Political authority in todayOs leading democracies rests on generally shared perceptions by a given people that their government is responsible to them and considers each individual citizen equal under the law. Yet since the dawn of the industrial age, democratic governments have presided over economies that function on the basis of an unequal distribution of real resources. As globalization opens these economies, the gap between legal, ideal and economic reality widens and boundaries separating Othe peopleO of different democracies erode. This thought-provoking book explores the consequent challenge posed for the inherent legitimacy of democratic systems. When distinctive bonds between political power and social obligation break down, that erosion creates Odemocratic deficits.O Pressures build to reconstitute political authority beyond the state, and governance-in-practice grows ever more distant from democracy-in-principle. Nowhere is the deepening dilemma more evident than in the European Union. This book examines the contemporary breakdown and transformation of the democratic welfare state in Europe and draws fascinating contrasts with North America. In a cohesive and insightful collection of essays, a group of distinguished political scientists debates the implications of these trends both for theory and for policy.

Politicising Europe presents the most comprehensive contribution to empirical research on politicisation to date. The study is innovative in both conceptual and empirical terms. Conceptually, the contributors develop and apply a new index and typology of politicisation. Empirically, the volume presents a huge amount of original data, tracing politicisation in a comparative perspective over more than forty years. Focusing on six European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) from the 1970s to the current euro crisis, the book examines conflicts over Europe in election campaigns, street protests, and public debates on every major step in the integration process. It shows that European integration has indeed become politicised. However, the patterns and developments differ markedly across countries and arenas, and many of the key hypotheses on the driving forces of change need to be revisited in view of new findings.

Politicising Europe presents the most comprehensive contribution to empirical research on politicisation to date. The study is innovative in both conceptual and empirical terms. Conceptually, the contributors develop and apply a new index and typology of politicisation. Empirically, the volume presents a huge amount of original data, tracing politicisation in a comparative perspective over more than forty years. Focusing on six European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) from the 1970s to the current euro crisis, the book examines conflicts over Europe in election campaigns, street protests, and public debates on every major step in the integration process. It shows that European integration has indeed become politicised. However, the patterns and developments differ markedly across countries and arenas, and many of the key hypotheses on the driving forces of change need to be revisited in view of new findings.

What are the consequences of globalization for the structure of political conflicts in Western Europe? How are political conflicts organized and articulated in the twenty-first century? And how does the transformation of territorial boundaries affect the scope and content of political conflicts? This book sets out to answer these questions by analyzing the results of a study of national and European electoral campaigns, protest events and public debates in six West European countries. While the mobilization of the losers of the processes of globalization by new right populist parties is seen to be the driving force of the restructuring of West European politics, the book goes beyond party politics. It attempts to show how the cleavage coalitions that are shaping up under the impact of globalization extend to state actors, interest groups and social movement organizations, and how the new conflicts are framed by the various actors involved.

What are the consequences of globalization for the structure of political conflicts in Western Europe? How are political conflicts organized and articulated in the twenty-first century? And how does the transformation of territorial boundaries affect the scope and content of political conflicts? This book sets out to answer these questions by analyzing the results of a study of national and European electoral campaigns, protest events and public debates in six West European countries. While the mobilization of the losers of the processes of globalization by new right populist parties is seen to be the driving force of the restructuring of West European politics, the book goes beyond party politics. It attempts to show how the cleavage coalitions that are shaping up under the impact of globalization extend to state actors, interest groups and social movement organizations, and how the new conflicts are framed by the various actors involved.

Over the past three decades the effects of globalization and denationalization have created a division between 'winners' and 'losers' in Western Europe. This study examines the transformation of party political systems in six countries (Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK) using opinion surveys, as well as newly collected data on election campaigns. The authors argue that, as a result of structural transformations and the strategic repositioning of political parties, Europe has observed the emergence of a tripolar configuration of political power, comprising the left, the moderate right, and the new populist right. They suggest that, through an emphasis on cultural issues such as mass immigration and resistance to European integration, the traditional focus of political debate - the economy - has been downplayed or reinterpreted in terms of this new political cleavage. This new analysis of Western European politics will interest all students of European politics and political sociology.

