West European Politics articles from July 1998

West European Politics archives from July 1998

Better the devil you know? Synthetic and confederal understandings of European unification.
July 1, 1998... This article seeks to explore the viability of continued recourse to theories of European unification derived from international relations (IR) at a stage in the development of the European Union (EU) where a distinct Europolity has emerged. This...

Elections, parties and institutional design: a comparative perspective on European Union democracy.
July 1, 1998... EUROPEAN UNION DEMOCRACY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE' The alliteration 'democratic deficit' is so widely used and abused when discussing the European Union (EU) that it is now almost meaningless. To clarify the concept, nevertheless, Weller et...

Democratic accountability and central bank independence: historical and contemporary, national and European perspectives. (includes appendix)
July 1, 1998... In recent years the issue of central bank independence has become increasingly topical. Countries such as Belgium, France and Spain have all passed legislation to increase the decision-making autonomy of their respective central banks. More...

Globalisation and the (non-) defence of the welfare state. (British and Norwegian welfare states)
July 1, 1998... Since the 1970s, the welfare state in Western Europe has been in a state of crisis. Internally, the welfare state has been eroded by demographic changes, the costs of its expansion, post-materialist issues and neo-liberal political and economic...

The politics of currency crisis in Sweden: policy choice in a globalised economy.
July 1, 1998... UNDERSTANDING THE STATE IN A GLOBALISED ECONOMY(1) A significant consequence of the deregulation of financial and currency markets in the Western European political economy has been aggressive speculation against different currencies....

Cities and states in Europe.
July 1, 1998... Claims about the ungovernable quality of societies in the West are often linked to the increasingly marked differentiation and autonomisation of subsystems in society, to the fragmentation of the state and the proliferation of networks, each...

Government or governance? The case of the French local political system.
July 1, 1998... The concept of local power in France is controversial; there is no agreement over a concrete definition. To help us in our analysis, it is, however, possible to define it as the capacity for action of the legal local authorities: commune (local...

New social movement politics in France: the rise of civic forms of mobilisation.
July 1, 1998... On 22 February 1997, over 100,000 people marched through Paris in protest against a government bill which sought to tighten controls on illegal immigration. Opposition to the Debre bill, seen by many as an attack on basic human rights, began as a...

The relationship between government and opposition in the Bundestag and House of Commons in the run-up to the Maastricht Treaty. (legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and Germany)
July 1, 1998... In domestic matters, virtually any policy implemented by a government is reversible by a subsequent administration. In foreign policy, this is not so. Negotiations over an international treaty which touches upon a country's sovereignty highlights...

Socialism in France: an appraisal.
July 1, 1998... Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the French Left's tenure of the presidency and government were rather like the Conservative years in the UK: they seemed endless. Now, as the years fall away, is, perhaps, the time properly to assess the...

The Mitterrand Era.
July 1, 1998... Edited by A. DALEY. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.xiv + 285, index, [pounds]45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-333-63265-6. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the French Left's tenure of the presidency and government were rather like the...

France During the Socialist Years.
July 1, 1998... Edited by G. RAYMOND. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1994. Pp.xi + 278, [pounds]41.50 (cloth). ISBN I85521-5187. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the French Left's tenure of the presidency and government were rather like the Conservative years...

The Politics of Fun: Cultural Policy and Debate in Contemporary France.
July 1, 1998... Edited by D. LOOSELEY. Oxford: Berg, 1997. Pp.xv + 279, biblio, index. [pounds]34.95 (cloth); [pounds]14.95 (paper). ISBN 1-85973013-2 and -153-8. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the French Left's tenure of the presidency and...

Bicameralism.
July 1, 1998... By GEORGE TSEBELIS and JEANNETTE MONEY. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp.xiv + 250, biblio, index. [pounds]14.95 (paper). ISBN 0-521-58972-X. Bicameralism matters. Existing studies of legislative instructions have substantially...

The New Challenge of Direct Democracy.
July 1, 1998... By IAN BUDGE. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996. Pp.viii + 198, biblio, index. [pounds]12.95 (paper). ISBN 0-7456-1765-4. Ian Budge seeks to defend direct democracy by showing both that it is technically feasible and that it is a threat neither to...

The Referendum Experience in Europe.
July 1, 1998... Edited by MICHAEL GALLAGHER and PIER VINCENZO ULERI. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.x + 254, index. [pounds]14.99 (paper). ISBN 0-333-67018-3. Ian Budge seeks to defend direct democracy by showing both that it is technically feasible and...

Territorial Competition in an Integrating Europe.
July 1, 1998... Edited by P. CHESIRE and I. GORDON. Aldershot: Gower, 1995. Pp.xv + 317, index. [pounds]40. ISBN 1-85972-112-5. It has become fashionable in academic circles, at least in Anglo-Saxon countries, to express scepticism about the notion of a...

The European Union and the Regions.
July 1, 1998... Edited by BARRY JONES and MICHAEL KEATING. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Pp.xiii + 306, 14 tables, index. [pounds]35. ISBN 0-19-827999-X. It has become fashionable in academic circles, at least in Anglo-Saxon countries, to express scepticism...

The Regions and the New Europe: Patterns in Core and Periphery Development.
July 1, 1998... Edited by MARTIN RHODES. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1995. Pp.xiv + 359, 11 figures, 36 tables, index. [pounds]45. ISBN 0-7190-4251-8. It has become fashionable in academic circles, at least in Anglo-Saxon countries,...

Divided Nations: Class, Politics, and Nationalism in the Basque County and Catalonia.
July 1, 1998... By JUAN DIEZ MEDRANO. Ithaca, New York, and London: Cornell University Press, 1995. Pp.xvii + 236, 27 tables, an appendix on sources, biblio, index. Cdn $38.66. ISBN 0-8014-3092-5. The prevalent political tendencies in Quebec, Scotland, Belgium...

