This book can be a useful introduction to a series of problems in modern democratic theory. It also intends to lie foundations of a new theorethical approach to institutional design. In a most persuasive fashion, McCubbins and Lupia erroneously acknowledge Aristotle's theory of persuasion of the Ars Rhetorica a polis-centered context of justification, therefore they fail to prove that for Aristotle "people know each other well to see lies coming in advance". Nevertheless, they present their own theory of persuasion in terms of game theory. Based in a series of explanational concepts, backed by all the experiment data of the second part, they conclude that personal character may no play any role in persuasion, as in Aristotle's supposed theory of persuasion, as long as external forces, such as verification, penalty for lying or observable speaker's costly effort, can make the speaker tell the truth about what he knows. In their subsequent theory of delegation, they erroneously acknowledge Weber an impossibility theorem in the realm of political expertise, while presenting their own theory of delegation, again, in a game theorethical fashion, and give examples of how external forces may play a role in electoral campaigns, burocracies and courtrooms.

Arthur Lupia and Mathew McCubbins' The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? offers an alternative view to the idea that voter ignorance hinders rational political decision making. Instead, Lupia and McCubbins argue that access to limited information by certain political players and under certain conditions allows voters the methods to make rational decisions.

First, a note about the researchers reference to Aristotelian ethos. In the theoretical foundation of the text, Lupia and McCubbins correctly interpret Aristotle's writings in On Rhetoric as asserting the power of ethos (perceived speaker credibility) on persuasive success. However, the researchers suggest:
"[I]t may be impossible for us to know much about another person's character. Aristotle concludes that persuasion requires such knowledge. We disagree...By contrast to Aristotle, we base our explanation of persuasion on the premise that people need not know one another well" (p. 42).
I believe that this assessment and interpretation of Aristotle's writings on persuasion is flawed. Aristotle was not arguing that we must know speakers well before we will listen to them; in contrast, Aristotle believed that a speaker also creates credibility during a speech, (e.g., derived credibility) and the perception of the speaker's credibility in progress affects our likelihood of being influenced in addition to the speaker's initial credibility.

I wouldn't argue that their interpretation negates their underlining theroetical foundation, but instead, that what Lupia and McCubbins argue in their theory is actually consistent with this classic view of credibility and influence. In my view, their take is not a "different" take, but instead, is a more nuanced take.

Nevertheless, this is a relatively minor point of contention. This text contains a very carefully laid out theory of voter knowledge and influence under very specific conditions, adding important nuance to our understanding of political influence and decision-making. The latter part of the book provides solid empirical research to support their theory.

A solid read for the political scholar. The researchers make a novel argument, one that raises immediate questioning by most readers, but then lays out their case in a refreshingly convincing manner.

This book is not entirely without merit. The amount of research the author has done is awesome - he copied out some 600 memorials on marital, sex offences, and family disputes, from the Beijing Archives alone. A further 80 memorials in the same category, were also copied from records in provincial bureaus. However, only a relatively small number of these cases are cited, presumably since the number of different types of sex type of crime is limited.

Illicit sex, rape and sodomy, are discussed in detail, but paedophilia is not considered as a separate subject, and is simply included under the heading of "rape," even when penile penetration did not take place and was just sexual molestation of young children. The subject of incest is ignored completely.

He gives brief details of what he calls the "ideal rapist," and records that most rapists were in their twenties or thirties, and his sample indicates that 67 percent had lowly or stigmatized occupations, including 22 agricultural laborers, one beggar, one barber, one soldier and three men out of work. Fourteen had more "respectable" occupations, mostly peasants, but two tailors, and one mat weaver. Most were poor. Most were unmarried. His conclusion is that the "ideal" rapist is young, "without property, status, family, or prospects - and hence with little stake in the social order."

He also gives brief details of the "ideal rape victim." Out of a sample of 50, twenty-eight were married, thirteen were unmarried daughters living at home, and seven were girls who were betrothed. Thirty-seven (74 percent) were raped at home. Eighteen of the victims suffered death by homicide or suicide. Eleven of the victims were eleven years of age or under. The author does not differentiate between penile penetration of these youngsters and molestation.

