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This article suggests that the study of local development policies can be supported by the analysis of local political cultures &, in particular, by the analysis of local governance cultures. New-institutionalism offers a complementary point of view for the analysis of local development processes since local institutions can be seen to play an important role in our understanding of both the modality of political culture reproduction & the capacity of different contexts to meet the challenges of economic globalization & Europeanization. The article presents a contextual comparative analysis of two different Italian local political cultures, the "Red" one in the Emiia Romagna region (socialist/communist) & the "White" one in the Veneto region (catholic). These regional contexts are characterized by two different local policy styles & administrative practices that have articulated two different "modes of governance" in local development. The case study of a national policy to support the industrial districts development (L.317/1991), & the different regional applications, can help us to better understand these elements of analysis. 2 Figures, 97 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article analyses the fundamental traits of Italian liberalism in the second half of the 19th century. Based on the unique understanding and welding together of different theoretical models (English, French, German), Italian liberalism has been building a "politics of mediation", directly connected to the new parameters of the political-social sciences. The main goal is that of neutralising political conflict, in its more extreme manifestations, with respect to a liberal order that seeks to preserve and defend itself from any risk that might creep into the fabric of democracy.

Summary in English.

The history of the conceptualization & application of the notions of culture, political/civic culture, & social capital in politology, & comparative political science in particular, is traced, discussing: (1) treatments of the relationship between civic culture & democracy in classical works of sociology & political science (eg, Montesquieu, Guizot, Herder, or Tocqueville), (2) the pioneering study in Gabriel A. Almond & Sidney Verba's Civic Culture (Princeton: Princeton U Press, 1963), (3) neglect of the notion of civic culture in the 1970s & 1980s, (4) civic culture as a dependent & independent variable, (5) J. Coleman's (1988) definition of social capital, (6) Robert D. Putnam's definition of social capital & its use in La tradizione civica nelle regioni italiane ([The Civic Tradition in Italian Regions] Milan: Mondadori, 1993) & Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), (7) the effectiveness of the concept of social capital as a descriptive-explanatory tool in comparative political science, & (8) the continued controversy & debate on this notion in contemporary politology. References. Z. Dubiel

The breakdown of non-democratic regimes unveils a paradox: they stabilize quickly once some internal control over the oppositions is established, and the access to the political power is denied, but they eventually have to face disruptive crises. Why? Non-democratic regimes are identified through a conceptual sketch of the democracy as opposite regime, and three approaches to the study of political stability are identified; The political culture approach addressed to the investigation of the beliefs and sources of legitimacy of a given regime; The socio-centered approach drew attention to the distribution of the social and economic resources; Finally, the institutional approach focused on the institutional and organizational control of the social and political mobilization. The political culture and the socio-centered approaches point out the "social factors", while the "institutional" approach focuses on "regime factors" which may stabilize a non-democracy. A hypothetical model is developed and applied to the recent cases of authoritarian breakdown in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and it is argued that although "social factors" do have a role in political crises, "regime factors" are the key variables explaining the durability of non-democratic regimes and their capacity to delay the breakdown. Adapted from the source document.

In this diplomatic letter, the Italian ambassador to Israel indicates reasons for admiring the Israelis: a people unique in maintaining religious, national, & ethnic identity despite persecution & discrimination; the return to their homeland; & their shrewd tenacity in developing & safeguarding the nation. After discussing theories about how to reconcile the Israeli state with Palestinians claiming homeland, the failures of the Middle Eastern peace accords are reviewed. It is suggested that Israelis lay the Holocaust to rest & that the state of Israel is a significant aspect of the eternal Jewish medallion. The text of the Middle East Conflict. Resolution 1245 (2001), adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, is appended. 1 Appendix. J. Sadler

Lipset is one of the most productive & innovative social scientists in the 20th century. Some of his many books & articles have become classic texts, in particular, his seminal book, Political Man (1960). Despite the broad scope of his work, Lipset's writings have one single focus -- the study of democracy. He has studied the social & political factors conducive to democratization & the stability of democracy, taking into account social structural conditions, the role of intermediary organizations, political culture, electoral behavior, & political leadership. His work is theoretical as well as empirical, & his perspective has always been a comparative one, referring to practically all major world regions. Lipset was the first to put forward the idea that socioeconomic development is an important precondition for democratic development & that economic success may in turn contribute to legitimize newly democratized regimes. He has also emphasized the central importance of a competitive party system for sustaining (intra-organizational) democracy. As an American, Lipset has finally always been intrigued by the exceptional character of American democracy, which he traces back to a historically unique combination of favorable circumstances at the time of its foundation, ie, social structural conditions (high levels of social mobility), a specific value system (individualism, equality of opportunities, religiosity), & the availability of political leaders intent on creating a republic based on popular sovereignty that was without precedent at the time. 2 Tables, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.