From agriculture to security, the policies of the European Union have wide-reaching consequences for the EU's member states and citizens, and for the wider world. Policy-Making in the European Union begins with an overview of EU policy-making as a whole, defining the processes and institutions involved, and introducing the analytical approaches that are necessary for understanding them. A wide range of policy areas are then explored in detail, including thesingle market, environmental policy,...

Comparative European Politics: Distinct Democracies, Common Challenges provides a complete guide to European politics through a comparative lens. The authors explore not only the 27 European Union member states, but also other European systems such as the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to help readers understand the patterns that have shaped modern Europe. Organised thematically, the book is structured in three parts, beginning with elections and representati...

Japan is arguably today's most successful industrial economy, combining almost unprecedented affluence with social stability and apparent harmony. Japanese goods and cultural products are consumed all over the world, ranging from animated movies and computer games all the way through to cars, semiconductors, and management techniques. In many ways, Japan is an icon of the modern world, and yet it remains something of an enigma to many, who see it as a confusing montage of the alien and the fa...

The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical.

It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the...

This highly original and sophisticated look at architecture helps us to understand the cultural significance of the buildings that surround us. It avoids the traditional style-spotting approach in favour of giving an idea of what it is about buildings that moves us, and what it is that makes them important artistically and culturally. The book begins by looking at how architecture acquires meaning through tradition, and concludes with the exoticism of the recentavant garde.

Illustrations of p...

The human body is a complicated and beautiful machine, governed by the laws of physics and chemistry. By understanding its physiology - how it performs its varied functions - it is possible to build strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. In this latest edition, expanded and restructured coverage of sensory physiology and the respiratory system, a new comprehensive glossary of key terms, and additional online learning resources make Human Physiology even more student-f...

The study of Islamic philosophy has entered a new and exciting phase in the last few years. Both the received canon of Islamic philosophers and the narrative of the course of Islamic philosophy are in the process of being radically questioned and revised. Most twentieth-century Western scholarship on Arabic or Islamic philosophy has focused on the period from the ninth century to the twelfth.

It is a measure of the transformation that is currently underway in thefield that, unlike other refer...

Anyone who has been asked to read and understand a poem has probably wondered: What does this really mean? Have I understood this the way I was supposed to? Did I get it? As the least literal of all of forms of creative writing, poetry is for many readers also the most cryptic. Confronted by the mysteries of poetic interpretation, some people are intrigued, some become addicted, others are left frustrated. Shira Wolosky's accessibly written book, The Art of Poetry, provides a road map of the ...

This third edition of Human Rights: Between Idealism and Realism presents human rights in action, focusing on their effectiveness as legal tools designed to benefit human beings. By combining conceptual analysis with an emphasis on procedures and mechanisms of implementation, this volume provides a multidimensional overview of human rights. After examining briefly the history of human rights, the author analyses the intellectual framework that forms thebasis of their legitimacy.

In particular...