The intention of this book's contributions is to focus on some key aspects of social capital in the context of civic participation, governance and civil society at both national and EU levels. The role of new EU members is particularly stressed. The texts aim to demonstrate how social capital in the form of co-operative norms and actions facilitates the self-organisation of civil society and its internal ability to articulate policy relevant alternative proposals. The efficiency and responsiveness of governance at different - local, national, transnational - levels are also addressed. Besides theoretical reconsiderations, the book draws attention to the issue of the quality of data and greater methodological reflexivity.

This book highlights the role of entrepreneurship, social capital and governance for regional economic development. In recent decades, many researchers have claimed that entrepreneurship is the most critical factor in sustaining regional economic growth. However, most entrepreneurship research is undertaken without considering the fundamental importance of the regional context. Other research has emphasized the role of social capital but there are substantial problems in empirically relating measures of social capital to regional economic development. The expert contributors to this work highlight the role of governance in regional growth, an area that has so far been relatively under-researched, underpinning their findings with new theoretical and empirical evidence. They conclude that the relationship between entrepreneurship, social capital and governance in factors affecting regional economic development are complex and interdependent, and that to influence these factors and the relationship between them, policymakers must have a long-term perspective and be both patient and persistent in their efforts. This enlightening book will be of great interest to academics, students and researchers across a range of fields including regional science, regional economics, economic geography, regional planning, public policy, entrepreneurship, political science and economic sociology. Policymakers involved in regional policymaking from national down to regional and local levels will also find the book to be an illuminating read.

Although there is significant interest in the social role of sport in fostering civil society from both policymakers and academics, there is a lack of evidence of the specific role of sport federations in this system. This book critically presents the mechanisms and structures in a selection of sport federations within a variety of European countries that illuminate the varied relationships between not-for-profit sport federations, their members, governments and the citizens they represent. The contributors explore the contrasts and synergies between core social capital theoretical perspectives, and how these may be informed by and/or shape the realities of governance from different perspectives within the sport system.

Governments perform better where there is more general trust and strong civic norms; they perform less well where citizens are less trusting and less civic-minded.

This cutting edge collection focuses on the nature of civil society and its role in facilitating governance in Central Asia, considering local implications related to the concept of social capital and civil society in the Uzbek context. It discusses the complexity of the notion of social capital in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, detailing the challenges and pressures facing the Uzbek people.Challenging prevailing views on post-Soviet political transitions, the book demonstrates that successful transition to democracy and rule of law cannot be accomplished unless the concerns, fears, frustrations and local understandings of the desired political system are heard, registered and carefully interpreted. Offering a comparative study of civil society and social capital in Asia, this collection is a key read not only for scholars and students in civil governance and post-soviet transitions, but also aid agencies, foreign governments, and international organisations working with civil society groups.

Several problems plague contemporary thinking about governance. From the multiple definitions that are often vague and confusing, to the assumption that governance strategies, networks and markets represent attempts by weakening states to maintain control. Rethinking Governance questions this view and seeks to clarify how we understand governance. Arguing that it is best understood as 'the strategies used by governments to help govern', the authors counter the view that governments have been decentred. They show that far from receding, states are in fact enhancing their capacity to govern by developing closer ties with non-government sectors. Identifying five 'modes' of government (governance through hierarchy, persuasion, markets and contracts, community engagement, and network associations), Stephen Bell and Andrew Hindmoor use practical examples to explore the strengths and limitations of each. In so doing, they demonstrate how modern states are using a mixture of governance modes to address specific policy problems. This book demonstrates why the argument that states are being 'hollowed out' is overblown.

Negotiations for a new EU-China Partnership & Cooperation Agreement have just got underway and are likely to take two to three years. This is the first book to explore the wide range of issues affecting the China-EU relationship, including the US factor, environmental issues, WTO, governance, trade matters, civil society, democracy, the RMB, energy security, arms embargo, UN reform, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, Africa and many others. The result of an intense, collaborative exercise between over 30 respected Chinese and European scholars, this timely book highlights the necessity of a China-EU relationship and why it will be mutually beneficial. Recommendations for the harmonious development of relations between China and the EU are offered as well. Sample Chapter(s). Foreword by Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 (23 KB). A New Agenda (61 KB). Chapter 1: Key Elements of a Strategic Partnership (64 KB). Annex: List of Contributors (1,619 KB). Contents: Foreword (C Patten); A New Agenda (E Reuter); Strategic Issues: Key Elements of a Strategic Partnership (F Cameron & Y-N Zheng); Environment (D O'Gorman & C-Q Zhu); Energy (Y-F Ding); Security Issues (H Xing); The Reform of the UN (G Geeraerts, Z-M Chen & G Macaj); Geopolitics: The US Factor (A Small); Taiwan (J W Blankert); China and Its Neighbors (J Zhang); Japan (F Zhu); North Korea (G Ford); Iran (S Crossick & B-Y Wu); Africa (T-J Zhang); Trade Matters: The World Trade Organization (Y-F Ding); Market Economy Status (J-S Li); The RMB in the Global Currency Market (W van der Geest); The Arms Embargo (X-B Guo); Cultural and Social Reflections: Mutuality: Confucius and Monnet (S Crossick & H Zhou); Similarities and Differences (G Wacker); Governance (J-S Li); Developing a Chinese Civil Society (T Heberer); Knowledge, Economic Development and Democracy in China (J Wong); Promoting Mutual Understanding (S Crossick). Readership: Academics and think-tankers; decision-makers; opinion-formers; broader public policy audience.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th Conference on Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges in Eurasia, EGOSE 2021, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in November 2021. The 21 full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 69 submissions, additionally one invited paper has been included in this volume. The papers are organized in topical sections on ​digital technology and design; digital Society; digital government and economy.

Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid proliferation of eGovernance for Development projects. Drawing on evidence from three longitudinal case studies of rural eGovernance projects this book shows that improving systems of governance is fundamentally a social rather than managerial or technological activity.

Metropolitan Governance is an indispensable book for understanding the governance of metropolitan cities. The book covers an insight into the governance in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. The participatory metropolitan governance is also of interest to the students of sociology, social work and geography. The students of public administration would find it useful to study the decentralisation of powers from centre to state to local level government. For academicians engaged in service delivery in metropolitan areas, it brings in clarity regarding role of varied stakeholders in governance.