To what extent do courts in Latin America protect individual rights and limit governments? This volume answers these fundamental questions by bringing together today's leading scholars of judicial politics. Drawing on examples from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, the authors demonstrate that there is widespread variation in the performance of Latin America's constitutional courts. In accounting for this variation, the contributors push forward ongoing debates about what motivates judges; whether institutions, partisan politics, and public support shape interbranch relations; and the importance of judicial attitudes and legal culture. The authors deploy a range of methods, including qualitative case studies, paired country comparisons, statistical analysis, and game theory.

The book presents the subject of the Polish political system, which, not unlike many others, is subject to dynamic political and social change. The ever-modernizing Polish state seeks ways to improve its institutions and increase coordination of crucial policies. Poland also exhibits effects symptomatic of a crisis of liberal democracy, undermining the legacy of its democratic transformation. The authors of this volume answer questions on identity of Polish systemic solutions, the nature of change in constitutionalism and the modern political system of Poland, all in the light of Polish political tradition. Moreover, they analyze the roles of various state authorities, political leadership dilemmas, the legitimization of power, and the question of Polish membership in the EU.

In this book the authors tackle the concept of 'quality of government' (QoG) both conceptually and empirically and apply their focus to EU countries and regions. In a pioneering empirical effort, they map out regional QoG for the first time for 172 NUTS 1 and 2 regions throughout 18 countries in the EU, and provide a detailed methodology. They follow up the quantitative assessment with three case studies demonstrating the wide variation of QoG found within the countries of Italy, Belgium and Romania. The book concludes with important lessons and ideas for future research. Quality of Government and Corruption from a European Perspective will offer a unique insight to an important issue of development within the EU that speaks to students and academics in the field of comparative politics, EU politics, development, governance and corruption. With contributions from: Lewis Dijkstra, Jonas Hakansson and Oana Borcan

In this study, which highlights a renewed emphasis in international affairs on regional studies, the co-authors provide an assessment of the revolutionary changes in the politics and security of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Since the 'migration crisis' of 2016, long-simmering tensions between the Western members of the European Union and its 'new' Eastern members - Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary - have proven to be fertile ground for rebellion against liberal values and policies. In this startling and original book Ivan Kalmar argues that Central European illiberalism is a misguided response to the devastating effects of global neoliberalism, which arose from the area's brutal transition to capitalism in the 1990s. Kalmar argues that dismissive attitudes towards 'Eastern Europeans' are a form of racism and explores the close relation between racism towards Central Europeans and racism by Central Europeans: a people white but not quite.

This book presents solutions to problems that are total and based on thinking about how and why humans have organized themselves. It discusses how to avoid the now well-documented Holocene Extinction, propelled by climate change, wars, resource depletion, desertification, degrading knowledge quality, famine, and deterioration of societies overall. It explains why we cannot respond effectively with hedonistic, incompetent, corrupt, and anarchistic "liberal democracy" and why neither personality cult regimes can suffice.  The book offers a model of an organic social structure embodying a collective consciousness of communitarianism and Platonic-style ethos. Putting an emphasis on the re-establishment of Classical Greek virtue, it offers solutions to resolve identity politics, alienation, and meritocracy. While doing so, the author opposes the "everyone is equal" ideology to govern the section of policymakers, instead circumscribing "rights" in terms of responsibilities, prioritizing education and training to carry forth the ethos of valuing truth above materialism, and developing Durkheim's social brain via a new discipline, "sociointelligence". The book goes on to explain how underpinning these elements is a comprehensive elucidation of often misunderstood words like "liberty", "freedom", "authoritarianism", and "democracy". All of these areas are arranged and combined in uniquely describing the organic society the author deems necessary to avoid human extinction. As a result, the book presents a “new organicity�, where the emerging transhumanism seeks to transcend hydrocarbon-based life with humanly-constructed life. This book will appeal to students, researchers, and scholars of political science, philosophy, and the social sciences interested in a better understanding of complexity, democratic theory, Holocene Extinction, organic thinking, and meritocratic societies. 

The standard classifications of health systems don't allow for the complexity and variety that exists around the world. Federico Toth sets out a new framework for understanding the many ways in which health systems can be organized and systematically analyses the health systems chosen by 27 OECD countries. He provides a great deal of up-to-date data on financing models, healthcare spending, insurance coverage, methods of organizing providers, healthcare personnel, remuneration methods for doctors and hospitals, development trajectories and recent reforms. For each of the major components of the healthcare system, the organizational models and the possible variants from which individual countries can ideally select are defined. Then, based on the organizational solutions actually adopted, the various national systems are grouped into homogeneous families. With its clear, jargon-free language and concrete examples, this is the most accessible comparative study of international healthcare arrangements available.