Over the past three decades the effects of globalization and denationalization have created a division between 'winners' and 'losers' in Western Europe. This study examines the transformation of party political systems in six countries (Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK) using opinion surveys, as well as newly collected data on election campaigns. The authors argue that, as a result of structural transformations and the strategic repositioning of political parties, Europe has observed the emergence of a tripolar configuration of political power, comprising the left, the moderate right, and the new populist right. They suggest that, through an emphasis on cultural issues such as mass immigration and resistance to European integration, the traditional focus of political debate - the economy - has been downplayed or reinterpreted in terms of this new political cleavage. This new analysis of Western European politics will interest all students of European politics and political sociology.

Die Telekommunikationspolitik ist unter starken Veranderungsdruck geraten. Technologische und okonomische Umbruche, aber auch politische Reformen haben den Bereich zunehmend politisiert und in den Mittelpunkt offentlicher Aufmerksamkeit geruckt.Dieser Band gibt einen Uberblick uber Konfliktstoffe, Positionen und Erwartungen in funf zentralen Problembereichen: der Neuordnung des Ordnungsrahmens in der Bundesrepublik, der Gestaltung und des Ausbaus der Telekommunikations-Infrastruktur, der Entwicklung und des Angebots neuer Telekommunikationsdienste, der gesellschaftlichen Folgen der modernen Kommunikationstechnologie und der "Europaisierung" der Telekommunikationspolitik."

Am Ende der siebziger und zu Beginn der achtziger Jahre sind in einigen der wich- tigsten kapitalistischen Demokratien neokonservative Regierungen mit der erkHir- ten Absicht angetreten, einen grundlegenden Kurswechsel in der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik einzuleiten. GroBbritannien und die Bundesrepublik Deutschland waren zwei der spektakuliirsten Fiille solcher wirtschaftspolitischer "Wende"-Ver- suche. 1m Mittelpunkt der Regierungsprogramme stand die Zielsetzung, das be- stehende Niveau staatlicher Intervention in die Wirtschaft drastisch zu reduzieren und den Umfang wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Sicherung abzubauen. Kurz: Das Verhalt- nisses von Staat und Okonomie, das sich in beiden Liindern nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg herausgebildet hatte, sollte substantiell verandert werden. Der Frage nach der Durchsetzungsfahigkeit eines solchen wirtschaftspolitischen Strategiewechsels wird hier exemplarisch im Fall der Telekommunikationspolitik nachgegangen. Fiir diese Fallauswahl gab es gute Griinde. Die Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien gelten als "Schliisseltechnologien" filr die strukturelle Modernisierung kapitalistischer Okonomien. Eine politische Reform der Regulierungsstrukturen im Bereich der Telekommunikation hatte dernnach nicht nur sektorale Auswirkungen, sondern kann als Priifstein fUr die Erfolgschancen des neokonservativen Projekts in der Wirtschaftspolitik insgesamt gewertet werden. Die vorliegende empirische Untersuchung der neokonservativen Reform der Telekommunikation in GroBbritannien und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland entstand als Teil des Forschungsprojekts "Verlaufsmuster und Bedingungen von ordnungspolitischem Strategiewechsel im internationalen Vergleich" an der Fachgruppe Politik-/Verwaltungswissenschaft der Universitat Konstanz. Das Projekt wurde geleitet von Prof. Dr. Gerhard Lehmbruch und gefOrdert aus Mitteln der Stiftung Volkswagenwerk. Beiden ist der Verfasser zu besonderem Dank verpflichtet. Ohne sie ware diese Untersuchung nicht moglich gewesen.

The end of the Cold War, as well as recent progress towards economic integration among countries in various regions, revolutionary advances in communications technologies, and the rapid emergence of global social networks, has resulted in profound transformations in structures of political authority around the world. The role of the modern nation-state continues to be crucial, especially for the production of public goods such as security and welfare, yet states cannot address the most pressing problems facing their own citizens without moving away from traditional understandings of sovereignty itself. disciplines of political science, international relations, sociology, and political economy. The essays in this volume examine the meaning of 'complex sovereignty' through a set of conceptual and empirical studies on such topics as governance in the European Union and North America, the emergence of public-private partnerships, the adaptation of established international organizations, and the search for innovative mechanisms to manage risk. Together, they elucidate a fascinating and vitally important struggle to give coherence to a complicated governing system of multiple and overlapping hierarchies.