Comparative Political Data Set I (23 OECD Countries)

Source: Institut für Politikwissenschaft – University of Berne

The Comparative Political Data Set 1960-2006 is a collection of political and institutional data which have been assembled in the context of the research projects „Die Handlungs-spielräume des Nationalstaates“ and “Critical junctures. An international comparison” directed by Klaus Armingeon and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. It consists of (mostly) annual data for 23 democratic countries for the period of 1960 to 2006. In the cases of Greece, Spain and Portugal, political data were collected only for the democratic periods[1]. The data set is suited for cross national, longitudinal and pooled time series analyses.

The data set contains some additional demographic, socio- and economic variables. However, these variables are not the major concern of the project, and are thus limited in scope. For a more in-depth source of these data, see the online databases of the OECD. For trade union membership, excellent data for European trade unions can be added from the CD-ROM of the Data Handbook by Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Jelle Visser (Trade Unions in Western Europe since 1945 (The Societies of Europe). New York, Basingstoke, Oxford: Grove’s Dictionaries, Macmillan, 2000).

A few variables have been copied from a data set collected by E. Huber, Ch. Ragin, J. Stephens, D. Brady and J. Beckfield (2004), as well as from a data set collected by D. Quinn. We are grateful for the permission to include these data.

In any work using data from this data set, please quote both the data set, and where appropriate, the original source. Please quote this data set as: Klaus Armingeon, Marlène Gerber, Philipp Leimgruber, Michelle Beyeler. Comparative Political Data Set 1960-2006, Institute of Political Science, University of Berne 2008.

 

From ForaTv, YouTube:

Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman criticizes child poverty rates in America, using the image of a family with six children who only care for five.

Marian Wright Edelman talks about her new book The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation. Book Passage, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA,Oct 27th, 2008.

See full video ”Marian Wright Edelman: A Course for the Next Generation” at http://fora.tv/2008/10/27/Marian_Wrig…

 

Video: Dartmouth – Thaddeus Stevens as a Good White Man, Randall L. Kennedy

From YouTube, Dartmouth, Rockefeller Darmouth Center:

Randall Kennedy, author and Harvard Law Professor, discusses the cause of racial equality. He highlights Thaddeus Stevens, Dartmouth class of 1814, who contributed to this cause. (4/10/08)

 

Privatization of Education Bibliography

From the The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) Website:

Prepared by BCTF Information Services Department
The following bibliography includes books, publications, journal articles, and reports on privatization issues(…..)
Issues
Corporate sponsorship/marketing to children
Education management organizations/companies
Fundraising / charging fees
Globalization
International students
Ownership of teacher-produced materials
Privatization – general
Privatization – international
Public funding of private schools
Public-private partnerships
School district business companies
Selling online / virtual education
Teachers spending own money on resources
Vending machines / selling junk food

 

Article: “China: from ‘emerging contender’ to ‘serious player’ in cross-border student mobility”

From GlobalHigherEd By Susan Robertson, Tue, Sep 23 2008:

Last year we carried a series of reports (see here, here and here) on the global distribution of student mobility. While the US and the UK had the lion’s share of this market, with 22% and 12% respectively, we noted China had made big gains. With 7% of the global market and in 6th place overall, it was an ‘emerging contender’ to be taken seriously, with trends suggesting that it was a serious player as a net ‘exporter’ and importer of education services.

So it was with great interest I read today’s Chronicle of Higher Education report by reporter Mara Hvistendahl, on China now being ranked in 5th place (behind the US, UK, France and Germany) as an “importer” of foreign students. See this OECD chart, from its new Education at a Glance 2008 report, to situate this development trend and China’s current position [recall that China is not an OECD member country]. [read full here]

 

Resource: History in Focus_The guide to historical resources (University of London)

This is a great resource for scholars and students for the historical study of global issues. For instances, the latest issue of the IHR guide, The city,  offers an impressive array of articles and resources on  history of the city, including a list of PHD thesis, key works and  numerous links to an array of  websites and articles.

