Private Interest Governments were identified in the 1980s as a special form of public regulation in selected economic sectors, rivalling conventional market, state, or community-based forms of public order. This book examines how these institutional arrangements have changed since their identification. It takes into account external changes such as Europeanization, globalization, liberalization, and sector-specific developments, which have had an impact on even long-established public policies. Breakdown and Change of Private Interest Governments presents new empirical insights in changes which led to the disappearance of a prime example of neo-corporatism, a traditional form of political and economic regulation, recurring to original data for interest associations in the dairy sector of four countries, Austria, Britain, Germany and Switzerland. It discusses the empirical results and the similarities and differences between the countries with regard to external processes which were studied with a different focus in the past. Utilising a comparative country case approach and the dairy industry as a specific sector case study, Breakdown and Change of Private Interest Governments will be of interest to students and scholars of Globalization and Political Economy.

This book is about the building of alliances and about joint activities between two groups of social movement actors ascribed increasing relevance for the functioning and the eventual amendment of democratic capitalism. The chapters provide a well-balanced mix of theoretical and empirical accounts on the political, social and economic catalysts behind the changing motives finding expression in a multitude of novel types of joint collective action and inter-organizational alliances. The contributors to this volume go beyond attempting to place unions, movements, crises, precariousness, protests and coalitions at the centre of the research. Instead, they focus on actors who themselves transcend clear-cut social camps. They look at the values and motives underlying collective action by both types of actors as much as at their structural and strategic properties, and inter-organizational relations and networks. This creates a fresh, genuine and historically valid account of the incompatibilities and the commonalities of movements and unions, and of prospects for inter-organizational learning.

This book is about the building of alliances and about joint activities between two groups of social movement actors ascribed increasing relevance for the functioning and the eventual amendment of democratic capitalism. The chapters provide a well-balanced mix of theoretical and empirical accounts on the political, social and economic catalysts behind the changing motives finding expression in a multitude of novel types of joint collective action and inter-organizational alliances. The contributors to this volume go beyond attempting to place unions, movements, crises, precariousness, protests and coalitions at the centre of the research. Instead, they focus on actors who themselves transcend clear-cut social camps. They look at the values and motives underlying collective action by both types of actors as much as at their structural and strategic properties, and inter-organizational relations and networks. This creates a fresh, genuine and historically valid account of the incompatibilities and the commonalities of movements and unions, and of prospects for inter-organizational learning.

Research on the extreme right is rare, and the extreme right has even more rarely been analysed as a social movement. In this volume, the extreme right is compared in Italy, Germany, and the United States using concepts and methods developed in social movement studies. In particular, the book describes the discourse, action, and organizational structures of the extreme right, and explains these on the basis of the available discursive and political opportunities. Three main empirical methods are used in the research. Firstly, the frame analysis looks at the cognitive mechanisms that are relevant in influencing organizational and individual behaviour. Second, network analysis looks at the (inter-) organizational structural characteristics of right-wing organizations. Finally, protest event analysis allows for an empirical summary of the actions undertaken by right-wing extremists over the last decade. The substantive chapters address the organizational structure of the extreme right, their action repertoires, the framing of protest events, the definition of 'us', the struggle against modernity, old and new forms of racism, opposition to globalization, and populism.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the search for set relations. In virtually all social science fields, statements about social phenomena can be framed in terms of set relations, and using set-theoretic methods to investigate these statements is therefore highly valuable. This book guides readers through the basic principles of set theory and then on to the applied practices of QCA. It provides a thorough understanding of basic and advanced issues in set-theoretic methods together with tricks of the trade, software handling and exercises. Most arguments are introduced using examples from existing research. The use of QCA is increasing rapidly and the application of set-theory is both fruitful and still widely misunderstood in current empirical comparative social research. This book provides the comprehensive guide to these methods for researchers across the social sciences.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the search for set relations. In virtually all social science fields, statements about social phenomena can be framed in terms of set relations, and using set-theoretic methods to investigate these statements is therefore highly valuable. This book guides readers through the basic principles of set theory and then on to the applied practices of QCA. It provides a thorough understanding of basic and advanced issues in set-theoretic methods together with tricks of the trade, software handling and exercises. Most arguments are introduced using examples from existing research. The use of QCA is increasing rapidly and the application of set-theory is both fruitful and still widely misunderstood in current empirical comparative social research. This book provides the comprehensive guide to these methods for researchers across the social sciences.

Dieses Buch bietet eine paradigmenubergreifende Darstellung des qualitativen Methodenrepertoires der Politikwissenschaft. Behandelt werden interpretative Methoden (qualitative Interviews, Gruppendiskussionen, Beobachtungsverfahren, Inhaltsanalyse, Diskursanalyse, hermeneutische Verfahren, ethnografische Methoden und Grounded Theory); Fallstudienmethodik (deskriptiv-vergleichende Fallstudien, fallvergleichende Kausalanalyse, Prozessanalyse und Kongruenzanalyse) und Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), vor allem in ihrer Fuzzy-Set-Variante. Viele Beispiele runden das Lehrbuch ab.

In diesem Lehrbuch sollen Studierende und sonstige Interessierte mit den unterschiedlichen Forschungsansatzen und -methoden sowie den wichtigsten Anwendungsfeldern qualitativer Politikanalyse vertraut gemacht werden. Hierzu wird ausfuhrlich in die Grundlagen und Traditionen der qualitativen Sozialforschung eingefuhrt. Danach werden die wichtigsten Methoden der Datenerhebung und Datenauswertung prasentiert. Neben den qualitativen Methoden werden die zentralen Forschungsdesigns in der qualitativen Politikforschung dargestellt und kritisch erlautert. Ein Schwerpunkt bildet dabei die Auseinandersetzung mit Fallstudien-Designs."

Some political scientists argue that cleavages, especially the class cleavage, no longer represent a significant point of political conflict. This book takes issue with this claim, demonstrating that other cleavages structure party competition. This is nowhere more evident than in the European Alpine region. The book focuses on strategies employed by political parties operating in the Alpine region and identifies common themes and patterns of party competition. Moreover, the focus is on how Alpine parties operate on multiple levels--regional, national, and European--and how they have in some cases moved from "protest parties" to parties in power.