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THERE ARE IDENTIFIABLE PATTERNS OF INTEREST-BASED VOTING IN POLAND THAT HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT IN EACH OF POLAND'S FOUR ELECTIONS SINCE THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM. DESPITE A HIGHLY FRAGMENTED PARTY SYSTEM, THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEREST-BASED VOTING HAS BEEN DISCERNIBLE THROUGH THE ONGOING CONSOLIDATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES. IN ADDITION, THERE HAS BEEN A STRONG RELATION BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT RATES AND VOTING. THE RISE IN SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT ALLIANCE HAS BEEN CLOSELY RELATED TO THE RISE IN JOBLESSNESS ACROSS TIME AND ACROSS REGIONS.

Controversy continues over the political economy of post-communist Poland, regarding both the impact of transition on living standards, and the strength of relations between individual and household-level changes and political support for economic reform. The case of Poland is one example of a more general phenomenon in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g. Hungary and Lithuania), in which parties led by former communists have been democratically elected into power. Poland's reforms from the mid-1980s to 1995 developed in four phases: pre-reform crisis, extraordinary politics, post-reform crisis, and recovery. In 1990, the adverse impact of liberalization on households' living standards was partially offset by improved consumer good supply: 'real' wages fell by 30%, but consumption decreased by approximately 15%. In the medium term, the self-employed and unemployed are the clearest winners and losers. Most others are in a middle category; material conditions remained stable - even during the recession of 1990-1991 - and by some indicators improved substantially. One implicit cost of transition borne by individuals and households is the rise in economic uncertainty. Increased unemployment and poverty, indicators of uncertainty, are concentrated in identifiable socioeconomic groups. Labor markets and poverty profiles are converging with those in advanced markets, suggesting that these problems may not be simply transitional. The distributive impact of transition is reflected in voting patterns. The dependent variable of regional vote shares are regressed against independent variables: unemployment, income, urbanization, and farming and trade sector employment. The most important factor behind electoral support for the former-communist SLD is unemployment. Voting is then examined through a simple rational choice model. When parties can be differentiated by the weight of pragmatic versus (identifiable) ideological policy preferences, voters act rationally and choose the party which combines dominant pragmatism with an ideological stance close to their own preferences. Voters punish overly rigid or ideological parties for lack of responsiveness to their economic interests.

A REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION ENGAGED IN AN ARMED STRUGGLE IS INHERENTLY INEFFICIENT, A PRICE PAID FOR THE CAPACITY TO PERSIST. REBELS, REGARDLESS OF IDEOLOGY, SHAPE AN ECOSYSTEM, THE WORLD OF THE ILLICIT AND COVERT UNDERGROUND, AS THEY MOVE TO POWER. THUS THEY PAY THE PENALTY OF SECRECY, OF OPTIMISM ALMOST ALL ARMED STRUGGLES FAIL - OF OTHER PRIORITIES AND AN AGENDA ONLY PARTLY RELATED TO THE ARMED STRUGGLE. ESSENTIALLY THEY RELY ON THE WILL IN TIME - TO TRIUMPH OVER THE STATE'S ASSETS AND SO THEIR UNDERGROUND OFFERS TIME AND PROTECTION BUT NOT THE VALUES AND MEANS TO DIRECT AN EFFECTIVE WAR AS THE STRUGGLE MOVES THROUGH THE UNCONVENTIONAL PHASES OF LOW-INTENSITY WARFARE - AND AFTER THAT, IF THE VALUES OF THE UNDERGROUND ARE MAINTAINED, AS USUALLY THEY ARE, THE REBEL INEFFICIENCY BECOMES COMPOUNDED IN AN ORTHODOX CONFLICT.

