This book tells the dramatic story of the unexpected disintegration of the Soviet Union. The author draws on a wide range of sources to illustrate the growth of national awareness among the many subject peoples, partly promoted by the actions of the communists themselves. He concludes that, the efforts of Mikhail Gorbachev to reform the state he initially controlled, undermined and eventually destroyed the mechanisms that held the non-Russians in check.

Parliamentary cabinets are supposed to be collective bodies, taking their decisions on the basis of agreements among all the members. Yet much has been made of the growth of the role of prime ministers, not just in Britain, but all over Western Europe. Much has also been made of the trend towards letting cabinet decisions be taken by committees or even by individual ministers.;These are the issues which this study examines, on the basis of the replies of over 400 cabinet ministers across Western Europe. The result is an empirical analysis of a subject on which what has been known so far has tended to be speculation.;Other works by Jean Blondel include "Voters, Parties and Leaders", "An Introduction to Comparative Government", "Comparative Legislatures", "Political Parties", "The Discipline of Politics", "World Leaders", "The Organisation of Governments", "Government Ministers in the Contemporary World", "Political Leadership" and "Cabinets in Western Europe". Ferdinand Mueller-Rommel is the author of "New Politics in Western Europe", "Cabinets in Western Europe" and "Gruene Parteien in Westeuropa".

An examination of the role played by civil society in the legitimization of South Africa's apartheid regime and its racial policy. This book focuses on the interaction of dominant groups within the Dutch Reformed Church and the South African state over the development of race policy within the broader context of state civil society relations. This allows a theoretical examination and typology of the variety of state civil society relations. Additionally, the particular case study demonstrates that civil society's existence in and authoritarian situations can deter the establishment of democracy when components of civil society identify themselves with exclusive, ethnic interests.

The tension between the aim of creating sustainable multilateral region-building dynamics and the need to find more differentiated and flexible forms of cooperation has been ever-present in Euro-Mediterranean relations. The proliferation of different and partially overlapping initiatives in recent years - the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean - is a plain expression of this tension. The 2011 episodes of regime-change in the Arab world have once again placed the debate about differentiation in EU's relations with Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries at the top of the Union's foreign policy agenda. This book contributes to theoretical and practical debates on whether differentiation processes can aid or hinder policy convergence processes and region-building efforts more widely. The contributions to this collection assess the actual significance and consequences of differentiation in Euro-Mediterranean relations through sector-specific in-depth analyses, covering issue areas as varied as environmental policy, migration, foreign and defence policy, trade, energy, civil protection and democracy promotion. The particular angle and comprehensive analysis of this book will make it of great interest for both scholars and policy makers alike in a moment when Euro-Mediterranean are in need of a thorough rethink. This book was based on a special issue of Mediterranean Politics.

This book looks at the main factors which have contributed to the strikingly strong growth of Asian economies in the last twenty-five years. It considers the economic policies adopted to promote such growth, arguing that it will become increasingly difficult to sustain this. The author then examines the inequalities generated by economic growth, before considering the dynamics of the four different types of political system which have evolved in Asia: veiled authoritarianism; market Stalinism; emerging bourgeois democracy and elite democracy.

The Reagan administration has been both eulogised and reviled. This book explores the Reagan policy, style and substance and considers the initial aspirations of the two Reagan administrations, examines the constraints they endured and assesses the legacy of achievement and failure.;The analysis, which is the work of a group of British and American scholars, highlights both the accomplishments and the shortcomings of the first president since Eisenhower to serve two full terms in the White House. The conclusion is that while the new conservative approach ended the 20 year expansion of domestic programmes and made Americans "stand tall" in the world, the revolution in American politics was incomplete, leaving much unfinished business to be tackled by Ronald Reagan's successor.

This analysis of the historical development of racial segregation in South Africa between the World War I and II casts light on the period immediately before the advent of modern-day apartheid and provides an account of the ideological, political and administrative origins of apartheid. Segregation is seen here as a complex combination of ideas and policies which aimed to entrench and legitimize the basis of white domination in South Africa. The authors feel that in essence, it represented an attempt to uphold white supremacy by containing the powerful social forces unleashed by South Africa's rapid process of industrialization. The work is based on archival research in South Africa and aims to draw upon some of the most recent scholarship.

This book challenges the assumption that policy makers' work with advisory committees is emblematic of technocratic governance. Analyzing how and why the European Commission uses expert groups in the policy process, it shows that experts not only solve technical problems, but also function as political devices and negotiators in modern governance.

While acknowledging the ability of the European Union to advance towards greater political and economic integration, this book questions the wisdom of the European "project." Economic and monetary union is a risky venture even for the convergent countries of the continent--let alone divergent Britain--as the uncertain birth of the Euro proves. Political union, moreover, remains an elite aspiration that weakens democratic accountability and lacks popular legitimacy. The likelihood is that the full scope of EU integration will also reveal profound limits.

