West European Politics articles from October 1999

West European Politics archives from October 1999

Incomparable Comparatist.(Obituary)
October 1, 1999... VINCENT WRIGHTF, 1937--99 The first issue of West European Politics published in February 1978, Vincent's brainchild with Gordon Smith, characteristically did not begin with any pretentious mission statements. Its title reflected the...

The Changing French Political System: Introduction.
October 1, 1999... France is undergoing a period of social, political and economic change. Entrenched patterns of behaviour are being threatened by alternative forms of political action. Traditional cleavages are being undermined by social and ideological...

The Parties of the French 'Plural Left': An Uneasy Complementarity.
October 1, 1999... When President Chirac called early parliamentary elections in April 1997, the right-wing Juppe government was deeply unpopular. The 'cut and run' strategy failed, and in a surprise victory the left was returned with a working majority of 319...

The Right: Divisions and Cleavages in fin de siecle France.
October 1, 1999... In the beginning there was the right. The French right monopolised the French Fifth Republic for its first 23 years (1958-81). First, Charles de Gaulle (1958-69) and then his Gaullist (Georges Pompidou, 1969-74) and non-Gaullist (Valery Giscard...

The New Social Movement Phenomenon: Placing France in Comparative Perspective.
October 1, 1999... As with many facets of the French polity, the phenomenon of new social movements (NSMs) has previously been described in terms of exceptionalism. NSMs in France, it was argued, have never been as vigorous, as embedded in society, or as weighty...

Amendments to the French Constitution: One Surprise After Another.
October 1, 1999... If the 1958 Constitution still has some way to go before it breaks the French record for longevity (though this is probably only a matter of time), it has already set one for the number of amendments made. [1] Of course, the regimes which...

The Fifth Republic: From the Droit de l'Etat to the Etat de droit?
October 1, 1999... Political scientists have once again become more interested in institutions, and even, at last, in the law. It is now generally accepted that individual and group preferences are embedded in and shaped by institutions, an historically-forged...

The Changing Role of French Local Government.
October 1, 1999... Analysing French local government entails an examination of both the system itself, and in particular its transformation following the decentralisation reforms of the early 1980s, as well as the new concepts and analytical tools which have been...

The Changing Dynamics of State-Society Relations in the Fifth Republic.
October 1, 1999... The vision of state-society relations was clear at the inception of the Fifth Republic. The state would lead, society would follow. Guaranteeing this were the institutions, with a strong presidential model of parliamentary government to ensure...

The Service Public Under Stress.
October 1, 1999... In his declaration of general policy in May 1995, President Chirac's first premier, Alain Juppe, called for a 'new republican pact' wherein 'French-style public services' would perform an essential cohesive role. [1] Two years later, Juppe...

Restructuring Health Policy Networks: A French Policy Style?
October 1, 1999... Successive French governments, like indeed their West European counterparts, have sought to redesign health policy subsystems as the priorities of government have moved from expanding access in the initial post-war period through to imposing...

The End of French Exceptionalism?
October 1, 1999... Ten years ago the Bicentenary of the 1789 Revolution, falling immediately after the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Fifth Republic and in the wake of France's first 'cohabitation' experiment, provided the setting for a much publicised...

Teaching Comparative European Politics.
October 1, 1999... STEFAN IMMERFALL [*] The Politics of the New Europe. Atlantic to the Urals. By IAN BUDGE, KENNETH NEWTON et al. London/New York: Longman, 1997. Pp.xvi+ 412, maps, tables, figs, bibliog., index. [pounds]19.99 (paper). ISBN 0-582-22434-4....

Austria: Out of the Shadow of the Past.(Review)
October 1, 1999... Austria: Out of the Shadow of the Past. By ANTON PELINKA. Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press, 1998. Pp.ix + 256, 1 map, 37 tables, 2 figures, bibliog., index. [pounds]37.50 ISBN 0-8133-2918-3. The best kind of textbook is also an...

Die Politiker. Karrieren und Wirken bedeutender Reprasentanten der Zweiten Republik.(Review)
October 1, 1999... Die Politiker. Karrieren und Wirken bedeutender Reprasentanten der Zweiten Republik. Edited by HERBERT DACHS, PETER GERLICH and WOLFGANG C. MULLER. Vienna: Manz, 1995. Pp.663, illus., bibliogs., index. 780 Austrian schillings. ISBN...

Centre Parties: Polarization and Competition in European Parliamentary Democracies.(Review)
October 1, 1999... Centre Parties: Polarization and Competition in European Parliamentary Democracies. By REUVEN Y. HAZAN. London and Washington: Pinter, 1997. Pp.xii + 179, 40 figs, 31 tables, bibliog. and index. [pounds]45 (cloth). ISBN 1-85567-431-9. ...

Parties, Conflicts and Coalitions in Western Eruope: Organisational Determinants of Coalition Bargaining.(Review)
October 1, 1999... Parties, Conflicts and Coalitions in Western Eruope: Organisational Determinants of Coalition Bargaining. By MOSHE MAOR. London: Routledge, 1997. Pp.xx + 194, 1 figure, 10 tables, bibliog., index. [pounds]45. ISBN 0-415-11602-3. This book...

The European Perspective: Transnational Party Groups in the 1989-1994 European Parliament.(Review)
October 1, 1999... The European Perspective: Transnational Party Groups in the 1989-1994 European Parliament. By T. RAUNIO. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1997. Pp.xiii + 212, 4 figures, 29 tables, bibliog., index. [Pounds]40. ISBN 1-855-21988-3. Traditionally, most...

Contemporary Italy: Economy, Society and Politics since 1945.(Review)
October 1, 1999... Contemporary Italy: Economy, Society and Politics since 1945, 2nd edition. By DONALD SASSOON. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997. Pp.xviii + 318, 38 tables, bibliog., index. [pounds]15.99 (paper). ISBN 0-582-21428-9. This is a second...