Geoffrey Stokes

The book will address a major, contemporary issue in indigenous politics and liberal democracy found in many nations. Liberal democracies are increasingly recognising the rights and cultures of their indigenous people, yet expect all institutions to be accountable to their stakeholders and for those who receive and expend public monies to be accountable for their actions. This raises issues about the way that divergent indigenous and non-indigenous perceptions and structures of accountability affect the realisation of indigenous self-determination. Cultural differences, as much as socio-economic constraints, impede indigenous societies' efforts to achieve self-determination in both national and international arenas. Conflicts occur between various combinations of actors that reflect dissonance between indigenous cultural expectations and the bureaucratic accountability processes and expectations of the liberal democratic state. There is a paucity of literature on this issue and a major strength of the volume will be its integration of theoretical and applied perspectives. A range of case studies on indigenous self-determination and accountability in various liberal democratic states will provide a basis for devising options for achieving an effective interface between indigenous cultural expectations/aspirations and liberal democratic expectations. A further strength will be that both cultural and legislative methods for deriving forms of accountability will be examined. All the contributors are international experts within their fields.

This best-selling text has been revised to reflect the requirements of the 17th Edition of the IEEWiring Regulations (BS 7671: 2008). It includes essential information on the new rules applied to special installations or locations, such as bathrooms, swimming pool locations, camping/caravan sites, marinas, exhibition and show locations, solar photovoltaic power supply systems, and floor and ceiling heating systems, amongst others. It presents clear explanations on inspection, testing, certification and reporting, test instruments and test methods, as well as covering: electricity, the law, standards and codes of practice;assessment of general characteristics;protection against electric shock, thermal effects, overcurrent, undervoltage and overvoltage;isolation and switching;the common rules of equipment selection;switchgear, protective devices and other equipment;wiring systems (including the external influences on them and cable installation methods);protective conductors, earthing and protective bonding;supplies for safety services;the smaller installation, and;specialised installations, such as outdoor lighting, installations in churches, multi-occupancy blocks of flats. These topics are addressed with pertinent regulation numbers, and a useful appendix lists the relevant Standards. Background guidance and worked examples are provided where appropriate. Like the earlier editions of this text, this new edition will be a useful aid for designers, installers and verifiers of electrical installations, students of the industry wishing to gain better understanding of the many facets of electrical safety, and ‘duty holders’ as defined by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

The second edition of this groundbreaking Australian politics text is designed for issues based introductory and upper level courses. Reviewers of the first edition commented on “the distinctive, issues-based and forward-looking approach” of the book and its “useful coverage of diverse perspectives on influential political ideologies and the changing political culture in Australia”. The second edition builds on these strengths and brings new authors and new chapter content to significantly improve and update the text. Politics of Australian Society 2e offers students a lively and accessible examination of the Australian political landscape and is a valuable contribution to the discipline.

Karl Popper is a philosopher of knowledge and politics, rationality and freedom. His ideas have won acceptance and provoked controversy among an academic as well as a more general audience. This book aims to broaden our understanding of Popper's philosophy. It is one of the few studies to present his work as an evolving "system of ideas", and to take account of the full range of his writings. The book discusses Popper's early philosophy of politics, science and social science, as well as his later philosophy, which offers an evolutionary account of human nature and the growth of knowledge. Contrary to many earlier interpretations, Stokes argues that we should look to Popper's political values to understand the unity of his work and the evolution of his theory of knowledge and general philosophy. The chapters in this book examine Popper's arguments, and offer critical analysis of the achievements and shortcomings of his philosophy. In particular, Stokes considers the problems of rationality, politics and ethics in the context of debates between the Frankfurt School of critical theory and critical rationalism. The book will be of interest to second-year undergraduates and above in the fields of philosophy and critical theory.

In 1988 the United States Congress passed laws declaring improbably that the USA would be 'drug free' by 1995. In 1998 the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs committed itself to the implausible goal of eradicating the trade in heroin and cocaine within a decade-at a time when global heroin production had trebled and global cocaine production had doubled. Somewhere in Australia, almost every year for the past quarter-century, there has been a royal commission or other major official inquiry into the illicit drug industry. The Australian government spends millions of dollars on attempting to control the illicit drug trade. Almost 85 per cent of these funds are allocated to law enforcement; 5 per cent goes to treatment and 10 per cent to prevention and research. Meanwhile the drug industry in Australia grows bigger and richer every year, and as a result our rates of addiction, crime and death continue to rise. Drugs and Democracy examines Australia s unsuccessful attempts to control the illicit drug industry, and discusses how-within the confines of our liberal democratic values and culture-we could improve our strategies.