Suchergebnisse

The volume seeks to determine the ways in which IO's contribute to the solution of global problems by influencing international decision-making in ways that go beyond the lowest common denominator of national interests.

Despite the populist radical right's (PRR) popularity among political scientists, little scholarship has focused on its influence on foreign policy. This lack of study is due, in part, to a general lack of attention to the role of political parties in foreign policy, both in comparative politics and international relations (IR). This is unfortunate because, due to Europeanization and globalization, the domain of foreign policy has expanded, making foreign policy increasingly a domestic concern and, most importantly, touching on major themes of PRR parties. Combining insights from comparative politics and IR, we theorize the mechanisms, which may facilitate the impact of such parties on foreign policy. Subsequently, we examine whether the Italian Northern League (LN), as a prime example of a PRR party participating in a coalition government, has had an impact on Italy's foreign policy and, if so, what accounts for this (lack of) influence. This paper concludes that, unlike common understanding, the PRR is not persistently anti-internationalist/anti-EU; rather, its position depends on the extent to which international politics helps or hinders the promotion of 'the people'. Second, despite the LN's strong coalition position, it pursued an effective foreign policy mainly regarding immigration policy. Third, IR theories of junior coalition partners and foreign policy should address the nature of the party system and how inter-party electoral competition affects the strength of a junior coalition partner. Fourth, these theories need to acknowledge that party preferences are sometimes trumped by national concerns, as suggested by more systemic IR theories.

Stern, E. ; Verbeek, B.: Introduction. - S. 205-210. Welch, D. A.: A positive science of bureaucratic politics? - S. 210-216. Weldes, J.: Bureaucratic politics: a critical constructivist assessment. - S. 216-225. Kaarbo, J. ; Gruenfeld, D.: The social psychology of inter- and intragroup conflict in governmental politics. - S. 226-233. 't Hart, P. ; Rosenthal, U.: Reappraising bureaucratic politics. - S. 233-240. Stern E. ; Verbeek, B.: Conclusions: toward a neopluralist approach to bureau-governmental politics. - S. 240-246

Theories on the role of norms in international relations generally neglect the possibility that after their adoption a new battle over their precise meaning ensues, especially when a norm remains vague and illusive. Norm implementation is not only a matter of internalization and compliance, but also of redefinition. Building on insights from rationalist and constructivist approaches, this article advances the idea of recurrent battles for and over norms in international politics. It argues that the analytical tools of international regime theory are instrumental in tracking such battles. This framework is applied to the history and role of subsidiarity as a norm in the competence regime of the European Union between 1991 and 2005. Its main finding is that the issue of subsidiarity was not a matter of norm internalization, but concerned a recurrent battle between old and newly empowered actors over its precise meaning, eventually favouring the member states' prerogative.