Article
A critical survey of the field of Comparative Politics
The aim of this paper is to sketch an overview of Comparative Politics and discuss the major analytical and conceptual systems under which comparativists conduct their research. It presents some of the basic problems one has to face in attempting to understand evolution of key overarching generalized dichotomies established by problem-solving and critical Comparative Politics (developed-developing and North-South).
Hi-tech innovative alliances tend to have more key sustainable competitive advantages in comparison with those out of alliance, especially because alliances allow the companies to switch through the partners the financial burdens and intellectual investments in innovations. BRIC make an important input into Gross World Production and its hi-tech industries grow faster than others over developing countries. However companies of these industries still lack internal resources of innovative and technological facilities, e.g. Russian companies, because of that alliances (usually, international anв transnational) acquire more and more popularity. Alliances give the access towards resources and competences of the direct and indirect partners. The paper describes the empirical evidence of alliances efficiency factors and its influence on the high-tech companies of India and China. This evidence can be replicable to some extent and useful to the development of Russian companies. According to the testing results it is possible to assume, that efficiency of alliances has the significant impact on the corporate value in the mid-term. The crisis has significant impact on the observable dependencies.
The article justifies perspectives of studying thought genesis on the intersection of psychology of thinking and cultural psychology of personality. The model of features of mature thought is presented based on the synthesis of general psychological ideas of thinking and cultural data of thinking life of the personality. The features include problem orientation, operational complexity and notional richness of the thought. The interpretation of texts as a method of cultural psychology of personality is presented as able to enrich with unique facts and phenomena the psychological approaches to the problem of thinking, expand the cultural genesis context of this problem and expand and individualize psychological approaches to it.
Eighteen papers, from an international, interdisciplinary workshop on measuring empowerment organized by the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network in 2003, address the challenge of evaluating empowerment and its contribution to development effectiveness. Papers focus on a framework for evaluating how empowerment influences the development process and for analyzing the causal forces on empowerment, with cases from Latin America; women's empowerment as a variable in international development; measuring women's empowerment; an analysis of household and family dynamics; psychological empowerment and subjective well-being; an investigation of the relationship between income mobility and perceptions of subjective well-being related to that mobility, using panel data from Peru and Russia; self-rated power and welfare in Russia; applying Q methodology to empowerment; analytical issues in measuring empowerment at the community and local levels; peace, conflict, and empowerment; measuring empowerment at the community level; mixing qualitative and econometric methods; assessing empowerment at the national level in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; the CIVICUS Civil Society Index; empowerment as a positive-sum game; democracy, good governance, and empowerment; and measuring democratic governance. Contributors include economists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, demographers, and political scientists. Narayan is Senior Adviser in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network of the World Bank. Index.
In the coming decades in the process of globalization the position of the USA and Europe will weaken, while the role of developing countries will increase. The role of the two largest emerging economies – China and India – will be of special significance. What future will these fast-growing giants face? The demographers agree that pretty soon India will lead the world in population and thus surpass China, while China will encounter serious ageing population problems. But economic and political scenarios of the future are quite different: from resounding success and world leadership to collapse caused by demographic and socio-political troubles. Which of them is more feasible? In the present article I analyze the Chinese and Indian development models separately and comparatively and make a forecast of their perspectives in the twenty-first century. Such an analysis could be helpful for understanding Russia's ways of development.
2011 International Conference on Economics and Business Information (ICEBI 2011) is the premier forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of theoretical, experimental, and applied Economics and Business Information. Topics of interest for submission include Business Information Systems, Business Performance Management, Management Information Systems, and others.