At a time when states are increasingly hostile to the international rights regime, human rights activists have turned to non-state and sub-state actors to begin the implementation of human rights law. This complicates the conventional analysis of relationships between local actors, global norms, and cosmopolitanism. The contributions in this open access collection examine the "lived realities of human rights" and critically engage with debates on gender, sexuality, localism and cosmopolitanism, weaving insights from multiple disciplines into a broader call for interdisciplinary scholarship informed by practice. Overall, the contributors argue that the power of human rights depends on their ability to be continuously broadened and re-imagined in locales around the world. It is only on this basis that human rights can remain relevant and be effectively used to push local, national and international institutions to put in place structural reforms that advance equity and pluralism in these perilous times. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

This book analyzes how increases in international trade, finance, and production have altered voter decisions, political party positions, and the types of public issues that parties focus on in postindustrial democracies. Although many studies interrogate whether internationalization matters in regard to policy outcomes and how globalization relates to mass protest, few examine globalization and mass politics more generally. This book argues that by reducing the room in which to maneuver in policy making, globalization reduces the importance of economic-based issues while increasing the electoral importance of non-economic issues. The argument is tested on original and existing data sources.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world?s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Mark Tushnet, a world-renowned scholar of constitutional law, has excelled in extending and revising his essential introduction to comparative constitutional law. Through an analysis of topics at the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship, this authoritative study investigates constitution making, forms of constitutional review, proportionality analysis and its alternatives, and the development of a new ?transparency? branch in constitutions around the world. Throughout, the book draws upon examples from a wide range of nations, demonstrating that the field of comparative constitutional law now truly encompasses the world. New to this revised and enlarged second edition: ? Updated and extended material to encompass the developments in practice and scholarship since the original edition?s publication back in 2014? With substantial additional attention, Tushnet analyses abusive constitutionalism, the idea of the constituent power, eternity clauses and unconstitutional amendments Recent developments in weak- and strong-form constitutional review are given fresh analysis, as well as an expanded consideration of third generation rights. Addressing the key issues of constitutional design and structure, this second edition will serve as an excellent up-to-date resource for students and scholars of comparative constitutional law.

This book evaluates the performance of consociational power-sharing arrangements in Europe. Under what conditions do consociational arrangements come in and out of being? How do consociational arrangements work in practice? The volume assesses how consociationalism is adopted, how it functions, and how it reforms or ends. Chapters cover early adopters of consociationalism, including both those which moved on to other institutional designs (the Netherlands, Austria) as well as those that continue to use consociational processes to manage their differences (Belgium, Switzerland, South Tyrol). Also analysed are 'new wave' cases where consociationalism was adopted after violent internal conflict (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland) and cases of unresolved conflict where consociationalism may yet help mediate ongoing divisions (Cyprus, Spain). Soeren Keil is Reader in Politics and International Relations, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom. Allison McCulloch is Associate Professor in Political Science, Brandon University, Canada.

The major focus of the book is an examination of the efforts being made by democratizing states in Africa to reconstitute the postcolonial state, so that it can become relevant to the needs and aspirations of the majority of the peoples of Africa. Using seven democratizing states in Africa as case studies, the book specifically examines three major interrelated issues: the multifaceted crises of state building in Africa; the efforts to democratically reconstitute the postcolonial state in Africa; and the proffering of suggestions to help address the challenges posed by the state reconstitution project.