In England and Wales, with its 43 police forces, accountability of the police as a service and of individual officers can be looked at in many ways, but is here considered under: accountability by statute; accountability of an officer in a disciplined service compared with accountability as a constable; accountability to the community. (JLN)

Cover Page -- The Secret Army: The IRA -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Introduction to the Transaction Edition -- Foreword to the 1979 Edition -- Foreword to the 1970 Edition -- Part I The Glorious Years: 1916-1927 -- I The Rising: The Republic Proclaimed, The Army Committed, April-September 1916 -- II The Tan War: The IRA Triumphant, September 1916-July 1921 -- III The Irregular Years: Schism, Terror, and Despair, June 1921-August 1923 -- IV The Legion of the Rearguard: The Response to Defeat, May 1923-August 1927 -- Part II The Cosgrave Years: 1927-1932 -- V The IRA Goes to Ground: Perseverance on the Road to the Republic, September 1927-February 1932 -- Part III The De Valera Years: 1932-1938 -- VI De Valera in Power: The Devil We Don't Know, March 1932-June 1936 -- VII De Valera Pre-empts the Stage: The IRA without Direction, June 1936-March 1938 -- Part IV The War Years: 1938-1945 -- VIII The English Campaign: Bombs for Britain, April 1938-September 1939 -- IX The Momentum Ebbs: Conspiracy, Coercion, and Desperate Men, September 1939-April 1941 -- X Turmoil at the Centre: The Stephen Hayes Affair, April 1941-September 1941 -- XI The Edge of Chaos: Twilight of the Gunmen, October 1941-December 1944 -- Part V The Campaign Years: 1945-1969 -- XII The IRA Endures: The Agonizing Reconstruction, 1945-1951 -- XIII The IRA on the Move: The Great Arms Raids, 1951-1954 -- XIV The Campaign: The Build-up, 1954-1956 -- XV The Campaign: The IRA on the Offensive, December 1956-July 1957 -- XVI The Campaign: The IRA on the Defensive, August 1957-March 1962 -- XVII The Gun on the Shelf: The IRA in the Doldrums, March 1962-July 1969 -- Part VI -- XVIII The North Explodes and the Army Divides -- XIX The Rise of the Provos: 1970-1972 -- XX The Bloody Watershed, 1972-1974 -- XXI A War of Attrition, 1974-1979 -- Part VII

"Irish history sounds a long litany of grievance and vengeance--lost battles, escaped earls, and institutionalized injustice. The gun, certainly in this century, has played a prominent part. In The Gun in Politics, J. Bowyer Bell presents the story of one Ireland--the Ireland of the Troubles--and about an approach to understanding political violence. In particular, he examines the Irish Republic Army, the longest-enduring unsuccessful revolutionary organization. He de-scribes the covert world of gunmen and the great game they play in the street.His is a lively, telling account of sophisticated weapons transfer, of the impact of civil war on society, and of appropriate democratic responses to terrorism. Bell's association with active Republicans, his endless tea seminars at the United Irishman, drinks at Hennessy's, and constant conversation throughout Ireland on political matters over a period of twenty years has provided the author with unique background for this guide to a fascinating, though brutal, undercurrent of Irish history."--Provided by publisher.

Based on thousands of interviews over 35 years with the leaders and members of the Republican movement and the IRA itself, as well as the Irish, British and Americans involved in the Troubles, the focus of this study is on the workings of an organization involved in armed struggle

This is an analysis of one of the most prevalent forms of political violence at the end of the millennium. The author has been shot at, kidnapped, expelled and questioned in wars from Central America to Northern Ireland. The book reflects his access to the cultures of political violence

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Preface -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- The Long Prologue -- 1. MADRID 1936-1939 The Impact of a Siege -- 2. LONDON 1940-1941 Siege by Air -- 3. SINGAPORE 1941-1942 The Illusion of a Fortress -- 4. STALINGRAD 1942-1943 The Strategy of a Siege -- 5. WARSAW 1939, 1943, 1944 A Contrast in Sieges -- 6. JERUSALEM 1947-1949 A Clash of Destinies -- 7. BERLIN 1945-1949 Siege by Diplomacy -- 8. A Summary of Sieges -- Notes and Sources -- Index