History in Focus provides original articles, book reviews, and links to historical resources. The site is provided by the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.

Link: http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/index.html

 

News: British Universities Offer Cash to Get Students to Enroll in Unpopular Programs

I read this with a little bit of surprise at the chronicle of higher education news blog. Reading the article the apparent ‘unpopular’ degrees that mention are not in the humanities . In this case,  it appears that instead of reducing fees, universities are paying students directly into their bank accounts as incentive to enroll then in those degree programs.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, by Aisha Labi, August 17, 2008:

Several British universities apparently are offering cash incentives to students to induce them to enroll in unpopular degree programs, according to an investigation by London’s Sunday Times in which undercover reporters posed as students seeking spots.

A female reporter was offered £1,000, or $2,000, to enroll in Leicester University’s undergraduate physics program and was told “that she was a strong candidate for the money partly because women were ‘underrepresented’ on the course,” the Times reported. About a third of the undergraduates in the university’s physics department are women, which the Times notes “is above the national average.”

 

Resource: The Nationalism Project

The Nationalism Project is a great website with an impressive collection of nationalism studies resources

Link:http://www.nationalismproject.org/

“In an anthropological spirit, then, I propose the following definition of the nation: it is an imagined political community – - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign….” (Benedict Anderson)

From The Nationalism Project:

The Nationalism Project is one of the most widely used nationalism studies resources on the Internet and provides users with a clearinghouse of scholarly nationalism information including: leading definitions of nationalism, book reviews, web links, subject bibliographies, a bibliography of more than 2,000 journal articles, and much more. The site was createdin 1999 by Eric G.E. Zuelow, currently Assistant Professor of Modern European History at West Liberty State College. The Nationalism Project is loosely affiliated with the Association for Research on Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Americas (ARENA), an informal association of international scholars dedicated to the study of nationalism in both Northand South America.

 

Resource: EuroAtlas

Euratlas – Nüssli is a Swiss business specialist in historical digital cartography. The Website contains a number of free available maps of Europe from 4th century BC to the present. A useful place that can be used to exemplify the ‘artificial’ spatial construct of nations and the ever changing borderlines of states through time.

Link: http://www.euratlas.com/index.html

EuroAtlas:

Europe is presented as a cultural area delimited north by the polar circle, but limited here to degree 60, east by the Ural – Caspian – Zagros line, south by the Sahara and west by the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, on the Euratlas website you will find:

• A physical atlas of Europe which makes it possible to easily locate the geographical position of the main mountains, rivers, cities and borders. These online maps are interactive finders: you simply need to click a name and its location will appear on the general map.
• A historical atlas of Europe: history of the European area in 21 maps. These maps are designed as a tool of reference and offer a general historical vision of the last two millennia in Europe, North Africa and Near East.
• An online collection of antique maps of the 18th and 19th centuries, selected for the practical information provided like place names, roads, etc.
• The Photos section offers more than 1000 pictures of European and Mediterranean towns, landmarks and landscapes. These images are freely distributable provided that the euratlas logo remains in place.
• A clickable world atlas allowing the display of the 194 independent countries in the world with their main characteristics: long and short name in English and local language, area, population, capital etc. A separate page shows the special status territories, like Gaza, Transnistria, Karabagh, Puntland etc.

 

Resource: TSF Rising Powers [Stanley Foundation]

TSF Rising Powers is a beautifully designed resource to think about the new sources of global power.

Thanks to Fazal Rizvi and Nick Burbules for the link.

From Rising Powers: The New Global Reality Website [Stanley Foundation]:

The global order is changing. The 21st century will be marked by many competing sources of global power. Across politics, economics, culture, military strength, and more, a new group of countries has growing influence over the future of the world.

Rising Powers: The New Global Reality is a Stanley Foundation project designed to raise awareness, motivate new thinking, and ultimately improve US foreign policy regarding this global transformation. Our aim is to discuss several of the countries challenging the global order, major issues which cut across national boundaries, and how all of this will impact American lives.