This volume addresses an important and problematic aspect of NGO activities in Africa: NGO-African state relations. The authors of this volume offer case studies that provide insights into the range of NGO activities that address the questions: what do NGO activities mean for the African State? and how are the relationships of NGOs and African states changing? Each chapter contains a rich investigation and analysis communicating many of the practical aspects of African state-NGO relations, as well as many insights relevant to the major theories and models available to researchers in the field.

What is the relationship between changes in modern states and the current practice of public administration, on the one hand, and recent developments in the sciences of administration on the other? The contributors to this unique book address this fundamental question by surveying the origins, evolution and the contemporary state-of-the-art of administrative sciences in Europe and the United States. A distinguished group of international authors presents the historical development of the study of administration in their respective countries and an analysis of how particular national approaches to the study of administration or 'the way of thinking' influences and are influenced by various national institutions. The authors make comparisons between each country and more generally between Europe and United States Public Administration. This book will introduce American audiences to the various European approaches to administrative sciences and vice versa, and Europeans to contemporary American public administration theory. For many American as well as European students in the field, this volume offers a unique comparison between the large, established field of research in the United States and more recent, less well known European administrative sciences. The Modern State and Its Study will be of great interest to scholars of public administration throughout the world. Practicing public administrators as well as new students of this field will find this volume to be a helpful survey of the current vast and rapidly growing body of public administration research on both Europe and the United States.

This book presents a 'critical reappraisal' of the resource curse thesis and extends the analysis to consider political and social dimensions, and thus, the importance of structure in the petroleum sector's governance model. It examines major challenges surrounding the governance of petroleum resources, and the implications for the economic growth and development of hydrocarbon-abundant countries as a result of ineffective economic, political, and social mechanisms. The book subsequently investigates a range of causal factors that may promote or hinder the effective management of oil and gas resources in the Kurdistan Region, which also has implications for the security of the wider region and for global energy security. The book also seeks to arrive at lessons learned and policy guidelines to help inform other new petroleum-exporting countries and regions about how to best manage their newfound wealth.

"Governance" has recently become a key concept among Chinese policymakers and academics. It is increasingly reflected in reform practices at all levels of government in response to emerging social, political, economic, and environmental issues, as well as to challenges posed by China's market-oriented reforms and rapid modernization. This edited collection on China's ongoing search for good governance provides innovative analyses about the dynamics and factors shaping contemporary governance practices. Included are theoretical reflections on Chinese governance practices as well as China's growing role in global governance and the long-term domestic and global implications of both.

Few would have imagined the developments and the extent of reforms that occurred under Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero between 2004 and 2008. Under Zapatero, Spain rapidly withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq, held a very public political debate on the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, passed very progressive social legislation that included gay marriage and adoption as well as a sweeping gender equality act, and expanded autonomy in six of Spain's 17 regions. It has become quite common to refer to some or all of these developments as a 'second transition' that alters or revisits policies, institutional arrangements and political strategies that were established during Spain's transition to democracy. This book analyzes the patterns of continuity and change and provides a nuanced, critical evaluation of the concept of a 'second transition'. Three broad questions are addressed. First, to what degree do the developments under Zapatero's Socialist government represent a departure from prior patterns of Spanish politics? Second, what accounts for the continuities and departures? Finally, the project begins to assess the implications of these developments. Are there lasting effects, for example, on political participation, electoral alignments, interparty and inter-regional relations more broadly? This book was published as a special issue of South European Society & Politics.

This book is about how Chinese entrepreneurs deal with China's most important institution--the government in their struggle to survive and even prosper in China's transitional economy. It takes an "inside look" at several private firms in China and provides a firsthand account, as well as the underlying rationale and decision considerations, of their corporate political strategy. The book is based firmly on solid academic research but actually written with both practitioners and scholars in mind. It offers candid and insightful quotes and observations from the owners and executives of China's private firms with regards to their dealing with the government.

This book advances a typology of corporate political strategies based on the respective motivations of the business (the entrepreneurs and their firms) and the government (the government institutions and individual officials) as well as the modes of their interactions. Eight different types of political strategies by China's private firms are identified and illustrated with real-life examples, ranging from one-night-stand, situational shopper, good-ole-friend, patronage seeker, model volunteer, institutional improviser, direct participator, to red hat insider. The book also dissects a living case and traces the development of one particular private firm, from its humble start-up to present day glory, which fittingly illustrates the evolution and dynamics of the various types of political strategies the firm employed at different stages of its growth.

For anyone who wants to understand China's private firms and the Chinese government, thus be able to deal with them more effectively, this book is a must-read.

This invaluable collection of information provides an in-depth guide to the regional dimension of the politics and economy of this vast and complex country. Incomparable in its coverage, which includes a detailed chronology for India as a whole, a bibliography, contact details for leading officials, and an historical account and economic survey for each of the twenty-eight states and seven territories, it supplies the reader with a more complete understanding of India as a whole.