Prospect Top 50 Thinker of 2021 British Academy Book Prize Finalist PROSE Award Finalist "Provocative, elegantly written." -Fara Dabhoiwala, New York Review of Books "Demonstrates how a broad rethinking of political issues becomes possible when Western ideals and practices are examined from the vantage point of Asia and Africa." -Pankaj Mishra, New York Review of Books In case after case around the globe-from Israel to Sudan-the colonial state and the nation-state have been constructed through the politicization of a religious or ethnic majority at the expense of an equally manufactured minority. The model emerged in America, where genocide and internment on reservations created a permanent native minority. In Europe, this template would be used both by the Nazis and the Allies. Neither Settler nor Native offers a vision for arresting this process. Mahmood Mamdani points to inherent limitations in the legal solution attempted at Nuremberg. Political violence demands political solutions: not criminal justice but a rethinking of the political community to include victims and perpetrators, bystanders and beneficiaries. Making the radical argument that the nation-state was born of colonialism, he calls on us to delink the nation from the state so as to ensure equal political rights for all who live within its boundaries. "A deeply learned account of the origins of our modern world...Mamdani rejects the current focus on human rights as the means to bring justice to the victims of this colonial and postcolonial bloodshed. Instead, he calls for a new kind of political imagination...Joining the ranks of Hannah Arendt's Imperialism, Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, and Edward Said's Orientalism, this book is destined to become a classic text of postcolonial studies and political theory." -Moustafa Bayoumi, author of How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? "A masterwork of historical comparison and razor-sharp political analysis, with grave lessons about the pitfalls of forgetting, moralizing, or criminalizing this violence. Mamdani also offers a hopeful rejoinder in a revived politics of decolonization." -Karuna Mantena, Columbia University "A powerfully original argument, one that supplements political analysis with a map for our political future." -Faisal Devji, University of Oxford

Life after war is intrinsically political for former combatants. As wars end, societies and former combatants face a period of transition. This book explores the experience of coming home for former combatants, capturing the challenges and opportunities for political mobilization among former combatants as they return from three very different wars: South West Africa People's Organization combatants who participated in the Namibian War of Independence (1966-90); guerrillas from Movimiento 19 de Abril who joined the ongoing guerilla warfare conducted against the Colombian state (1974-90), and combatants from the United States who participated in the Vietnam War (1955-75). Offering an insightful perspective on peace as a process through the long-term study of the lives of fifty former combatants, Soederstroem demonstrates how the process of coming home shapes their political commitment and identity. Combining detailed scholarship with interviews with former combatants, this volume serves as a powerful reminder of the legacies of war in the lives of former combatants. -- .

The global trend of increasing violence against the press has spurred research interest into the questions of where, why, and how communicators are repressed. As a result, scholarship has demonstrating that hybrid regimes - which mix undemocratic and democratic elements - constitute a specifically dangerous and lethal context for these actors.  Decentralized countries, in which some subnational political elites have retained authoritarian features, have been identified as the most perilous context for communicators. However, despite the burgeoning interest in illiberal practices and repression on the subnational level, it is still relatively unexplored how and why subnational political elites repress communicators within their multi-level setting. The author argues that communicators in subnational undemocratic regimes who can spread the scope of compromising information beyond subnational boundaries can cause uncertainties for subnational undemocratic regimes. The book explores how the political elites of these regimes repress these communicators in response.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply shaken societies and lives around the world. This powerful book reveals how the pandemic has intensified socio-economic problems and inequalities across the world whilst offering visions for a better future informed by social movements and public sociology. Bringing together experts from 27 countries, the authors explore the global echoes of the pandemic and the different responses adopted by governments, policy makers and activists. The new expressions of social action, and forms of solidarity and protest, are discussed in detail, from the Black Lives Matter protests to the French Strike Movement and the Lebanese Uprising. This is a unique global analysis on the current crisis and the contemporary world and its outcomes.

This volume offers an up-to-date overview of the much-debated issue of how a democracy may defend itself against those who want to subvert it. The justifications, effectiveness and legal implications of militant democracy are discussed by addressing questions as: How can militant democracy measures such as party bans be justified? Why is it that some democracies ban antidemocratic parties? Does militant democracy succeed in combatting right-wing extremism? And is militant democracy evolving into an internationalized legal and political concept? Bringing together experts and perspectives from political science, law and philosophy, this volume advances our understanding of the current threats to democracy, a political system once thought almost invincible. It is especially timely in the light of the rise of illiberal democracy in the EU, the increasingly authoritarian rule in Turkey, the steady shift to autocracy in Russia and the remarkable election of Trump in the US.

Relations between Iran and the US have been strained for over 30 years. The US frequently seems either unwilling or unable to develop policies that may alleviate the problems. Cook and Roshandel provide unbiased discussions of key issues such as: the historical relations between the US and Iran; modern Iranian Government; the impacts the US and Iran have on Middle East security; Iranian support for organizations the US calls terrorists; and the Iranian nuclear program. The authors then identify a wide range of possible US policy solutions and select the one(s) that offers the best chance to improve relations.

This book investigates for the first time the parallels between two island appendages of much larger governments - Okinawa, Japan's southernmost island prefecture, in ferment over historic US bases; Jeju embroiled over a new South Korean naval base. The people of Okinawa and Jeju share a common fear of bloody conflict again erupting around them and suspect their governments would sacrifice their interests in a much larger war in a fight for regional control between the US, Japan, and China.

