Bilderberg People explores the hidden mechanisms of influence at work in the private world, and personal interactions, of the transnational power elite. It is not concerned with conspiracy theories; instead it is about certain fundamental forces that shape the world in which we live. These forces, with their power to bring about transitions in emotion and preference within, and beyond, the elite community have potentially profound implications for all of us. Through exclusive interviews with attendees of the most prestigious of all informal transnational networks -- Bilderberg -- this book provides a unique insight into the networking habits and motivations of the world's most powerful people. Moreover, it demonstrates that elite consensus is not simply a product of collective common sense among the elite group; rather, it is a consequence of subtle power relationships within the elite circle. These relationships, which are embedded in the very fabric of elite institutions and interactions, result in a particular brand of enlightened thinking within the elite community. This exciting new volume sheds light for the first time on the critical question of who runs the world and why they run it the way they do.

The Republican People's Party (RPP), also know as the CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), stands as the main opposition party - one of two major political currents, second only to the Erdooan's AK Party. Established as the founding party of Ataturk's republican regime, the RPP has a history of hostility of leftist parties. Despite this, by the mid-1960s, the RPP had re-orientated itself as left of centre, as the growing influence of the left inside the RPP pushed it in a new direction. This is hailed as the entry point of social democratic politics into Turkey, and is the focus of Yunus Emre's impressively researched book. Through extensive primary research, Emre tracks the fluctuations in Turkish politics from the single-party period to the making of a new regime following the 1960 coup, looking at the place of both the RPP and the left in this trajectory. The RPP's internal struggles in this period, in particular around the working class movement and the legal right to strike, debates over anti-imperialism and land reform, and the role of the military in politics provide the political context into which a new social democratic agenda emerged. Engaging with the body of literature on social democratic movements, Emre analyses the reasons for the 'delayed' emergence of social democracy in Turkey. He argues that the absence of European style social democratic formations in Turkey can be traced back to the developments around the adoption of a left of centre position by the RPP. From the 1960s to the present, the RPP has oscillated between a social democratic position and its Kemalist roots in the early republican single-party regime - this book analyses the fundamental point of change in this process. It is essential reading for scholars of Turkish politics and modern history, providing insight into the development of Turkey's founding political party, the left and social democratic movements.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian states have developed liberal-constitutional formal institutions. However, at the same time, political phenomena in Central Asia are shaped by informal political behaviour and relations. This relationship is now a critical issue affecting democratization and regime consolidation processes in former Soviet Central Asia, and this book provides an account of the interactive and dynamic relationship between informal and formal politics through the case of party-system formation in Kazakhstan.

Based on extensive interviews with political actors and a wide range of historical and contemporary documentary sources, the book utilises and develops neopatrimonialism as an analytical concept for studying post-Soviet authoritarian consolidation and failed democratisation. It illustrates how personalism of political office, patronage and patron-client networks and factional elite conflict have influenced and shaped the institutional constraints affecting party development, the type of emerging parties and parties relationship with society. The case of Kazakhstan, however, also demonstrates how in the former Soviet space political parties emerge as central to the legitimization of informal political behavior, the structuring of factional competition and the consolidation of authoritarianism. The book represents an important contribution to the study of Central Asian Politics.

Julius Evola's writing covered a vast range of subjects, from a distinctive and categorical ideological outlook and has been extremely influential on a significant number of extreme right thinkers, activists and organisations. This book is the first full length study in English to present his political thought to a wider audience, beyond that of his followers and sympathisers, and to bring into the open the study of a neglected strand of contemporary Western thought, that of traditionalism. Evola deserves more attention because he is an influential writer. His following comes from an important if largely ignored political movement: activists and commentators whose political positions are, like his, avowedly traditionalist, authoritarian, anti-modern, anti-democratic and anti-liberal. With honourable exceptions, contemporary academic study tends to treat these groups as a minority within a minority, a sub-species of Fascism, from whom they are held to derive their ideas and their support. This work seeks to bring out more clearly the complexity of Evola's post-war strategy, so as to explain how he can be adopted both by the neo-fascist groups committed to violence, and by groups such as the European New Right whose approach is more aimed at influence from within liberal democracies. Furlong also recognises the relevance of Evola's ideas to anti-globalisation arguments, including a re-examination of his arguments for detachment and spontaneism (apolitia).

