Suchergebnisse

From its antecedents in the 1950s, successive forms of European integration were intended to be leaderless. They have succeeded only too well in demonstrating that much can be achieved without sustained leadership. The attachment to national sovereignty of most of the European elites and mass populations has meant that confederalism has been implicitly accepted for the foreseeable future. This book attempts to clarify three clusters of issues. First, as European integration hasadvanced, who has provided the impetus? Particular insiders have episodically exerted decisive innovative influence, d

For a thousand years France has struggled to impose unity upon its diverse components. For most of the time its leaders have sought to define its identity by opposition to the 'Anglo-Saxons': first England, then Britain and the USA. The prologue explores France's self-image by contrast with the Anglo-American counter-identity. Part one deals with the unfinished Revolution from 1789 to 1878 when the Third Republic achieved relative stability. After examining the variety of symbolic representatives of Frenchness in the search for democratic legitimacy and national unanimity, the enduring divisio

The loss of public support for European political leaders and institutions has provoked a populist challenge. In this edited collection, Jack Hayward analyses the way this is reflected in the media, representative bodies, parties, and organized interests in a context of severe economic constraints upon public expectations.

The 1994 European Elections focused public attention on the perception that representatives put integration above public interest. The contributors here critically assess the diagnosis of the ailment, and proposed solutions.

Finer investigated the phenomenon of politics within its spatial and temporal framework, trying to look into as many forms of government as possible and to fmd uniformity in their variety. He paid particular attention to a study of institutions of government which he considered the core of politics. His investigations focused on the state. By condensing the consequences of the emergence of the state on the forms of government, Finer came up with two variables: the extent in which rulers establish a standardized central administration and the extent in which homogeneous culture, religion and laws have been achieved. The second topic which held an important place in Finer's research is military organization. He wanted to demonstrate how the survival of a state, international order, social distribution of power, governing, the degree of bureaucratization, and a regime's nature, are intertwined with the structure of the state's military institutions. His opinion was that the military organization is necessary for the establishment and preservation of political communities, regimes and governments. According to Finer, the state's key function are preparing for wars, waging wars and reconstructing the country after them, and expecting the next one. Finer's third topic is the relationship between political and religious systems of belief. He stressed their dualistic nature, with two more or less independent hierarchies which have been a source of serious tensions. Furthermore, Finer links the existing system of beliefs, social stratification, and political institutions. Where these factors are balanced, the political community achieves permanent stability. (SOI : PM: S. 182)