Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Representative Bureaucracy - Classic Readings and Continuing Controversies

Edited by Julie Dolan and David H. Rosenbloom.

Should the Bureaucracy be a representation of the population or the dominant forces of the population? Does the minority group compete with females to being represented in the Administration? This book has it all.

Representative Bureaucracy - Classic Readings and Continuing Controversies focuses on the United States of America as a context.

There are hypotheses and statistics to explain all about Representative Bureaucracy. Each chapter starts with a brief overview of the various views on a certain issue.

Overall Rating : 5/10

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

When Presdients Lie by Eric Alterman

Eric Alterman digs into the history of official deception and its consequences in his book, When Presidents Lie. He recognises the necessity of Presidents to lie under certain circumstances but dread the lies that result in war and subsequently the cause of unnecessary deaths. Yet those lies were created by American Presidents for self politically motivated purposes.

The case studies include Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and the Yalta Conference; John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis; Ronald W. Reagan, Central America and the Iran-Contra Scandal; George W. Bush and the Post-Truth Presidency.

Eric Alterman draws on many sources in this heavily footnoted book to display a convincing portrayal of the Presidents. After reading When Presidents Lie, I felt disgusted and remained puzzled why someone of great power would want to wrest it this way...

Overall Rating : 10/10

Monday, October 6, 2008

The Future Role of Singapore by Dick Wilson

Published in 1972, The Future Role of Singapore depicts the problematic issues of the newly independent island-state republic. As the title of the book suggests, Dick Wilson analysed the trend of developments in Singapore and expressed his views on the future role of Singapore amidst a region that is catching up with development as well.

Dick Wilson believed that Singapore would be a step further from its neighbours while ensuring that they do not lag behind in terms of development. Singapore could contribute in their development as well.

Even though the book was published more than 3 decades ago, it is still relevant. The vulnerability of a small state with the absence of natural resources and geopolitical factors are going to stay on.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

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