Noted campaign scholars James W. Ceaser, Andrew E. Busch, and John J. Pitney Jr. take readers along on the longest, most expensive, and in many ways most dramatic presidential campaign in American history. Drawing on their extensive knowledge of political history and deep resources of current political science, the authors capture the astonishing twists of fate, uncanny detours, and remarkable surprises that made the 2008 election truly historic. With President George W. Bush's approval ratings at record lows, the 2008 election was a contest that Democrats were predicted to win. And with Barack Obama's victory over John McCain, they did. But it was the highly unlikely journey to this likely destination that set this presidential election apart from others. As they have every four years since 1992, James W. Ceaser and Andrew E. Busch once again provide the most comprehensive and authoritative account of the presidential election. Joined on this book by John J. Pitney Jr., the authors chronicle the epic journey culminating in the election of the first African American president of a group of extraordinary candidates and a nation. Epic Journey Authors' Blog: www.epicjourney2008.com

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) were elected to power in 2002 and since then Turkish politics has undergone considerable change. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the AKP, in terms not just of its ideological agenda, but also of its social basis and performance in office in the main theatres of public policy -- political reform, and cultural, economic and foreign policies. Based on an extensive analysis of official and party documents, interviews, academic sources and media coverage, the book outlines the main features of the current global debate on the relationship between Islam, Islamism and democracy. While most top AKP leaders come from an Islamist background, the party has behaved as a moderate, centre-right, conservative democratic party who are fully committed to democracy, a free market economy and Turkey's EU membership. The book explores and analyses these changes in Turkish politics, and provides coverage of the workings of the contemporary Turkish political systems, policy and ideological issues that go to the heart of Turkish identity. Filling a gap in the existing Turkish and English literature on the subject, this book will be an important contribution to Political Science, particularly the areas of Turkish politics, Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies and comparative politics.

Some fledging democracies in the world have encountered setbacks due to political parties trying to grapple with the expectations of sophisticated electorates and introducing gradual political reforms over the years.

This book describes how democracy is evolving in East Asia and how it assumes different forms in different countries, with political parties adapting and evolving alongside. It has a two-fold intent. First, it contends that the existing variety of party systems in East Asia will endure and may even flourish, rather than converge as liberal democracies. Second, it highlights the seeming political durability of one party systems unlike two-part or multi-party systems in the US and Europe and their enduring predominance in countries such as Cambodia, China, Singapore and Vietnam.

This book examines the recent development of the far right in Britain, with a particular focus on the British National Party (BNP) the most electorally successful far right party in British history. It brings fresh perspectives to our understanding of the BNP in order to make a significant contribution to scholarly debate on the nature of far right extremism both nationally and internationally. The book is significantly different from other literature in the field primarily because of its focus on three important yet underdeveloped themes, which are reflected in the structure of the book itself. These are: * the ideological and cultural politics of contemporary BNP * responses to the BNP * the BNP's place within the contemporary domestic and international far-right milieu. Written by an outstanding line-up of renowned experts in this field, this is essential reading for all those with an interest in British politics, fascism, political parties, race relations and extremism.

This book examines the recent development of the far right in Britain, with a particular focus on the British National Party (BNP) the most electorally successful far right party in British history. It brings fresh perspectives to our understanding of the BNP in order to make a significant contribution to scholarly debate on the nature of far right extremism both nationally and internationally. The book is significantly different from other literature in the field primarily because of its focus on three important yet underdeveloped themes, which are reflected in the structure of the book itself. These are: * the ideological and cultural politics of contemporary BNP * responses to the BNP * the BNP's place within the contemporary domestic and international far-right milieu. Written by an outstanding line-up of renowned experts in this field, this is essential reading for all those with an interest in British politics, fascism, political parties, race relations and extremism.

Party literature is largely focused on the rise and success of new parties and their effects on party systems and older parties. This book, on the other hand, provides a valuable and original addition to such literature by analyzing what happens to a party when it enters government for the first time.

Leading contributors assess how these parties, whether old or new, change when entering government by answering a set of questions:

• How and why has their role changed?
• What are the consequences of change?
• What explains the evolution from principled opposition to loyal opposition and eventually to participation in the executive?
• Which characteristics of the parties can be held responsible?
• Which characteristics of the parties context should be brought into the picture?
• What have been the effects of the status change on party organization, party ideology and electoral results?

Covering a wide range of European parties such as the Finish Greens, right wing parties (FN, Lega Nord and Alleanza Nazionale) and new parties in Italy, The Netherlands and Sweden to name a few; this book will be of particular interest to scholars and students concerned with party systems, political parties and comparative politics.

