This major new text on the theory and practice of public management moves away from descriptive accounts of its evolution to provide a systematic treatment of the key paradigms of public management today. It examines their competing outlooks, values, tools and assumptions and - using a wide range of examples from different areas of management around the world - their implications for practice. The text sets out three contrasting 'logics' for management - performance, professionalism and polit...

This is a collection of short stories which bring to life the sounds and smells of Mexico - with breathtaking range and authority, whose characters give life to the varied life on both sides of the Mexican border. From a young girl revealing secrets only an eleven-year-old can know, to a witch woman circling above the village on a pre-dawn flight, the women in these stories offer tales of pure discovery, filled with moments of infinite and intimate wisdom.

A comprehensive introduction to designing services according to the needs of the customer or participants, this book addresses a new and emerging field of design and the disciplines that feed and result from it. Despite its intrinsic multidisciplinarity, service design is a new specialization of design in its own right. Responding to the challenges of and providing holisitic, creative and innovative solutions to increasingly complex contemporary societies, service design now represents an int...

This textbook offers a systematic and up-to-date introduction to politics and society in the Middle East. Taking a thematic approach that engages with core theory as well as a wide range of research, it examines postcolonial political, social and economic developments in the region, while also scrutinising the domestic and international factors that have played a central role in these developments. Topics covered include the role of religion in political life, gender and politics, the Israel-...

A practical and accessible guide and introduction to the field of Western Esotericism

Anime: A Critical Introduction maps the genres that have thrived within Japanese animation culture, and shows how a wide range of commentators have made sense of anime through discussions of its generic landscape. From the battling robots that define the mecha genre through to Studio Ghibli’s dominant genre-brand of plucky shojo (young girl) characters, this book charts the rise of anime as a globally significant category of animation. It further thinks through the differences between anime...

A comprehensive introduction to public policy and the policy cycle, the fully revised second edition of this popular textbook offers a practical guide to the topic while remaining underpinned by cutting-edge research. Bringing together analysis of classic works alongside the most recent developments in the field, this book is guided by the following three crucial questions: What is public policy? Who participates in making and putting public policy in practice as well as in assessing its succ...

In turbulent global times, your study of this subject is increasingly necessary and urgent.

Featuring a new chapter on critical theories, and revised to take a less Eurocentric approach to concepts and case studies, this new edition allows you to tackle global politics' important concepts, debates and problems:

-How can theories help us to understand the politics of a global pandemic?

-Do we live in a 'post-truth' world of 'fake news' and disinformation?

-Does international aid work?

-Does t...

The definitive textbook on EU politics and governance, now in its 8th edition, has been thoroughly updated to take into account the ongoing developments and evolution of the EU. Major changes, recent developments, and the crises that have befallen the union in recent times are analysed within this context. This includes eurozone crisis, the migration crisis, and the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Acclaimed author and academic Neill Nugent has written a comprehensive text, enabling students wi...

The 9th iteration of this go-to textbook on contemporary Russian politics offers comprehensive and critical discussion of the country's most recent developments, providing substantive coverage of the key areas in domestic and foreign Russian politics. Ranging from established topics such as executive leadership, parties and elections, to newer issues of national identity, protest, and Russia and Greater Eurasia, it reflects the changing nature of Russian politics in a globalising world define...