Twenty-four papers examine the state of early childhood development among sub-Saharan Africa's children. Papers discuss the state of young children in sub-Saharan Africa; positioning early childhood development (ECD) nationally--trends in selected African countries; early childhood care and education in sub-Saharan Africa--what it would take to meet the Millennium Development Goals; brain development and ECD--a case for investment; new threats to ECD--children affected by HIV/AIDS; ECD in Africa--a historical perspective; (mis)understanding ECD in Africa--the force of local and global motives; fathering--the role of men in raising children in Africa--holding up the other half of the sky; ECD policy--a comparative analysis in Ghana, Mauritius, and Namibia; participatory ECD policy planning in Francophone West Africa; responding to the challenge of meeting the needs of children under three in Africa; introducing preprimary classes in Africa--opportunities and challenges; inclusive education--a Mauritian response to the "inherent rights of the child"; parenting challenges for the changing African family; ECD and HIV/AIDS--the newest programming and policy challenge; supporting young children in conflict and postconflict situations--child protection and psychosocial well-being in Angola; strategic communication in early childhood development programs--the case of Uganda; the synergy of nutrition and ECD interventions in sub-Saharan Africa; the impact of ECD programs on maternal employment and older children's school attendance in Kenya; the Madrasa ECD program--making a difference; linking policy discourse to everyday life in Kenya--impacts of neoliberal policies on early education and childrearing; community-based approaches that work in Eastern and Southern Africa; whether early childhood programs can be financially sustainable in Africa; and a tri-part approach to promoting ECD capacity in Africa--ECD seminars, international conferences, and the Early Childhood Development Virtual University. Garcia is Lead Human Development Economist in the World Bank's Human Development Department, Africa Region. Pence is Director of the Early Childhood Development Virtual University and Professor in the School of Child and Youth Care, Faculty of Human and Social Development, at the University of Victoria. Evans is Director Emeritus for the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development. Index.
Russia’s recent domestic and foreign policy steps demonstrate that the Russian government is setting a long-term geopolitical task of integrating the country into the Asia-Pacific through the accelerated development of its Siberian and Far Eastern regions. While attempts to reorient Russia toward the East are not completely new in the Russian history, this chapter demonstrates that now the geopolitical setting is different and this time conditions are ripe for Russia to make this change feasible. These circumstances open up new opportunities for international cooperation in the development of Russia’s Far East and Siberia, and many countries display interest in cooperation with Russia. However, to make international cooperation blossom in Russia’s eastern regions, Russia, together with foreign partners, needs to deal with a range of structural challenges and make changes accordingly.
In this work the problem of learning and development of creativity with a view to the position of reflexive psychology, akmeology and pedagogics in the context of the human capital analysis in the conditions of modern society globalization is raised. The theme is urgent from the practical point of view in demand of a creative personality under conditions of the economic crisis and at the same time it is actual, because it interprets creativity in a new way according to interdisciplinary approach. The author emphasizes that a reflexively-creative potential is considered to be the backbone factor of professional and innovative activity in modern social space. On basis of philosophical foundations' analysis of psychology of creativity we theoretically build the conceptual model of reflexive creativity and we also examine the precedents of its psychology-pedagogical development in the secondary and high education (in case of reflexive-psycological support).
The article deals with the processes of building the information society and security in the CIS in accordance with modern conditions. The main objective is to review existing mechanisms for the formation of a common information space in the Eurasian region, regarded as one of the essential aspects of international integration. The theoretical significance of the work is to determine the main controls of the regional information infrastructure, improved by the development of communication features in a rapid process.The practical component consists in determining the future policies of the region under consideration in building the information society. The study authors used historical-descriptive approach and factual analysis of events having to do with drawing the contours of today's global information society in the regional refraction.
The main result is the fact that the development of information and communication technologies, and network resources leads to increased threats of destabilization of the socio-political situation in view of the emergence of multiple centers that generate the ideological and psychological background. Keeping focused information policy can not be conceived without the collective participation of States in the first place, members of the group leaders of integration - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Currently, only produced a comprehensive approach to security in the information field in the Eurasian region, but the events in the world, largely thanks to modern technology, make the search for an exit strategy with a much higher speed. The article contributes to the science of international relations, engaging in interdisciplinary thinking that is associated with a transition period in the development of society. A study of current conditions in their relation to the current socio-political patterns of the authors leads to conclusions about the need for cooperation with the network centers of power in the modern information environment, the formation of alternative models of networking, especially in innovation and scientific and technical areas of information policy, and expanding the integration of the field in this region on the information content.
This special publication for the 2012 New Delhi Summit is a collection of articles by government officials from BRICS countries, representatives of international organizations, businessmen and leading researchers.
The list of Russian contributors includes Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, Maxim Medvedkov, Director of the Trade Negotiations Department of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Vladimir Dmitriev, Vnesheconombank Chairman, Alexander Bedritsky, advisor to the Russian President, VadimLukov, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, and representatives of the academic community.
The publication also features articles by the President of Kazakhstan NursultanNazarbayev and internationally respected economist Jim O’Neil, who coined the term “BRIC”. In his article Jim O’Neil speculates about the future of the BRICS countries and the institution as a whole.
The publication addresses important issues of the global agenda, the priorities of BRICS and the Indian Presidency, the policies and competitive advantages of the participants, as well as BRICS institutionalization, enhancing efficiency and accountability of the forum.