The sheer volume of cases the author has collected seems to have overwhelmed him, and the book becomes dangerously close to being redolent with statistics without reasoned resolution. One is drawn to the conclusion from reading this book that while rape, sodomy, and marital disputes unquestionably occurred during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing times, the percentage of court cases is relatively small, considering the size of the population.

The author boldly faces the unpleasant details of the cases, and does not shun cases of sadism and torture. He states that he owes a debt to his father, an Urologist, for his lack of squeamishness when talking about sex and the body. He says he has "not glossed over the details, and have avoided euphemism, and at time my treatment may seem detached, if not callous." In spite of this, or maybe because of this, the author's style of writing is difficult to read, and gets dangerously close to being boring. Some of the more complex cases urgently need clearer analysis and revision.

As a final point, it should be said that there is nothing salacious or prurient about this book. The author is truly detached, if not callous in his approach. There is much information in this book, and this makes it valuable, particularly to the specialist academic, but it must have a very limited audience

Reviewers need to bear in mind that this work is not intended to be easy: it demands substantial effort on the part of the reader. The painstaking archival research that the author conducted for this book--he read document after document in Chinese archives pertaining to Ming and Qing-dynasty court cases--lends this book a unique authority. Some more general books may have arguments that are easier to digest, but Sommer shows you case by case how sex crimes were really conceived and prosecuted. This is an unprecedented study of sex in late imperial Chinese legal thinking and practice, but it is not light reading and may not be ideal as an introduction to the subject.

The BSD type printing systems were discussed head to toe but the System V printing systems were referenced sparingly. Because of this, many Solaris and SGI users will have to read beyond the BSD parts to interpret the concepts. I was also surprised that there was no information on CUPS, while some Linux operating systems use it as their primary printing system. If you look past these two points, the book is a fine reference for all UNIX administrators. There is a definitely a distinct demand for these types of books.

The BSD type printing systems were discussed head to toe but the System V printing systems were referenced sparingly. Because of this, many Solaris and SGI users will have to read beyond the BSD parts to interpret the concepts. I was also surprised that there was no information on CUPS, while some Linux operating systems use it as their primary printing system. If you look past these two points, the book is a fine reference for all UNIX administrators. There is a definitely a distinct demand for these types of books.

I found "Network Printing" to be a fine example of taking documentation from at least half-a-dozen sources and tying it all together with a coherent theme: providing network print services to customers using (fill-in-the-blank) systems. Six years ago, when I was managing four Unix systems for 100 customers who wanted to print their reports on any of a dozen printers (some Ethernet, some Ethernet-to-serial), this book would have been a godsend. I especially enjoyed the description of the history of printing: it put into context a lot of things I just accepted without further thought. Anyone in the above situation, or even someone who would like to reliably set up print services, from either the client or server perspective, would be wise to get this book.

This book is to helpful in your curiosity about the kinds of conures there are & how to house them but hardly any info. is given on how to understand they're personality or on their habits & how to explore them further.

This book is a good source for those who are looking for information on basic care and breeding of conures. However, it gives little information on keeping Conures as pets. There are almost no training tips given.

This is not of great value to the average companion bird owner. It is geared mainly to the individual interested in breeding and setting up a breeding avaiary. There is very scant info on personality and characteristics. As most info is for breeding purposes,all cage and care requirements are written for at least 2 birds. Almost all info is provided concerning wild caught, or nearly adult-parent reared offspring. As it is so easy to locate a good breeder that hand rears young, this is of little use. This book did not meet my needs, but would be useful to a perspective breeder of Sun Conures.

I used this book from April to June 2000 cruising the Bahamas on our way to Panama via the Windward Passage.I found if the wind blew from the east then the book did not give information on other anchorages that one could change to E.G. White Cay Berri Islands and Stanley Cay in the Exums.In other instances the best anchorages were not even mentioned by Wilson. The books G.P.S. waypoints were dangerous wrong E.G.George Town .The lack of information on entrances from the sound to the banks E.G. The entrance to Thunder Ball Cave area .It is my belief that this book is dangerous and it is best to find another guide book.

