[Polyarchy]  [Polyarchy : documents]

Sources : new additions (2008)


[1988] Robert H. Frank, Passions Within Reasons. The Strategic Role of the Emotions, Norton & Company, New York
- Contents: Preface. One: Beyond Self-Interest. Two: The Altruism Paradox. Three: A Theory of Moral Sentiments. Four: Reputation. Five: Signaling. Six: Telltale Clues. Seven: Predicting Cooperation. Eight: Becoming Moral. Nine: Fairness. Ten: Love. Eleven: Human Decency. Twelve: Reflections. Appendix: A Formal Version of the Commitment Model. Notes.
- Comment: An interesting view of the economists' mind and of passions in economics.


[1999] David Gladstone, editor, Before Beveridge. Welfare before the Welfare State, Institute of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare Unit, London
- Contents: David Gladstone, Welfare Before the Welfare State. Jane Lewis, The Voluntary Sector in the Mixed Economy of Welfare. David G. Green, The Friendly Societies and Adam-Smith Liberalism. Noel Whiteside, Private Provision and Public Welfare: Health Insurance Between the Wars. Jose Harris, Political Thought and the Welfare State 1870-1949: An Intellectual Framework for British Social Policy. A.W. Vincent, The Poor Law Reports of 1909 and the Social Theory of the Charity Organization Society. Pat Thane, The Working Class and State 'Welfare' in Britain, 1880-1914. Notes .
- Comment: Unmasking the myth that there was no welfare before the state intervened monopolizing the field.


[1974] Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority, Harper & Row, New York
- Contents: 1. The Dilemma of Obedience. 2. Methods of Inquiry. 3. Expected Behavior. 4. Closeness of the Victim. 5. Individuals Confront Authority. 6. Further Variations and Controls. 7. Individuals Confront Authority II. 8. Role Permutations. 9. Group Effects. 10. Why Obedience? - An Analysis. 11. The Process of Obedience: Applying the Analysis to the Experiment. 12. Strain and Disobedience. 13. An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression the Key? 14. Problems of Method. 15. Epilogue. Appendix I: Problems of Ethics in Research. Appendix II: Patterns Among Individuals. Notes. References.
- Comment: One of the most powerful documents on the phenomenon of irresponsible obedience that is so common under statism with its dominion of the "professional" man.
See also: http://www.panarchy.org/milgram/obedience.html


[1954] Gordon W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice, Doubleday & Co., New York, 1958
- Contents: Part I. Preferential Thinking. 1. What is the Problem? 2. The Normality of Prejudgment. 3. Formation of In-groups. 4. Rejection of Out-groups. 5. Patterning and Extent of Prejudice. Part II. Group Differences. 6. The Scientific Study of Groups. 7. Racial and Ethnic Differences. 8. Visibility and Strangeness. 9. Traits Due to Victimization. Part III. Perceiving and Thinking About Group Differences. 10. The Cognitive Process. 11. Linguistic Factors. 12. Stereotypes in Our Culture. 13. Theories of Prejudice. Part IV. Sociocultural Factors. 14. Social Structure and Cultural Pattern. 15. Choice of Scapegoats. 16. The Effect of Contact. Part V. Acquiring Prejudice. 17. Conforming. 18. The Young Child. 19. Later Learning. 20 Inner Conflict. Part VI. The Dynamics of Prejudice. 22. Aggression and Hatred. 23. Anxiety, Sex, Guilt. 24. Projection. Part VII. Character Structure. 25. The Prejudiced Personality. 26. Demagogy. 27. The Tolerant Personality. 28. Religion and Prejudice. Part VIII. Reducing Group Tensions. 29. Ought There to Be a Law? 30 Evaluation of Programs. 31 Limitations and Horizons.
- Comment: A detailed study of the phenomenon of prejudice with interesting insights on the working of the human mind.


[1996] David G. Green, Community Without Politics. A market approach to welfare reform, The Institute of Economic Affairs, London
- Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. The Ideal of Liberty: A Re-statement. 3. The Three Inseparables and the Sources of Collectivism. 4. The Welfare System: What is Going Wrong? 5. Making A Reality of Civil Association. 6. Some Policy Proposals.
- Comment: A very good analysis of the dependency engendered by state welfare. Less interesting are the policy proposals at chapter 6.


[2001] Michael D. Tanner, The Poverty of Welfare, Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., 2003
- Contents: Preface. 1. "The End of Welfare as We Know it". 2. Welfare Before 1996. 3. The Need for Reform - Then and Now. 4. The Results of Reform. 5. Welfare: End It, Don't Mend It. 6. The Dangers of Government-Funded Charity. 7. Getting Out of Poverty. 8. Conclusion: The Poverty of Welfare.
- Comment: The author sums up very well his ideas about state welfare when he recommends: End It, Don't Mend It.


[2004] Doug Bandow, The Politics of Envy. Statism as Theology, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, U.S.A.
- Contents: Foreword by Robert Sirico. Introduction: The Age of Politics, Continuation. I. The Transcendent Questions. 1. Virtue versus Freedom: Allies or Antagonists? 2. God and the Economy: Is Capitalism Moral? 3. Should Christians Be Statists? 4. Libertarians and Christians in a Hostile World. II. Abortion: The Irreconcilable Conflict. 5. The Real Meaning of Choice. 6. From Pro-Choice to Pro-Coercion. 7. The Escalating Abortion Wars. III. Earth Keeping or Earth Worship? 8. Ecology as Religion: Faith in Place of Fact. 9. Environmentalism: The Triumph of Politics. IV. Republic or Empire: The New Wilsonism. 10. Keep the Troops and the Money at Home. 11. The Pitfalls of Collective Security. V. International Debt or Development? 12. The Misdeeds of International Aid. 13. World Bank: Servant of Governments, Not Peoples. VI. The Regulatory State. 14. America's Regulatory Dirty Dozen. 15. Whither Health Care in the Age of Clinton? 16. The Pharmaceutical Industry: Problem or Solution? 17. National Service: Utopia Revisited. 18. Real Welfare Reform: An Idea Whose Time Has Come. 19. War on Drugs or America? VII. Redistribution without End. 20 Still Paying for Government. 21. The Decade of Envy. 22. No Theirs to Give. 23. Tax Fairness, Clinton-Style. 24. The New Democrats: Spend and Tax, Rather than Tax and Spend. 25. A Coast-to-Coast Federal Dole. 26. The Time of the Political Locusts. 27. The NEA: They Still Don't Get It.
- Comment: Common sense at its best highlighting statism nonsense at its (usual) worst.



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