In a radical break with its past, democratic South Africa established a system of devolution that was confirmed in the 1996 Constitution. In reaction to a system of highly centralised government that had seen the abuse of power, spatial inequality and underdevelopment, Kenya has also opted for devolution. This system was embodied in the 2010 Constitution and implemented with the establishment of 47 counties after the general elections in March 2013. Devolution lies at the heart of Kenya's new constitutional dispensation and provides a means of addressing past injustices. The Kenyan Constitution largely copied the structure, approach and principles of provincial and local government from South Africa. Since the Kenyan system is still in the process of being fully implemented, Kenyan-South African dialogue on devolution compares the two systems with reference to their legal provisions. Comparing how the two systems have functioned is more difficult. However, the principal value of this comparison at this stage lies in the lessons that Kenya can learn from South Africa's 21 years of experience of devolution as Kenya proceeds with establishing its system: What routes to follow and what pitfalls to avoid. Kenyan-South African dialogue on devolution includes South African and Kenyan chapters on the reasons for devolution; the levels, number, size and character of devolution units; the demarcation of devolution units; political structures; powers and functions; finances; metropolitan governance; intergovernmental relations; marginalised groups; and transitional arrangements. This book is the first to discuss and compare the Kenyan and South African systems at length, and will be of value to other African countries that have embarked on devolution or decentralisation with the aim of curbing the centralised abuse of power and promoting political stability and development.

Here is the first book to treat directly sex differences in political participation with regard to economic development and cultural change. Using empirical data collected in fourteen nations, Christy not only discusses the sex differences in political participation within each nation, but compares these differences. Starting with the theoretical, she logically proceeds to specific surveys, trend data, hard facts, and solid explanations. In detailed discussions, she thoroughly covers political participation resources ... political egalitarianism and psychological involvement ... sex differences in political participation ... and variations.

Miller examines the evolution of the system in response to climactic social and economic changes and questions how the American political system will adapt to the crisis-filled world of the late twentieth century.

A richly documented study of early modern state formation, sovereignty, legitimacy, and comparative political culture in Alsace between the Peace of Westphalia and the French Revolution Alsace, a contested borderland region with a long and obdurate German heritage, first became part of France after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Stephen Lazer's deeply researched book analyzes this history, focusing on Alsace itself rather than on the usual dichotomy between periphery and center. Lazer's narrative reveals how the French monarchy transformed this fractured borderland, which possessed neither fixed borders nor representative institutions,into something resembling a province. With only weak claims, France had to negotiate sovereignty with Alsace's many individual rulers. Those rulers then legitimized French rule, providing the administrative institutions and borders that Alsace lacked. State Formation in Early Modern Alsace, 1648-1789, examines the wide range of power-sharing solutions the kings of France and Alsatian lords worked out between them through a close study offive territories ruled by the dukes of Pfalz-Zweibrucken-Birkenfeld. Some lands fell immediately to France; some required significant concessions; others contested the French bid for rulership. France eventually acquired all fiveterritories. The dukes, members of the Holy Roman Empire, nevertheless maintained their autonomy, especially in the administrative and confessional spheres. Indeed, ducal officials proved decisive enacting Alsace's new, mixed political culture on the ground. Lazer's research makes a much-needed contribution to our understanding of the process of state formation in early modern Europe. STEPHEN A. LAZER is Lecturer of History at Arizona State University.

What is the power of the Treasury in controlling the policies and development of the welfare state? Drawing on in-depth interviews with officials of the Treasury and the spending departments, this book traces the developing role of the Treasury in setting social policy, especially under Gordon Brown's chancellorship. It reveals the tense relationship within Whitehall as the Treasury tries to set the Government's strategy but is resisted by spending ministers and officials.

The state and its institutions are crucial for economic development: for better and for worse. This insight informs this important, up-to-date and authoritative survey of new trends in growth economics and the widely divergent economic performance of developing countries - for example, between Latin America and South-east Asia - which seemed to be similarly placed just a generation ago. The decisive role of the political dimension in economic growth seems clear but there are many challenges to be met in getting an analytical handle on the precise determinants and in testing empirically for this. This is the challenge taken up by the international team of contributors.

While newly liberated American blacks were relatively free to participate in the nation's political life during the decade following the Civil War, with the end of Reconstruction and the withdrawal of federal protection, constitutional guarantees quickly were curtailed. In this analysis of the beginnings of black political development, Beatty examines the aftermath of Reconstruction through the eyes of a people who found their rights, liberties, and hopes stalemated in a "revolution gone backward."

In recent years, the Supreme Court appears to have taken a greater interest in "business" issues. Does this reflect a change in the Court's orientation, or is it the natural outcome of the appellate process? Is the Court "pro-business"? If so, in what ways do the Court's decisions support business interests and what does that mean for the law and the American public? Business and the Roberts Court provides the first critical analysis of the Court's business-related jurisprudence. In this volume, prominent academics examine the Roberts Court's handling of business-related cases, through a series of empirical and doctrinal analyses. Issues covered include securities law, antitrust, labor law, preemption, and environmental law, among others. Business law and regulatory cases touch on many important legal doctrines and can have far-reaching effects. Understanding the bases upon which the Supreme Court decides business-related cases is of tremendous importance to practitioners and academics. It can also further greater understanding of one of the nation's most important government institutions. These issues are of interest to academics, but also of practical importance to Supreme Court and business practitioners.