The book offers new insights into how ethnicity, language and regional-local identity interact within the context of Ukrainian political reform, and indicates how these reforms affect social cohesion among ethno-cultural groups. While the individual chapters each focus on one or a few facets of the overall research question, together they draw a nuanced picture of the multifaceted challenges to creating and consolidating social cohesion in a nationalizing state. The concept integrates various disciplines, including political science, international relations, law, and sociology. Correspondingly, the contributions are based on various methodological approaches, ranging from legal analysis over media discourse analysis, individual and focus group interviews to analysis of data from a representative population survey. The findings of the in-depth study are discussed within the broader context of comparative research on diversity management and social cohesion in fragmented societies.

This book investigates the Communist political phenomenon, including the origins and development of Communism as well as the revolutions that led to the rise of the major Communist states around the world. Written for high school students, undergraduates, and general readers, this book surveys the global rise of Communism. It begins with a timeline and narrative overview, which are followed by reference entries, primary source documents, and original argumentative essays on enduring issues related to Communism. The book first covers the earliest phases of the "Utopian Socialist" movement and the beginnings of Marxist theory. It then discusses the Russian Revolution of 1917; the creation of the Soviet Union; the regime of terror instituted by Stalin; the expansion of Communism during the years of the Cold War, particularly in Asia; and the Cuban Revolution and the regime of Fidel Castro. It also discusses the progression toward revolution among the European Satellite countries as it included the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Czech revolution of 1968, and the multiple revolutions from 1989-1991 that saw the collapse of the Soviet system and the Cold War. Includes a timeline to help students identify key events related to the rise of Communism and their relation to one another Examines the rise of Communism around the world, its causes, and its significance in a narrative overview Provides fundamental information about key topics through alphabetically arranged reference entries Presents primary source historical documents to give students first-hand accounts of the development of Communist thought and its legacy Offers original argumentative essays to help students critically consider major issues and debates related to Communism

A unique examination of the role architecture plays in the media-politico spectacle which plays out in today's mass media. Written by 14 influential academics, it draws on case studies from across timeframes and across nations including the US, UK, China, Eastern Europe, South Korea, Belgium and Austria. Illustrated with over 30 black and white illustrations

This provocative and groundbreaking book challenges accepted wisdom about the role of elites in both maintaining and undermining democracy in an increasingly authoritarian world. John Higley traces patterns of elite political behavior and the political orientations of non-elite populations throughout modern history to show what is and is not possible in contemporary politics. He situates these patterns and orientations in a range of regimes, showing how they have played out in revolutions, populist nationalism, Arab Spring failures to democratize, the conflation of ultimate and instrumental values in today's liberal democracies, and American political thinkers' misguided assumption that non-elites are the principal determinants of politics. Critiquing the optimistic outlooks prevalent among educated Westerners, Higley considers them out of touch with reality because of spreading employment insecurity, demoralization, and millennial pursuits in their societies. Attacks by domestic and foreign terrorists, effects of climate change, mass migrations from countries outside the West, and disease pandemics exacerbate insecurity and further highlight the flaws in the belief that democracy can thrive and spread worldwide. Higley concludes that these threats to the well-being of Western societies are here to stay. They leave elites with no realistic alternative to a holding operation until at least mid-century that husbands the power and political practices of Western societies. Drawing on decades of research, Higley's analysis is historically and comparatively informed, bold, and in some places dark-and will be sure to foster debate.

Muhtars, the lowest level elected political position in Turkey, hold an ambiguously defined place within the administrative hierarchy. They are public officials, but local citizens do not always associate them with the central government. Street-Level Governing is the first book to investigate how muhtars carry out their role-not only what they are supposed to do, but how they actually operate-to provide an ethnographic study of the state as viewed from its margins. It starts from the premise that the seeming "margin" of state administration is not peripheral at all, but instructive as to how it functions. As Elise Massicard shows, muhtars exist at the intersection of everyday life and the exercise of power. Their position offers a personalized point of contact between citizens and state institutions, enabling close oversight of the citizenry, yet simultaneously projecting the sense of an accessible state to individuals. Challenging common theories of the state, Massicard outlines how the position of the muhtar throws into question an assumed dichotomy between domination and social resistance, and suggests that considerations of circumvention and accommodation are normal attributes of state-society functioning.