European Democracies

by Crepaz, Markus; Steiner, Jurg

• ISBN13: 9780205642571
• ISBN10: 0205642578
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Organized thematically rather than country-by-country,European Democraciesis an introduction to the politics and governments of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. Considering the countries of Europe from both the "supranational" level of the European Union and the "subnational" level of regions, this text employs a comparative approach to survey issues ranging from parties and policy to democratization and globalization. These issues are illustrated with in-depth examples from a variety of European countries as well as examples from politics in the United States. Throughout, noted authors and scholars Markus Crepaz and Juuml;rg Steiner treat Europe as a single but diverse entity and ask students what European politics can teach them about politics in their own country.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
About the Authors	p. xv
Becoming Modern in Europe and America: Different History, Different Politics	p. 1
How Do We Know That Europe Is Different?	p. 1
Explaining Differences: The Impact of History, Geography, and Culture	p. 8
Structure of the Book	p. 13
Political Parties	p. 17
Political Parties-The "Children of Democracy"	p. 17
Functions of Political Parties	p. 18
Differences between Political Parties and Interest Groups	p. 19
Socialists	p. 20
Liberals	p. 26
Conservatives	p. 27
Christian Democrats	p. 30
New Radical Right	p. 30
Greens	p. 36
Regional Parties	p. 39
A Multidimensional Political Space	p. 40
Membership in Political Parties	p. 43
Stability and Change of Parties and Party Systems	p. 44
Parliaments: How They Are Elected and How They Work	p. 48
Winner-Take-All: Great Britain	p. 49
Party List Proportional Representation: The Netherlands	p. 54
Personalized Proportional Representation: Switzerland, Ireland, and Germany	p. 57
Switzerland	p. 57
Ireland	p. 59
Germany	p. 62
Changing the Electoral System: France and Italy	p. 64
France	p. 64
Italy	p. 69
Voter Turnout	p. 75
Legislative Behavior	p. 76
Cabinet Formation and Heads of State	p. 79
Single-Party Majority Cabinets	p. 81
Minimal-Winning Cabinets	p. 88
Oversized Cabinets	p. 92
Minority Cabinets	p. 96
Cabinet Instability	p. 98
Semipresidential Systems	p. 104
Advantages and Disadvantages of Parliamentary and Presidential Systems	p. 110
Advantages and Disadvantages of Presidentialism	p. 111
Advantages and Disadvantages of Parliamentarism	p. 112
Heads of State	p. 113
Monarchial Head of State	p. 113
Elected Heads of State	p. 115
Courts	p. 119
Great Britain	p. 120
Switzerland	p. 122
Germany	p. 123
France	p. 125
Federalism and Referendum	p. 127
Switzerland: Prototypical Case of a Federalist Country with a Strong Referendum	p. 127
European Trend toward Federalism and Referenda	p. 132
Arguments against Federalism and Referenda	p. 136
Social Movements	p. 139
Environmental Movement	p. 139
Peace and Third-World Movement	p. 141
Women's Movement	p. 143
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Movement	p. 147
Youth Movement	p. 149
The State and Economic Interest Groups	p. 155
The State as a Political Actor	p. 155
Economic Interest Groups	p. 157
Pluralism and Corporatism	p. 160
The Theory of Corporatism	p. 163
The Future of Corporatism	p. 166
Policy Outcomes	p. 171
Explaining Policy Outcomes	p. 173
The End of the Cold War	p. 191
Classical Marxism	p. 192
Neo-Marxism	p. 194
Communism in Central and Eastern Europe	p. 197
Poland	p. 199
Hungary	p. 200
East Germany	p. 201
Communism in Western Europe	p. 205
Transitions to Democracy	p. 210
The Federal Republic of Germany after 1945	p. 210
Italy after 1945	p. 212
Spain after 1975	p. 213
Hungary after 1989	p. 214
Poland after 1989	p. 218
Ukraine in 2004	p. 222
Explanations	p. 225
Russia	p. 225
Nationalism and Ethnicity	p. 228
War in Former Yugoslavia	p. 229
Northern Ireland	p. 237
Basque Country	p. 239
Immigration	p. 241
Sports Events	p. 243
More Benign Aspects	p. 244
Power Sharing in Deeply Divided Societies	p. 249
Development of the Theory of Power Sharing	p. 249
Critique of the Theory of Power Sharing	p. 253
Northern Ireland	p. 260
Former Czechoslovakia	p. 267
Former Yugoslavia	p. 271
Power Sharing and Deliberation	p. 276
Normative Evaluation of Power Sharing	p. 277
The European Union	p. 281
History of European Integration	p. 281
Council of Ministers	p. 285
European Council	p. 288
European Commission	p. 289
European Parliament	p. 290
European Court of Justice	p. 296
European Bureaucracy	p. 299
What Does the European Union Do?	p. 299
Agricultural Policy	p. 300
Regional and Development Policy	p. 300
Common Currency-the Euro	p. 301
Continued Expansion: Where Does "Europe" End?	p. 302
Turkey's EU Membership Prospects	p. 303
A Constitution for Europe? "non" and "nee"	p. 303
Globalization and European Democracies	p. 312
What Is Globalization?	p. 313
How Should Globalization Be Measured?	p. 318
The Challenges of Globalization for European Democracies	p. 320
The Welfare State and Globalization	p. 320
Immigration and Globalization	p. 323
Globalization and the Fragility of Community	p. 327
Is Globalization a Threat or an Opportunity for European Democracies?	p. 328
Index	p. 331
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