West European Politics articles from July 2000

West European Politics archives from July 2000

State Subsidies to Political Parties: Confronting Rhetoric with Reality.
July 1, 2000... This article investigates the political impact of the introduction of state subsidies to political parties. The arguments for and against subsidising political parties are outlined. Different models of party subsidies, and their regulatory...

Public Service Reform: A Comparative West European Perspective.
July 1, 2000... This article compares recent public service reforms in Britain, France and Germany in terms of reform origins, the trade-off between managerial and administrative values in the overall reform orientation and the balance within managerial reform...

The Public Service Ethos and the Role of the British Civil Service.
July 1, 2000... The last Conservative administration invested much time and effort in reforming the structure and organisation of the Civil Service. Yet it left untouched the core principles which underpinned Whitehall, often referred to as the public service...

Coping with Economic Integration: Corporatist Strategies in Germany and Austria in the 1990s.
July 1, 2000... While Germany is facing the wholesale disorganisation of sectoral collective bargaining, the Austrian social partnership has gained new strength in the 1990s. Comparatively, Austro-corporatism proved able to undergo a process of skilful...

The Role of Ideology and Elite Networks in the Decentralisation Reforms in 1980s France.
July 1, 2000... France saw historic decentralisation reforms under the leadership of Mitterrand and Defferre, his first Minister of the Interior, in the 1980s. This article highlights the role played by ideology and elite networks in the reform process....

Nordic Labour Market Policies in Transition.
July 1, 2000... This article provides an overview of the Nordic labour market policies targeted to promote employment and reduce open unemployment since the early 1980s. Applying a disentangled approach, the goal is to analyse the policies of stimulating...

Pillarisation, Consociation and Vertical Pluralism in the Netherlands Revisited: A European View.
July 1, 2000... Doubt has been cast recently on the explanatory significance of the Dutch variant of consociationalism, or verzuiling. Here it is argued that the problems arise in the main from confusions in terminology, and that verzuiling as a concept still...

Pillarisation in Perspective.
July 1, 2000... 'Verzuiling' (pillarisation) was originally a methaphor launched in the media in the 1930s for the recurring four-fold division in Dutch contemporary society in an orthodox Protestant, a Roman Catholic, a Social Democratic and a 'neutral' or...

Governing a Consensus Democracy: The Interplay of Pillarisation and Administration.
July 1, 2000... Apart from a static structure of institutional blocks erected for a certain purpose, pillarisation might also be viewed as a dynamic process accommodating not only different cultural groupings, but also varying regional, local and historical...

Democratic Accountability and Central Bank Independence: A Response to Elgie.
July 1, 2000... Nowadays is it widely believed that a high level of central bank independence (CBI) coupled with some explicit mandate for the bank to restrain inflation are important institutional devices to assure price stability. One potential objection...

The Austrian Election of October 1999: A Shift to the Right.
July 1, 2000... The elections to the lower house of the Austrian Parliament, the Nationalrat, on 3 October 1999 produced a result that was surprising and momentous. The Social Democrats (SPO) emerged from the election as the strongest party (65 seats),...

Portugal's October 1999 Election: Not Quite a Foregone Conclusion.
July 1, 2000... The only twist in what had been a lacklustre campaign for the 10 October general election came at the very end. The ruling Socialist Party (PS), led by the popular Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, narrowly failed to win the expected majority of...

The March 2000 Spanish Election: A 'Critical Election'?
July 1, 2000... The Spanish 2000 election is important to students of west European politics because it represented a surprising first majority victory for a centre-right party in contemporary Spain. It is also of interest to scholars of electoral studies...

The Swiss Elections of October 1999: Learning to Live in More Interesting Times.
July 1, 2000... As is normal in Switzerland, the year started with expectations of real change after the elections. Yet, even though these were higher than usual, they soon faded. Indeed, interest in the elections seemed to be even lower than normal. However,...

Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. By AREND LIJPHART. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. Pp.351, bibijo., index. u26 (cloth); u10.95 (paper) ISBN 0-300-07893-5. Fifteen years...

Critical Citizens. Global Support for Democratic Governance.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Critical Citizens. Global Support for Democratic Governance. Edited by P. NORRIS. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp.xv + 303, 37 figures, 59 tables, biblio, index. [pound]45 (cloth) ISBN 0-19-829479-4. Pippa Norris has edited an...

Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Edited by H. KITSCHELT, P. LANGE, G. MARKS and J.D. STEPHENS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp.xiii + 527, biblio, index. [pound]45 (US$69.95) (cloth) ISBN 0-521-62446- 2;...

Comparative Public Policy -- Patterns of Post-war Transformation.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Comparative Public Policy -- Patterns of Post-war Transformation. By FRANCIS G. CASTLES. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1998. Pp.368, [pound]59.95 (cloth) ISBN 1- 858989-816-0; [pound]19.95 (paper) ISBN 1-858989-823-3. The fate of the welfare...

The Political System of the European Union.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Political System of the European Union. By S. HIX. London: Macmillan, 1999. Pp.ix + 427, 52 tables and 28 figures, biblio, index. [pound]16.99 (paper) ISBN 0-333-71654-X; [pound]49.50 (cloth) ISBN 0-333-71653-1. There are two...

The Long Presidency. France in the Mitterrand Years, 1981-1995.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Long Presidency. France in the Mitterrand Years, 1981-1995. By JULIUS FRIEND. Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press, 1998. Pp.xi + 308, biblio, index. [pound] 30.95 (cloth) ISBN 0-8133-2850-0. Though books written in French...

Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy. Edited by MARK F. GILBERT and K. ROBERT NILSSON. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland and London, 1999, Pp.xxxvi + 463. 18 tables. $65 (cloth) ISBN 0-8108-3584-3 In addition to its 350-plus formal...

Zukunft der Sozialpartnerschaft: Veranderungsdynaxnik und Reformbedarf.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Zukunft der Sozialpartnerschaft: Veranderungsdynaxnik und Reformbedarf. Edited by F. KARLHOFER and E. TALOS. Vienna: Signum, 1999. Pp.301, 9 tables, 3 figures, ATS 350 ISBN 3-85436-297-S. The Austrian version of carporatism, called social...

Geografia della cittadinanza sociale in Italia.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Geografia della cittadinanza sociale in Italia. By VALERTA FARGION. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1997. Pp.351, bibilo, index. L.45,000 (paper) ISBN 88-15-06127-4. Recent social and political developments in advanced industrialised countries call...