Suchergebnisse

AbstractFor the last decade of the Brezhnev regime, Western observers predicted a generational transfer of power to occur in the USSR.1 The Brezhnev generation demonstrated remarkable continuity and stability, resulting in long tenure in office and the aging of those not only in top leadership posts, but throughout the Party and state apparatuses. After Brezhnev's death in November 1982 many observers expected the generational shift to occur at last; however, the short-lived regimes of Iurii Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko precluded extensive personnel changes. With the succession of Mikhail Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary, the long-awaited generational change has at last occurred, perhaps more rapidly than many predicted. The personnel changes that have taken place to date in the Gorbachev reign, especially those within the USSR Council of Ministers, offer a unique opportunity to assess the process of leadership consolidation in the USSR and also provide some insights into Gorbachev's economic reform strategy.

Es wird ein Beitrag geliefert zur Theorie von Parteiensystemen, unter Begrenzung auf westeuropäische Strukturen und Entwicklungsprozesse. Theoriegrundlage ist die These der Entwicklungsstadien von Parteien, wie sie von S. Lipset und S. Rokkan aufgestellt worden ist; außerdem wird das Transformationsmodell von O. Kirchheimer herangezogen. Folgende Stufen der Wählermobilisierung und Parteienevolution werden herausgearbeitet: (1) die Primärstufe bis 1919; (2) die Sekundärstufe (nach Kirchheimer), die die Öffnung der Partein nach allen Seiten brachte und (3) eine Tertiärstufe der "neuen Politik", die im Zusammenhang steht mit großen, außerparteilichen Protestgruppen ab dem Ende der 60er Jahre. Insgesamt wird die allgemeine Anziehungskraft und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Parteien weiterhin für gesichert gehalten, auch durch ihre innerparteilichen Varianten. Polarisierungs- und Entpolarisierungstendenzen führen nach Ansicht des Autors tendenziell zur Diffusion der Parteiensysteme in Europa. (HA)

Changes in West European party systems can be related to a four-fold typology: imbalance, balance, diffusion, & fragmentation. The extremes of imbalanced & fragmented party systems are no longer represented: West European countries all now tend towards balanced or diffused forms. The balanced type is well represented, & it accords with the pattern of majority government & cohesive opposition. However, several systems show growth in diffusion: seen in the lack of clear polarization & by the rise in the number of parties represented in assemblies. A diffused system imposes quite different conditions for the successful operation of parliamentary government. Thus the occurrence of minority government, as a relatively stable form of rule, implies a high degree of consensus in the political system & requires an amount of overt or disguised interparty cooperation. AA.

WHEN MANY COUNTRIES IN WESTERN EUROPE ARE EXPERIENCING A flux or even a teeming confusion in their party systems, West Germany stands out as a case of almost aberrant cohesion. The ageold yearning for 'the German synthesis' finds its apparent modern fulfilment in the party system. The uncomfortable extremes of left and right have for long hovered around virtual electoral extinction, and the rise of new movements – such as forms of neo-Poujadism in Scandinavia or the rediscovery of the territorial dimension of politics as in Britain – has left the Federal Republic untouched. The two major contenders for power, the SPD and the CDU, dominate the electoral scene, and in so doing seem to be locked in an embrace from which neither is able to escape.

ABSTRACTThis article outlines a way in which the wide range of experience of the referendum in Western Europe can be brought together by means of a "functional" approach. Two important perspectives appear to be: the degree of "control" exercised by the political authorities and the general "hegemonic effect" as seen in the consequences of the referendum. The variations that are possible, both in control and effect, provide the basis for a matrix of functional variance from which a broad typology can be established. The five basic types of referendum – including a non‐functional category – are illustrated and elaborated by reference to a range of examples. These show that each referendum poses problems of interpretation. The conclusion is that a functional analysis of this type could be further refined by concentrating on the relationship a referendum bears to the prevailing party system.