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Why do some municipalities adopt ambitious climate action plans and others do not? This study examines United States cities that have signed the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, to identify the factors that have led some of them (37 percent, 63 cities) to adopt ambitious (Net Zero) climate action plans. It finds that two factors make the most difference: (a) whether the city has a paid city employee (or department) dedicated to environmental/energy management and (b) whether the city has a university. Other factors, such as per capita income, city revenue, state funding, size, partisan orientation, and membership in international climate networks, did not significantly influence how ambitious a city's climate action plan was. This study combines a statistical analysis of the signatory cities with a qualitative study Middletown Connecticut to explain why city energy managers and universities can have such a positive effect on city climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's Living Politics is likely to be of greatest interest to Japan scholars and students, and it should be widely adopted in Japan studies courses. Japan's Living Politics: Grassroots Action and the Crises of Democracy. [Extracted from the article]

This article seeks to explain why different types of volunteer organizations are prevalent in different countries. It hypothesizes that patterns of volunteer participation are a function of citizen attitudes toward governmental and individual responsibility for caring for society. Those countries (e.g., Japan)--where citizens think that governments should be responsible for dealing with social problems--will tend to have higher participation in embedded volunteer organizations, such as parent-teacher associations. Those countries (e.g., the United States)--where citizens think that individuals should take responsibility for dealing with social problems--will tend to have more participation in nonembedded, organizations, such as Greenpeace. These hypotheses are tested statistically using membership data from eight organizations in 68 countries. Alternative explanations, such as levels of income, education, urbanization, and prevalence of working women, are also tested. Citizen attitudes about individual and governmental responsibility are best able to explain the prevalence of different types of volunteer organizations found in different countries. Keywords: citizen attitudes; civil society: Japan; nonprofit organizations; volunteering

Citizen Power, Politics, and the 'Asian Miracle': Reassessing the Dynamics. By O. Fiona Yap. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005. 186 pp. $49.95. Cloth. In this concise yet comprehensive book Fiona [...]