Catalan Nationalism: Past and Present.
July 1, 1998... By ALBERT BALCELLS, edited by GEOFFREY WALKER. London: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.xv + 226, further reading, index. NP (cloth); [pounds]12.99 (paper). ISBN 0-333-62260-X and -62261-8 The translation of Albert Balcells's seminal work Catalan...

The Autonomous Elections in Catalonia: 1980-1992.
July 1, 1998... By FRANCESC PALLARES and JOAN FONT. Barcelona: Institut de Ciencies Politiques i Socials (ICPS), 1995. Pp.71, biblio. ISBN 18118-95. There is little up-to-date material published in English on political research in Catalonia so the translation...

Public Administration and the Recruitment of Political Elites: Formal and Material Politicization in Catalonia.
July 1, 1998... By JORDI MATAS. Barcelona: ICPS, 1995. Pp.29, biblio. ISSN 1133-8962 There is little up-to-date material published in English on political research in Catalonia so the translation of these working papers from the institute of political and...

Politics of Identity: Ethnicity, Territories and the Political Opportunity Structure in Modern Italian Society.
July 1, 1998... By O. SCHMIDTKE. Sinzheim: Pro Universitate Verlag, 1996. Pp.366, 17 tables, biblio. DM 89 (paper). ISBN 3-930747-56-1. The aim of Schmidtke's work is to provide a theoretical framework for the appraisal of 'territorial politics', rather than...

European Security: An Introduction to Security Issues in Post-Cold War Europe.
July 1, 1998... A.M. DORMAN and A. TREACHER. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1995. Pp.xiii+207, 3 maps, glossary, appendices, index. [pounds]40 (cloth); [pounds]15 (paper) ISBN 1-85521-604-3 and 611-6. As the flagship of Darmouth's new series of introductory texts on...

The Council of Ministers.
July 1, 1998... By F. HAYES-RENSHAW and H. WALLACE. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1997. Pp.xii + 340, 34 boxes, figures + tables, biblio, index. [pounds]45.50 (cloth); [pounds]14.99 (paper). ISBN 0-312-16410-6 and -16411-4. Given the paucity of focused...

Euro-Corporatism? Interest Intermediation in the European Community.
July 1, 1998... By MICHAEL J. GORGES. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1996. Pp.xii + 251, biblio, index. $53 (cloth); $34 (paper). ISBN 0-71618-0274-6 and -275-4. In recent years scholars of the European Union have become increasingly concerned with...

The European Union and National Industrial Policy.
July 1, 1998... Edited by HUSSEIN KASSIM and ANAND MENON. London: Routledge, 1996. Pp.xii + 300, 17 tables, biblio, index. [pounds]50 (cloth); [pounds] 15.99 (paper). ISBN 0-415-14177-X and - 14178-8. In recent years scholars of the European Union have become...

Orchestrating Europe: The Informal Politics of the European Union, 1973-1995.
July 1, 1998... By KEITH MIDDLEMAS. London: Fontana Press, 1995. Pp.xlii + 821, 10 tables, 20 figures, biblio, index. [pounds]27.50 (cloth); [pounds]12.99 (paper). ISBN 0-00-686263-2. In recent years scholars of the European Union have become increasingly...

Lobbying the European Union: Companies, Trade Associations and Issue Groups.
July 1, 1998... Edited by R.H. PEDLAR and M.P.C.M. VAN SCHENDELEN. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1994. Pp. xii + 311, 11 tables, 8 figures. [pounds]37.50 (cloth). ISBN 1-85521-609-4. In recent years scholars of the European Union have become increasingly concerned...

Racism and Society.
July 1, 1998... By J. SOLOMOS and L. BACK. London: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.xii + 252, 7 figures, biblio, index. [pounds]40 (cloth); [pounds]12.50 (paper). ISBN 0-333-58438-4 and -58439-2. Racism and Society is much more than a wide-ranging survey of the issues...

Die Politiker.
July 1, 1998... Edited by H. DACHS. Vienna: Manz, 1995. Pp.632. 780 Austrian schillings. ISBN 3-214-05964-5. This book provides useful information on individuals in Austria who have played a part in shaping contemporary politics. The politicians selected come...

Secrets of Life and Death, Women and the Mafia.
July 1, 1998... By R. SIEBERT (English translation by L. HERON). London: Verso, 1996. Pp.xiii + 333, 1 map, biblio. [pounds]45 (cloth); [pounds]14 (paper). ISBN 1-85984-903-2 and -023-X. Since the early 1990s, the Italian state's fight against organised crime...

Mafia Women.
July 1, 1998... By C. LONGRIGG. London: Chatto & Windus, 1997. Pp.xxii + 266, I map, biblio. [pounds]16 (cloth). ISBN 0-7011-6509-X. Since the early 1990s, the Italian state's fight against organised crime has been greatly intensified, encouraging an important...

Civil Society and State Relations in Sweden.
July 1, 1998... By M. MICHELETTI. Aldershot: Avebury, 1995. Pp.xi + 200, 9 figures, biblio. [pounds]35. ISBN 1-85972-037-4. Foreigners have often either lauded Sweden as the 'prototype of modern society' or lambasted its rulers as 'the new totalitarians'....

Party, Parliament and Personality: Essays Presented to Hugh Berrington.
July 1, 1998... Edited by PETER JONES. London: Routledge, 1995. Pp.xi + 229, index. [pounds]37.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-415-11526-4. Written in honour of Professor Hugh Berrington on the occasion of his retirement from the Chair of Politics at the University of...