Gerry Stoker

Making Democracy Work

Why Politics Matters

Peter John

Liz Richardson

Alice Moseley

Sarah Cotterill

Graham Smith

Corinne Wales

How can governments persuade citizens to act in socially beneficial ways? Thaler and Sunstein's book Nudge drew on work from behavioral economics to claim that citizens might be encouraged through ‘light touch interventions’ (i.e.nudges) to take action. In this ground-breaking successor to Nudge, Peter John and his colleagues argue that an alternative approach also needs to be considered, based on what they call a 'think' strategy. Their core idea is that citizens should themselves deliberate and decide their own priorities as part of a process of civic and democratic renewal. The authors not only set out these divergent approaches in theory but they offer evidence from a series of experiments to show how using techniques from ‘nudge’ or ‘think’ repertoires work in practice and how that practice is made effective. The book is unique in exploring an expanding field of policy and social science interest - changing civic behavior, using insights from another growing field of social science interest - the rise of experimental methods.

Experimenting with Ways to Change Civic Behaviour

Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think

David Owen

Clare Saunders

Chris Armstrong

Andrew Mason

Anthony McGrew

Derek McGhee

Momoh Banya

Is citizenship in decline due to globalisation and an erosion of civic participation and democratic representation? Or is it merely transformed and extended to new levels and larger scales? Should we assess these challenges and changes primarily from a perspective of global justice, or consider also membership in a democratic polity as itself a basic good? Prospects for Citizenship addresses these broad questions in a unique collaborative effort. The result is an impressive book that looks at the future of citizenship from multiple research perspectives while remaining coherent in its overall purpose. Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Florence This book offers a perspicuous overview of the prospects for citizenship in our contemporary political context. The authorial team draw on a wide range of empirical and normative research in order to offer an incisive analysis of the problems and pressures of citizenship in the twenty-first century. The authors focus in particular on the apparent decline of traditional forms of civic engagement, the emergence of new forms of participation and the relationship between citizenship and globalization.

Prospects for Citizenship

This book presents a detailed analysis of the new management of public services at the local level, drawing on the work of the ESRC Local Governance Programme. The radical transformation of public service delivery is assessed in terms of its overall impact as well as its operation in particular service areas. Efficiency has improved and services have gained a user focus yet the new management appears to be full of contradictions and distortions, in many respects creating as many problems as it solves.

The New Management of British Local Governance

Keith Baker

As is consistent with the concept of governance, nuclear power programmes are delivered through complex networks of international players. Governments seek to manage and govern networks through the practice of metagovernance, or the governance of the network governance. This study applies the tools of government approach to explore the ability of governments to act as metagovernors. Addressing in-depth case studies of France, Finland, Britain and the United States, it considers the extent to which each government can leverage the capabilities it possesses as a government. Baker and Stoker argue that the way governments seek to practice metagovernance is shaped by an underlying tradition of governance. The four case studies are shown to have struggled to promote new investment in nuclear power, and their range of actions limited by two key factors, the composition of the networks within which they are embedded, and the prevailing tradition of government.

The Limits to Governance

Nuclear Power and Energy Policy

This book examines the changing nature of local politics, drawing on the latest research from the ESRC Local Governance Programme. It assesses the emergence of new forms of élite organisations and changing power relations in the context of increasing roles for business and other partners. Public responses to changes in local governance are covered in depth including new forms of participation and protest. The book concludes with a consideration of the extent to which the emerging system of local governance can meet the social and economic challenges created by globalization.

The New Politics of British Local Governance

A tide of discontent is posing a major crisis for systems of mass democracy: the evidence is clear to see in reduced turnout & party membership & in opinion surveys. This book argues that the failures of politicians have played their part, but equally important are the political stances & styles adopted by many citizens.

Tim Brindley

Yvonne Rydin

Remaking Planning challenges the common misconception that planning under the Conservative government has been dismantled and abandoned to market forces. This new edition of a very well received text brings the original study up to date with an analysis of how planning in the 1990s has responded to continuing economic restructuring, political fragmentation and social change, and developed a new awareness of uncertainty and risk. The book illustrates how planning remains as a never-ending attempt to reconcile the demands of economic efficiency with those of democratic legitimacy.

The Politics of Urban Change

Remaking Planning

How can governments persuade their citizens to act in socially beneficial ways? This ground-breaking book builds on the idea of 'light touch interventions' or 'nudges' proposed in Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's highly influential Nudge (2008). While recognising the power of this approach, it argues that an alternative also needs to be considered: a 'think' strategy that calls on citizens to decide their own priorities as part of a process of civic and democratic renewal. As well as setting out these divergent approaches in theory, the book provides evidence from a number of experiments to show how using 'nudge' or 'think' techniques works in practice. Updated and rewritten, this second edition features a new epilogue that reflects on recent developments in nudge theory and practice, introducing a radical version of nudge, ‘nudge plus’. There is also a substantial prologue by Cass Sunstein.

Experimenting with ways to change citizen behaviour, second edition

Nudge, nudge, think, think

Jonathan Moss

Nick Clarke

Will Jennings

Asks how and why anti-political sentiment has grown among British citizens over the last half-century.

Folk Theories, Political Interaction, and the Rise of Anti-Politics

The Good Politician

B. Guy Peters

Jon Pierre

What does political science tell us about important real-world problems and issues? And to what extent does and can political analysis contribute to solutions? This is the challenge addressed by leading political scientists in this original text which will be essential reading for students and scholars alike.

The Relevance of Political Science

Hisako Nomura

Hanhua Liu

How can governments persuade citizens to act in socially beneficial ways? This successor to Thaler and Sunstein's cult book Nudge argues that an alternative approach needs to be considered - a 'think' strategy, in which citizens deliberate their own priorities as part of a process of civic renewal.

Gerry Stoker

Books

Your next favorite book is out there