In this trenchant challenge to social engineering, Paul Gottfried analyzes a patricide: the slaying of nineteenth-century liberalism by the managerial state. Many people, of course, realize that liberalism no longer connotes distributed powers and bourgeois moral standards, the need to protect civil society from an encroaching state, or the virtues of vigorous self-government. Many also know that today's "liberals" have far different goals from those of their predecessors, aiming as they do largely to combat prejudice, to provide social services and welfare benefits, and to defend expressive and "lifestyle" freedoms. Paul Gottfried does more than analyze these historical facts, however. He builds on them to show why it matters that the managerial state has replaced traditional liberalism: the new regimes of social engineers, he maintains, are elitists, and their rule is consensual only in the sense that it is unopposed by any widespread organized opposition. Throughout the western world, increasingly uprooted populations unthinkingly accept centralized controls in exchange for a variety of entitlements. In their frightening passivity, Gottfried locates the quandary for traditionalist and populist adversaries of the welfare state. How can opponents of administrative elites show the public that those who provide, however ineptly, for their material needs are the enemies of democratic self-rule and of independent decision making in family life? If we do not wake up, Gottfried warns, the political debate may soon be over, despite sporadic and ideologically confused populist rumblings in both Europe and the United States.
Now in paperback, Joseph Nye's "indispensable" guide to reshaping America's role in the world (Publishers Weekly) Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power" to describe a nation's ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power-the ability to coerce-grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of its culture, political ideals, and policies. Hard power remains crucial in a world of states trying to guard their independence and of non-state groups willing to turn to violence. But as a new administration-whether Republican or Democrat-maps out its foreign policy, Nye emphasizes the importance of husbanding our military power and nurturing our soft power. It is soft power that will help prevent terrorists from recruiting supporters from among the moderate majority. And it is soft power that will help the United States deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation. America needs to move in a new direction. Isn't it time that we listened to the guidance of one of our foremost foreign policy experts and put his ideas into action?
Using the findings from up-to-date attitude surveys in the US, Europe and Australasia, End of the Welfare State shows that, contrary to the claims of experts and policy-makers, the welfare state is still highly popluar among many citizens.
"Reads like a good newspaper article...skillful..." Daniel Gross, The Washington Post
"The book sheds light on the qualities that have turned an unelected economist into one of the world's most powerful figures. It should be required reading for central bankers everywhere...an entertaining and rich description of an extraordinary figure." Richard Lambert, Financial Times
"Woodward finds a way to make monetary-policy gossip interesting...entertaining and compelling...MAESTRO admirably accomplishes what it sets out to do: demystify a Washington instituition that is dimly understood by most Anericans." Dina Temple-Raston, USA Today
"Woodward lucidly explains the axes of intellectual and political disagreement over monetary policy...shedding new light on major conflicts of the Greenspan era and demystifying this most political of ostensibly technical instituitions." Robert Kuttner, The New York Times Book Review
"Replete with the sort of fly-on-the-wall reporting for which Woodward is famous...a worthy edition to the author's oeuvre." Hardy Green, Business Week
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Hands-on guidelines for using the Balanced Scorecard within mission-driven organizations Today’s insistence on demonstrated organizational performance is not limited to private-sector corporations. Public and nonprofit agencies are also finding that, as financial resources decrease and demand for results increases, they too must institute performance goals along with programs and processes to consistently progress toward those goals. Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies identifies the opportunities–and helps eliminate the obstacles–of bringing the popular and proven Balanced Scorecard approach to public and nonprofit organizations. This results-focused and practical book provides you with:
