In a world of increasing austerity measures, democratic politics comes under pressure. With the need to consolidate budgets and to accommodate financial markets, the responsiveness of governments to voters declines. However, democracy depends on choice. Citizens must be able to …
In a world of increasing austerity measures, democratic politics comes under pressure. With the need to consolidate budgets and to accommodate financial markets, the responsiveness of governments to voters declines. However, democracy depends on choice.
"This book represents the first global survey of taxation in the premodern world. What emerges is a rich variety of institutions, including experiments with sophisticated instruments such as sovereign debt and fiduciary money, challenging the notion of a typical premodern stage …
"This book represents the first global survey of taxation in the premodern world. What emerges is a rich variety of institutions, including experiments with sophisticated instruments such as sovereign debt and fiduciary money, challenging the notion of a typical premodern stage …
Pitting fascists and communists in a showdown for supremacy, the Spanish Civil War has long been seen as a grim dress rehearsal for World War II. Francisco Franco's Nationalists prevailed with German and Italian military assistance--a clear instance, it seemed, of like-minded re…
The rise of the West is often attributed to the presence of certain features in Western countries from the 16th century onwards such as the abolition of serfdom and protestant ethics, the protection of property rights, and free universities; elements that were absent in more tra…
The rise of the West is often attributed to the presence of certain features in Western countries from the 16th century onwards such as the abolition of serfdom and protestant ethics, the protection of property rights, and free universities; elements that were absent in more tra…
"China Under Mao narrates the rise and fall of the Maoist revolutionary state from 1949 to 1976. Andrew G. Walder argues that Mao's China was defined by two distinctive institutions: a Party apparatus that exercised firm discipline over its members; and a socialist economy model…
"The New Deal: A Global History provides a radically new interpretation of a pivotal period in US history. The first comprehensive study of the New Deal in a global context, the book compares American responses to the international crisis of capitalism and democracy during the 1…
"The New Deal: A Global History provides a radically new interpretation of a pivotal period in US history. The first comprehensive study of the New Deal in a global context, the book compares American responses to the international crisis of capitalism and democracy during the 1…
Unique and insightful, this book takes a look at Russia's development through the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Rather than make the more familiar comparisons between Russia and the West, Russia and Development focuses on political and social mobilization in adjacent Central Asia.…
Austerity is at the center of political debates today. Its defenders praise it as a panacea that will prepare the ground for future growth and stability. Critics insist it will precipitate a vicious cycle of economic decline, possibly leading to political collapse. But the notio…
During the twentieth century, 80 percent of all famine victims worldwide died in China and the Soviet Union. In this rigorous and thoughtful study, Felix Wemheuer analyzes the historical and political roots of these socialist-era famines, in which overambitious industrial progra…
"There have been two global financial crises in the past century: the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession that began in 2008. Both featured loose credit, precarious real estate and stock market bubbles, suspicious banking practices, an inflexible monetary syste…
The Glorious Revolution of 1688-9 transformed the role of parliament in Britain and its empire. Large numbers of statutes resulted, with most concerning economic activity. Julian Hoppit here provides the first comprehensive account of these acts, revealing how government affecte…