Following the Thatcher and Major administrations there was an apparent renaissance of planning under New Labour. After a slow start in which Labour's view of planning owed more to a neo-liberal, rolled back state model reminiscent of the New Right the Government began to appreciate that many of its wider objectives including economic development, climate change, democratic renewal, social justice and housing affordability intersected with and were critically dependent upon the planning system. A wide range of initiatives, management processes, governance vehicles and policy documents emanated from Government. Planning, like other areas of the public sector, was to be reformed and modernised as well as given a prime role in tackling national, high profile priorities such as increasing housing supply and improving economic competitiveness. Drawing upon an institutionalist framework the book also seeks to understand how and in what circumstances change emerges, either in an evolutionary or punctuated way. It will, for the first time, chart and explore the changing nature of development and planning over the Labour era whilst also stepping back and reflecting upon what such changes mean for planning generally and the likely future trajectories of reform and spatial governance.

Following the Thatcher and Major administrations there was an apparent renaissance of planning under New Labour. After a slow start in which Labour s view of planning owed more to a neo-liberal, rolled back state model reminiscent of the New Right the Government began to appreciate that many of its wider objectives including economic development, climate change, democratic renewal, social justice and housing affordability intersected with and were critically dependent upon the planning system.

A wide range of initiatives, management processes, governance vehicles and policy documents emanated from Government. Planning, like other areas of the public sector, was to be reformed and modernised as well as given a prime role in tackling national, high profile priorities such as increasing housing supply and improving economic competitiveness. Drawing upon an institutionalist framework the book also seeks to understand how and in what circumstances change emerges, either in an evolutionary or punctuated way. It will, for the first time, chart and explore the changing nature of development and planning over the Labour era whilst also stepping back and reflecting upon what such changes mean for planning generally and the likely future trajectories of reform and spatial governance.

The 2016 and 2018 elections are over, but looking ahead to the 2019-2020 election cycle, the debate over the fairness and accuracy of our electoral process has never been more contentious. Hacking, fake news, a "rigged system," voter ID challenges, Super PACs, and an Electoral College defying the popular vote count all lead to a common question and concern: Is this any way to run a democratic election? New to the Seventh Edition: New data and timely illustrations from the 2016 and 2018 elections, looking ahead to 2020 election. The growing importance of social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) and its impact, good and bad, on recent campaigns. Foreign interference in the 2016 and 2018 national elections. The integrity of campaign communications-hacking, rumoring, instantaneous news, and the effect of fact-checking. Money: the role of Super PACs and billionaire donors; the impact of campaign spending on the candidates and on election outcomes. New connections between the "Did you know that" chapter introductions to the exercises at the end. More online references in the suggested readings.

Applying an intercultural and comparative theoretical approach across Asia and Africa, this book analyses the rise and moderation of political movements in developing societies which mobilise popular support with references to conceptions of cultural identity. The author includes not only the Hindu nationalist movement but also many Islamist political movements in a single category -- New Cultural Identitarian Political Movements (NCIPM). Demonstrating significant similarities in the pattern of evolution between these and European Christian Democracy, the book provides an instrument for the analysis of these movements outside the parameters of the fundamentalism debate. The book looks at a number of key variables for understanding the evolution of NCIPM, and it goes on to analyse the transition of developing societies from rent-based political economies to capitalism and the (partial) failure of this transition process. It argues that there is a need to incorporate economic and class analysis in the study of political processes in developing societies against the continuing emphasis on cultural factors associated with the "cultural turn" of social sciences. The book is an interesting contribution to studies in South Asian Politics, as well as Comparative Politics.

This book is concerned with Turkey's political evolution, the role of Kemalism, and why a social democratic alternative has never fully developed. Concentrating on the electoral weaknesses of the Turkish centre-left, represented by the Republican People's Party (CHP), Sinan Ciddi examines the roles of nationalism and the political establishment and the role of Kemalist ideology. Established by Kemal Ataturk, the CHP is seen to be the founding party of modern Turkey. Kemalism sought to create a secular and democratic society based on the principles of republicanism, populism, secularism, nationalism and revolutionism. Although this leftist ideology became an integral part of Turkish politics by the early 1960s, it has remained a comparatively weak representative movement. Its strong ideological stance advocates an authoritarian and exclusionary position, particularly in relation to matters such as multiculturalism and democratisation, fuelling many debates concerning the role of religion and nationalism within Turkey and perpetuating elements of xenophobia and intolerance. This book will be of interest to students of politics, history and current affairs, and of Turkish politics in particular.

