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With many OECD countries experiencing a decline in their populations, this book offers a theoretical model of coping with demographic change and examines different strategies that societies have used to come to terms with demographic change. In particular, it details the different ways that Germany and Poland have tried to cope with this challenge and reveals three conflicting strategies: expansion, reduction, and phasing out.

Coverage includes:

ú How and why demographic change was used in Poland to expand the education system

ú The variance of linkage between demographic change and growth rates in different fields of education in a German Bundesland

ú Modes of reflexivity and personnel policy in German and Polish municipalities

ú Effects of demographic change and forms of coping on fiscal capacity and unemployment rates in German municipalities

Coping with Demographic Change examines how and why societies cope with these detrimental effects. It conceptualizes the challenges a society faces as a result of demographic change and focuses on the processes by which actors, organizations and nation-states try to cope with this new situation.

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1: Introduction.- 2: Demographic Change as a Challenge.- 3: How do Societies Cope with complex Demographic Challenges? A Model .- 4: Data Sets and Methods Used.- 5: Why do Municipalities ´think´ in Demographic Terms? Governing by Population Numbers in Germany and Poland.- 6: Coping with Demographic Decline in German and Polish Municipalities.- 7: Expansive Reaction to Demographic Change. The Case of the Polish Educational Sector.- 8: The Demographic Responsiveness of Education Demand and Supply at Different Levels of the Education System.- 9: Personnel Strategies of Public Sector Organisations in Response to a Declining Service Population. A Model and Empirical Evidence.- 10: Demographic Challenges and Mentalities: Models of Reflexivity and Personnel Policy in Germany and Polish Municipalities.- 11: The Consequences of Coping with Demographic Change for Fiscal Capacity of and Unemployment in German Municipalities.

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"I would not hesitate to recommend this volume as reading for graduate students or colleagues with a general interest in the implications of population decline in Europe, or education. ... the material should be accessible, and of use, to the more reflective and critical kind of practitioners in public administration and planning." (Bilal Barakat, International Sociology Reviews, Vol. 32 (5), September, 2017)
"The main goal of this book is to create a general theory of approaches in various countries how to cope with demographic change. ... One of the advantages of this book is that it uses extensive evidence and data sets. Its research value lies in an in-depth presentation of the mixed reactions to demographic change with regard to public policies and public administration. ... interesting for scholars and practitioners who focus on demography, local governments, and education systems." (M.A. Andrzej Klimczuk, Pol-Int, pol-int.org, May, 2015)

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