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In a relatively short time, the European Union has become one of the world's most powerful and important bodies. Its critical role in international affairs extends to several different areas: economics; culture; the environment; and, of course, international security and foreign affairs. This important volume explains and evaluates EU foreign policy in all its confusing dimensions. Is there really any such thing as "European Union Foreign Policy"? If so, what is it? What are its goals and priorities, and how effective is it? How do outsiders perceive EU foreign policy, and what are the ramifications of those views? Those are just some of the questions this book tries to answer. In order to d...
Political parties are one of the core institutions of democracy. But in democracies around the world—rich and poor, Western and non-Western—there is growing evidence of low or declining public confidence in parties. In membership, organization, and popular involvement and commitment, political parties are not what they used to be. But are they in decline, or are they simply changing their forms and functions? In contrast to authors of most previous works on political parties, which tend to focus exclusively on long-established Western democracies, the contributors to this volume cover many regions of the world. Theoretically, they consider the essential functions that political parties p...
For the positive experience with tying progress in negotiations with progress in reform in Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union made its membership offer to the Western Balkans countries conditional on specific democratic principles, most notably (full) cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Yet, although EU membership is regarded as highly attractive both for political elites and the general public in the region, the erratic record of compliance with ICTY-related EU conditionality in Croatia since 2000 raises questions about the EU’s ability to provide for ‘rule transfer’ and ‘norm diffusion’ in the current enlargement roun...
Leading scholars address the interplay between rule of law and democracy, the most relevant ideals for our present civilisation in the legal and political spheres, at the same time making sense of the different ways in which legal requirements, social commitments, and democratic standards are expected to interweave. Through a reappraisal of the theoretical import of the concepts the contributors provide for a fresh set of inquiries, internal and external, ranging from the State, consolidated and transitional democracies, to interstate, European and global scenarios. Re-orienting the diversity in disciplinary approaches, they converge in tackling disputed empirical and normative questions in-context, and suggest further connections between the rule of law’s potential and the transformations of political arenas. Contributors are Monica Ciobanu, Christian Joerges, Poul Kjaer, Friedrich Kratochwil, Leonardo Morlino, Gianluigi Palombella, and Daniela Piana.
This volume of fifteen original essays examines the role of political institutions in establishing democratic stability around the globe. Leading scholars survey well-established democracies, such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and France; relatively established democracies, such as Germany, Italy, India, and Israel; and newly established democracies, such as Turkey, Poland, and Spain. The final chapter explores how political institutions may be connected to democracy for best performance of the political system.
A comprehensive analysis of the organization of the current major political parties of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. The contributors underline the various characteristics of the parties and highlight the power relations among the various actors, leaders and factions.
Kkarakatsanis analyzes the processes through which a stable, consolidated, and fully democratic regime was brought into existence in the 1970s and early 1980s in Greece. Focusing primarily on the roles played by political elites during and in the decade after the transition to democracy, she analyzes how Greece moved from a long history of political instability and elite disunity to a consolidated democratic regime to which all major political actors were loyal and committed. Four distinct transformations which forged the consensual unity required to establish a stable and consolidated democratic regime in Greece are rigorously and systematically examined: First, the modernization of the rig...
From the award-winning team behind the International Encyclopaedia of Political Science... Moving beyond mainstream "traditional" approaches to bring you a new advanced-level introduction to political science. A perfect introduction for postgraduates who are new to political science, as well as upper-level undergraduates looking to broaden and deepen their understanding of core topics, this progressive account: Guides you through all key areas of political science: origins, methodological foundations, key topics, and current issues Takes an international and pluralist perspective with all issues explored in a comparative way related to different cultural and historical contexts Includes pulled-out descriptions of major concepts, further reading and self-assessment questions at the end of each chapter.
This collection of essays discusses the relation between Europeanisation and democratisation in new member states and neighbour countries. The essays were presented at the "Europeanisation and Democratisation: The Southern European Experience and the Perspective for the New Member States" conference held in Florence, Italy, in 2005.