Anthony Crosland bequeathed a significant intellectual legacy to the Labour Party. In this timely book, Patrick Diamond considers a wide range of Crosland's writings on the economy and politics, relating his ideas on egalitarian social democracy, electoral strategy, the European question, and the importance of progressive liberalism on the British centre-left. Written in a clear and persuasive way, it will appeal to academics, students, activists, Labour Party members and associated think tanks,

This book explores the role played by the Female Section of the Spanish Fascist Party (Seccion Femenina de la Falange - SF) in promoting women's political and professional rights within the authoritarian Franco regime in Spain. While acknowledging the organizational and financial ties, as well as the great ideological affinity between the SF and the regime, Inbal Ofer demonstrates how the SF's national leadership promoted an autonomous social and political agenda. Despite the need to constantly maneuver between the cultural and legal dictates of Francoist society, the unique activities and personal experiences of SF members at the heart of political power became a model for an array of policies and reforms that greatly improved the lives of Spanish women. ... From a unique gender perspective the topic of the Seccion Femenina de la Falange contributes to the debate on the nature of authoritarian regimes by reflecting on issues of policy formation and implementation; mass mobilization; and the role of coercion alongside the creation of a "culture of consent." In exchange for a long-term commitment to the survival of the regime, both the Catholic Church and the Spanish Falange gained considerable administrative power and a measure of freedom to act on political and social matters. As explained, the promotion of women's legal and political equality (reflected in the struggle to amend the Civil Code and ratify the Law for Political and Professional Rights) is a good example of the way organs within the "regime" made use of their position in order to legitimize non-consensual forms of activism. The SF efforts to increase the number of gainfully employed women and improve their working-conditions is an example of the unexpected uses made by agents of the "regime" of the freedom of action accorded them in the public arena. ... Inbal Ofer raises questions regarding the nature of women's political activism and capacity for autonomous action within authoritarian regimes, setting out the debate on the nature of feminism and its relation to female activism and the promotion of women as a collective. More specifically she engages with those works that critically evaluate women's public contribution within Catholic and / or nationalist settings, and is required reading for interested in the history of modern Europe.

The Socialist Revolutionary party, which had been the largest and most popular party in Russia in 1917, did not after the October Revolution just disappear into the "dustbin of history", as Trotsky hoped, but - led by its leadership in exile in the 1920s and 1930s - continued to observe and comment on developments in Russia. In emigration, the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) party often put forward policy proposals on a wide range of topics: policies which, based on a shrewd understanding of the real situation in Russia, offered realistic alternatives to the policies being pursued by the Marxist Bolshevik regime. This book fills a gap in examining one of the most significant Russian political parties, and is based on extensive original analysis of SR party materials, shows how it operated; how it formulated and disseminated its ideas; what these ideas were, and how the party's ideas developed in response to changing circumstances in Russia and Europe more widely. Far from being the agrarian Slavophile romantics as they are often portrayed, this book shows the SRs were energetic European modernisers who contributed vigorously to the leading debates of their day; it also shows how the SR vision of a populist, socialist regime failed to materialise as state control, dictatorship and the collectivisation of agriculture took hold.

What Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God is a collection of essays on the religious communication of members of the Democratic Party, past and present-in office, while campaigning, and in their public and private writing. While many books on the market address issues at the intersection of church and state, none to date have focused exclusively on Democrats as important participants in the dialogue about religion and politics.

Turkey is ninty-nine per cent Muslim, its ruling party, Justice and Development Party (JDP), comes from but denies its Islamist pedigree and has a very secular feel. However, the deeply secular regime distrusts the JDP with regard to its 'true' colours. This book makes sense of these paradoxical perceptions which have characterized Turkey's politics since the JDP has come to power in 2002. The key momentum for shaping the nature and trajectories of the ruling party of Turkey since 2002, the JDP, has been the 'identity' question. The JDP's commitment to transform Turkey's politics was part of its engagement to remake its own identity. The JDP's adoption of a conservative-democrat identity has rested on a new understanding of Westernization, secularism, democracy and the role and relevance of Islam in politics. The book's central problematic is to explain both the politics of change the JDP initiated and sustained in the first three years in office and the politics of retreat it has made from its reformist discourse since 2005. The book analyzes not just the catalysts for its reformist discourse of the first 3 years but tries to explain its reversal to an inward-looking conservative nationalist course. By approaching this topical debate from the conceptual stance rather than a party-centered approach, UEmit Cizre identifies that the change the JDP has initiated within Turkey's political Islam and in Turkish politics is the product of an interactive process between many levels, actors, forces and historical periods. The forces and actors covered include: global forces of Islam the secular establishment and its popular extensions the past and present Islamic actors in political and non-political spheres the changing balance of forces in the region which frame the EU and the US policies toward the JDP. Secular and Islamic Politics in Turkey is a valuable contribution to the study of globalization and 'change' in contemporary political Islam, the relationship between religion and politics, and secularism and political Islam. As such, it will be of interest to students and researchers alike in the area of Islamic politics, democratization, European Union and political Islam, and globalization.

