NOTING THAT FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS HAS BEEN NOMINATED AS THE CDU/CSU CANDIDATE FOR CHANCELLOR IN WEST GERMANY'S 1980 ELECTIONS, THE ARTICLE EXAMINES STRAUSS'S EUROPEAN POLICY POSITIONS. THE AUTHOR ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY OF A STRAUSS-LED GOVERNMENT IN WEST GERMANY. STRAUSS' HOPE FOR GERMAN REUNIFICATION & HIS REJECTION OF A 'DIVISIBLE' DETENTE ARE NOTED.
TRANSNATIONAL PARTY GROUPS SHOULD BE A POINTER TO THE SUPRANATIONAL POTENTIAL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, BUT IN PRACTICE THEY ILLUSTRATE THE COMPLEXITIES AND REALITIES OF INTEGRATION. THREE ASPECTS OF THESE GROUPS SHOW THIS: THE DOMINATING ROLE PLAYED BY THEM IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT; THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE VARIOUS GROUPS; AND THE LIMITATIONS ON THEIR IMPORTANCE AS AN INSTITUTION.
The study of EU enlargement has not paid sufficient attention to domestic impacts in accession countries & how these might complicate the process. The arguments for looking at this problem are greater than ever before given the EU is more demanding of such countries over prior conditions & the scope & degree of European policy implementation before membership may take place, compared with previous enlargements. Furthermore, countries in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) are undergoing multiple transformations with economic change, & in some cases, state- & nation-building alongside political democratization. On the other hand, political consensus over EU membership is distinctly broader in CEE countries compared with previous cases of accession. The article therefore concentrates on the strength of this consensus & how far it should withstand the increased pressures that will come as accession negotiations advance. To this end, a four-part analytical framework is developed & then applied in more detail to CEE. It looks successively at: (a) historical, motivational, & cultural factors; (b) governance; (c) the political arena; &, (d) the socioeconomic arena. It concludes that while Europeanization pressures on domestic politics have been significant & fairly extensive, interactions between different levels within domestic politics have so far been restrained. On the other hand, risks may come from a growing gap between political elites & mass opinion in what are still fragile new democracies & from any serious delay in accession dates. Adapted from the source document.
A growing assumption is that Spain, Greece and Portugal have at last conformed to typical West European liberal democracy. Determines the extent to which democratic consolidation has been achieved, using a comparative approach based on 3 relationships: parties with the state; inter-party; and parties with society. Argues that the new democracies are well 'on track' towards consolidation. (SJK)
IS THIS EVIDENCE OF SUCCESSFUL ALTERNATION IN POWER IN THE NEW SOUTHERN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES SUPPORTED BY THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR PARTY SYSTEMS IN OTHER RESPECTS? LOOKING AT THE NATURE AND ROLE OF THEIR POLITICAL PARTIES IN A BROADER SENSE-AND THEREFORE, AS ARGUED, AT THE QUALITY AND STABILITY OF THESE POLITIES-INVOLVES CONSIDERING THEM AS CASES OF 'PARTY GOVERNMENT', I.E. THEIR FUNCTIONING AS PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS IN WHICH POLITICAL PARTIES PLAY THE CENTRAL ROLE IN FORMULATING AND DECIDING POLICY, AS WELL AS IN MOBILIZING POPULAR SUPPORT FOR THEIR PROPOSALS AND ACTIONS AND, THEREBY, IMPLICITY OR EXPLICITY, FOR THE NEW DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS. GIVEN THE PARTIES' CRUCIAL ROLE AS LEGITIMIZING AGENTS, THEY MUST BE JUDGED AS BOTH INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-POLITICAL FORCES. IT IS, THEREFORE, PROPOSED TO EXAMINE THE NEW IBERIAN DEMOCRACIES COMPARATIVELY UNDER THREE ASPECTS: THE PARTIES' RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STATE, THE RELATIONSHIPS THEY HAVE DEVELOPED BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIETY.
GREECE HAS BEEN CRITICIZED FOR HAVING "NO ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY." THIS IS NOT TRUE, AND HAS NOT BEEN FOR OVER A DECADE. CLEARLY, EU MEMBERSHIP SINCE 1981 IS A MAJOR REASON FOR THIS CHANGE. BUT GREEK ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IS IN MANY WAYS FLAWED, AND IT IS STILL DEEPLY AFFECTED BY NOT ONLY THE INHERITANCE OF SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION BUT ALSO POLITICAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CONTINUITIES. GREECE IS SEEN AS A CASE OF BUREAUCRATIC FRAGMENTATION IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD. THE APPROACH TAKEN IS DIACHRONIC WITHIN-COUNTRY RATHER THAN MAKING SYNCHRONIC CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISONS WITH OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. WHEN THE COUNTRY'S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AND THE REASONS FOR THEIR PERSISTENCE, THE NATURE OF POLTICAL STRUCTURES, THE POLICY-MAKING PROCESS AND POLITICAL RESPONSES ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AND WHEN THE IMPACT OF EU MEMBERSHIP IS ASSESSED WITH RESPECT TO POSSIBLE POLICY CHANGES IN THE FUTURE, THE DYNAMICS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AREA CAN BE SEEN TO BE COMPLEX, INVOLVING DIFFERENT CONSTRAINTS AS WELL AS STIMULI FROM PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL PRESSURES.
