, Science, and the Civic Spirit

An Inaugural Lecture

By: Stein Ringen

Professor Ringen's introduction sets out the challenge to the democratic system of government from Eastern Europe, South Africa and other societies in transition, presenting the logic of applied social research.

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ISBN 10

0199513597

ISBN 13

9780199513598

Welfare Trends in the Scandinavian Countries

By: Robert Erikson,Erik Jorgen Hansen,Stein Ringen,Hannu Uusitalo

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Welfare Trends in the Scandinavian Countries

By: Robert Erikson,Erik Jorgen Hansen,Stein Ringen,Hannu Uusitalo

Discusses important aspects of the development of the welfare state in the Scandinavian countries and Iceland since the mid-1970s. It focuses on societal changes during a period of modest economic growth. Topics include labour market benefits, education and social mobility, class and inequality, income distribution and trajectories and health.

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Page Count

429

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1315488280

ISBN 13

9781315488288

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