The dominant view concerning the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is that it is simply a matter of time before it comes to an end. This view has been dominant since the pro-democracy protests in 1989 and has only been strengthened by the increasing number of protests in recent years. However, the Chinese Communist Party has continued to remain in power throughout this period and its rule appears to be secure in the short-to medium-term. As the twentieth anniversary of the military suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrations approaches, this book explains how the Chinese Communist Party has maintained its authority since 1989. It provides a detailed analysis of the Party's discourse emphasising stability in the post-Tiananmen period, analysing the government's propaganda in order to show how this discourse has been used by the Party to legitimate its authority. The interdisciplinary nature of this book makes it relevant to a number of different academic disciplines including Asian studies, China studies, international relations, politics and sociology.

What impact has EU membership had on party politics in Central and Eastern Europe? Although there is an emerging body of literature on the Europeanization of political parties, most of these accounts focus exclusively on Western Europe. Drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches including detailed studies of party programmes and manifestos, analysis of the media, semi-structured interviews and expert surveys, this collection provides not just conceptually informed, but also empirically rooted analyses of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe during the first four years of EU membership. In particular, the contributions assess the impact of EU membership on parties' internal balance of power, the use of European issues in inter-party competition, the role of transnational party federations and the broader role the EU plays in party politics. The findings not only shed light on the impact of EU membership on party organization and programmes, they also inform broader debates concerning the dynamics, fluidity and motors of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe. This book was based on a special issue of Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.

New collection of essays promising to re-energize the debate on Nazism's occult roots and legacies and thus our understanding of German cultural and intellectual history over the past century. Scholars have debated the role of the occult in Nazism since it first appeared on the German political landscape in the 1920s. After 1945, a consensus held that occultism - an ostensibly anti-modern, irrational blend of pseudo-religious and -scientific practices and ideas - had directly facilitated Nazism's rise. More recently, scholarly debate has denied the occult a role in shaping the Third Reich, emphasizing the Nazis' hostility to esoteric religion and alternative forms of knowledge. Bringing together cutting-edge scholarship on the topic, this volume calls for a fundamental reappraisal of these positions. The book is divided into three chronological sections. The first,on the period 1890 to 1933, looks at the esoteric philosophies and occult movements that influenced both the leaders of the Nazi movement and ordinary Germans who became its adherents. The second, on the Third Reich in power, explores how the occult and alternative religious belief informed Nazism as an ideological, political, and cultural system. The third looks at Nazism's occult legacies. In emphasizing both continuities and disjunctures, this book promises to re-open and re-energize debate on the occult roots and legacies of Nazism, and with it our understanding of German cultural and intellectual history over the past century. Contributors: Monica Black; Jeff Hayton; Oded Heilbronner; Eric Kurlander; Fabian Link and J. Laurence Hare; Anna Lux; Perry Myers; John Ondrovcik; Michael E. O'Sullivan; Jared Poley; Uwe Schellinger, Andreas Anton, and Michael T. Schetsche; Peter Staudenmaier. Monica Black is Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Department of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Eric Kurlander is J. Ollie Edmunds Chair and Professor of Modern European History at Stetson University.

Throughout Europe, stateless nationalist and regionalist parties have moved from 'niche' actors in party systems to mainstream political players. No longer the 'outsider' in party politics, these parties have successfully entered government at the regional and state levels and many have been responsible for pushing the agenda for radical constitutional change in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany and France. However, the transformation of these parties from peripheral movements to established parties of government does not come without its problems. Whilst these parties were once able to focus on the single issue of self-determination, they have been forced to change their strategies, alter their behaviour and compromise on their principles in order to succeed in an era of electoral volatility, partisan dealignment and multi-level governance. This book explores how stateless nationalist and regionalist parties across Western Europe have responded to the twin challenges of multi-level politics (i.e. operating at the regional, state and European levels), and a multi-dimensional policy space, whereby they must articulate policy proposals alongside their territorial demands. Written by leading experts in the field, this is a cutting-edge collection of theoretical, analytical and empirical work on the challenges currently facing nationalist and regionalist parties in Europe. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.