During a cruise through the Bahamas in the spring of 2000, this guide was a great disappointment. The BA charts are woefully lacking in detail -- especially depths -- and discussions of shore sites are in many cases unduly negative. We visited a number of places about which Mr. Wilson used disparaging terms and found them delightful. Coverage of the Exumas assumes one is approaching from the banks side and gives little attention to approaches from Exuma Sound. In some places the author gets on a soapbox for environmental concerns and in other places he tacitly approves practices (such as feeding fish at snorkel sites) that are not ecologically sound. Fails to acknowledge existence of the Explorer series of charts that are by far the best for practical use in the area. In general, the "yellow pages" info is current and useful, but all things considered, there are better cruising guides for the Bahamas.

I have several Bahamas cruising guides and this is the BEST ! I live in the Bahamas and have found things here I did not know. It is accurate, easy to read,and well written. I highly reccomend this book to anybody that is interested in cruising the Bahamas or even those interested in the Bahamas at all. A REALLY GOOD BOOK ! Head and shoulders above the rest of the Bahamian cruising guides!

She may be a former CIA agent, but that does not make her an interesting writer of spy fiction. Bored-to-tears through page 50 at which point the book was tossed into the "give to the Red Cross" bag. Good spy books are supposed to be heavy on the plot and setting, not all that deep on character. Just enough to outline the players with out being overbearing. There is plenty of character development (too much) that leads to nothing. I'm a former military intel guy. Tradecraft isn't all that interesting to me but storyline is. If you enjoy Littell, Deighton or LeCarre, avoid this book. Maybe the "beach book" readers will find it interesting. That's the worst thing that I could say about any espionage book.

Francine Mathews is a gifted, intelligent writer! I really enjoyed her writing, but the "timing" between the two story lines, fell short.

The story begins with a bored, highly energized women on Wall Street. Stefani Fogg, who happens to be a Portfolio Manager, decides to throw away her career for a life of James Bond type excitement. Mathews does a great job in this book, showing how the "green" Ms. Fogg is "used" by her superiors and her enemies. The book follows two stories, the story of Stefani's adventure with Max Roderick and his Grandfather, Jack Roderick (portraying the real life CIA agent, Jim Thompson).

The story starts by concentrating on Stefani's adventure and then...boom, right when you can't wait to get to the next page, the story backtracks to the life of Jack Roderick. This is where I find fault with this book. The story tends to pull away from the most interesting and exciting parts, at the wrong time!

As the book continues, we are introduced to many characters, so much, that it takes away from the drama. At times, I found myself struggling to get through some of Jack's life (which is interesting, but I want to get back to Stefani!!). As Mathews lays out the foundation for each story line, the clutter of characters, the unnecessary or extra chapters of Jack's life, takes away from the drama in Stefani's new world.

In conclusion, the challanges of being an agent and the inexperiecne of Stefani Fogg, the (frequent) flashbacks to Jack Rodericks daily and CIA life, along with multiple characters, makes this book difficult. I understand that Mathews did intensive research on Jim Thompsons life, but I have to question the choice of such an inexperienced character to unravel one of the most complex mysteries to date.?

Francine Mathews has the talent for a 5 star book, but in honesty, this book missing that mark~!

Mathews does a masterful job telling the story of Jack Roderick, a fictionalized version of the legendary American, Jim Thompson, who disappeared without a trace in 1967. This is a thriller with a thread of romance that pulls the reader through the book. The plot is as tightly woven as a bolt of Thai silk, and the characters equally colorful. Details of southeast asian culture and landscape rounded out this engaging story.

the book tells you the ways to survive in the game.With the book you will play a better game.

This strategy guide is perfect. It has everything a Fallout player needs. It has descriptions of weapons, armour, non-player characters (NPC's) and more! And the maps are extermly helpful. Some may say it will spoil the game but that's not true, the guide offers you help if your stuck or want a piece of info. You don't have to read the whole guide if you think that will spoil everything. I myself read the whole guide and I think it didn't spoil the game at all. Actually, I think it made the game even more interesting! So for all the Fallout players this is recommended but of course many will want to try beating the game without help but that is nearly impossible because every Fallout player needs help every once in a while.

- Vitali Gusatinsky

I bought this strategy kinda of weary about if it was gonna ruin the game. It didn't! I'm tellin you friend this book has it all for when your stuck it doesn't give the game at all what it does is guide you. I Highly recemend it to all!!!

As a Solaris admin I have little knowledge of Oracle. I really did not want to know much either. However, I must know something of it's design and layout. I also need to know what services/daemons do what. However, all the books I found covered Oracle on NT/2000. Who in their right mind would do such a thing! Anyway, this book as sufficient coverage of Oracle on Solaris that it helped get me up to speed on Oracle enough to understand an Oracle DBA when they speak!

This book is probably one of the best book I have in my personal Oracle Library. Very well explained examples, good detail on Oracle Architecture, Management and database administration. Author has done a good job. If you are looking to become an Oracle application developer "you are wasting your time" this book is more for intermediate level person or if you have some exposure to Oracle then you will understand what author is trying to explain. Other books you might want to take a look is "Oracle 8i DBA Handbook" very similar contents.

This is a wonderful book which covers all the aspects of Oracle, including all the interfaces with Oracle. A really excellent book for DBAs and Programmer Analysts. It helped me a lot in understanding DBA part. Am excellent Que publication. I appreciate the structure and contents of the book

Maybe I didn't read int the information enough prior to purchasing this book, but I found it to be very basic. More like a text book than a recipe book. Lots of history and background information, and slim on the recipes. Most of this information you can easily find on the internet. I was looking for a guide to make what you might buy and Starbucks, and though a couple might be here I think it is a far cry from how they actually do it. This book was published in 1993 maybe things have evolved since then.

This is a relativly simple book for those who want to impress their friends with a tasty coffee. However if you are a true espresso fan you may be dissapointed, I find the book has more of a candy appeal than true coffee expressions.

As I am French, I enjoy a good cup of cafe au lait. But if you are looking to broaden your horizons, this is the book to own! A coffee lover's heaven, there are lots of great recipes that will be sure to please. Very handy for parties, afternoon gathering or just for yourself. Absolutely wonderful!

It is unfortunate when an author approaches his or her subject with such a predetermined perspective that the author's opinions and report of facts becomes suspect. This is clearly the case with Nancy Mathews approach to Paul Gauguin.

She starts with the assumption that he is an abusive and violent man, and selectively views his life to support this distorted view.

Some examples: At p. 66 that author states: "It is not known whether Gauguin beat his children." What an outrageous statement for a purportedly objective biographer to make! It is like the proverbial qustion "When did you stop beating your wife?"

On page 62 as an example of Gauguin's "cruelty" to women is cited the fact that when Gauguin engaged in the Danish custom of men and women bathing nude at the beach he actually looked at a pretty, nude woman.

Also on page 62 the author states that when Gauguin left Denmark and returned to Paris, "Out of spite he took one of the children ..Clovis". The author offers not a sintilla of evidence to back up her statement that this action was spitefully motivated, rather than a natural paternal desire to have one of his sons with him.

Whatever merits the book may otherwise have, this obvious bias of the author makes the entire book suspect.

This book, in its calm, even-handed way, manages to make Paul Gauguin come to life for the first time. Rather than rehash the myths about this man (which, Mathews demonstrates, were started by Gauguin himself), the author goes directly to the primary sources to trace his life and understand his character. It turns out that he did beat his wife and leave her and their five children without financial support. And he treated most of his friends and colleagues with equal heartlessness. But the story does not end there. It goes on to show how even out of such a flawed character great art could arise. This book teaches much about the unpredictability of creative talent.