How and to what degree have the radical right in Eastern Europe affected democratic quality? What is the relationship between the radical right's electoral strength, its coalition and blackmail potential and its impact? How do other parties respond if nationalism gains ground in a democracy? Depleting democracies explores these questions through the examples of three groups of countries where radical right parties are strong: Bulgaria and Slovakia; Hungary, Poland and Romania; and the Czech Republic and Estonia. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the book examines how radical right parties influenced mainstream parties' positions and public policy regarding vulnerable groups such as ethnic and national minorities and asylum-seekers between 2000 and 2016. It argues that by undermining the liberal values of equality and inclusiveness, they drive a process of depletion that fundamentally challenges democratic quality in the region. -- .

Capital cities have been the seat of political power and central stage for their state's political conflicts and rituals throughout the ages. In the modern era, they provide symbols for and confer meaning to the state, thereby contributing to the "invention" of the nation. Capitals capture the imagination of natives, visitors and outsiders alike, yet also express the outcomes of power struggles within the political systems in which they operate. This volume addresses the reciprocal relationships between identity, regime formation, urban planning, and public architecture in the Western world. It examines the role of urban design and architecture in expressing (or hiding) ideological beliefs and political agenda. Case studies include "old" capitals such as Rome, Vienna, Berlin and Warsaw; "new" ones such as Washington DC, Ottawa, Canberra, Ankara, Bonn, and Brasilia; and the "European" capital Brussels. Each case reflects the authors' different disciplinary backgrounds in architecture, history, political science, and urban studies, demonstrating the value of an interdisciplinary approach to studying cities.

This book is a comparative analysis of the post-communist East European radical right, both in party and non-party formation, using the West European radical right as a baseline. Minkenberg offers insights into the political field of the radical right since the onset of democracy in the region and elicits region-wide and country-specific characteristics. The book argues that due to the nature of the transition process from Soviet hegemony to national independence and from communist to democratic societies, and the unfinished process of nation-building in the region, the radical right in Eastern Europe is a phenomenon sui generis, both organizationally more fluid and ideologically more extreme than the Western counterpart. The issues covered include trends in party system and electoral developments, patterns of movement mobilization and racist activism, and the impact of the radical right on their countries' politics and policies.

Transforming the transformation? The East European Radical Right in the Political Process examines the significance of radical right parties, along with other organizations, in terms of their involvement in the political process of new democracies. This groundbreaking study highlights firstly the radical right's interaction with other political actors, such as parties, governments and interest groups, in their respective countries. Secondly, the contributors analyze the effects of such interaction with regard to agenda setting and policies in "loaded" policy fields, namely minorities and immigration, law and order, religion, territorial issues and democratization. Through an examination of the role of radical right actors in political processes and an assessment of the resulting measurable outcomes, this book shows how policies, election results and regime changes indicate shifts away from the liberal-democratic order institutionalized in the course of post-Communist transformation. Offering a unique cross-national comparison of particular facets and themes, as well as in-depth analysis of country cases, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars, of European politics and far right studies.

Transforming the transformation? The East European Radical Right in the Political Process examines the significance of radical right parties, along with other organizations, in terms of their involvement in the political process of new democracies. This groundbreaking study highlights firstly the radical right's interaction with other political actors, such as parties, governments and interest groups, in their respective countries. Secondly, the contributors analyze the effects of such interaction with regard to agenda setting and policies in "loaded" policy fields, namely minorities and immigration, law and order, religion, territorial issues and democratization. Through an examination of the role of radical right actors in political processes and an assessment of the resulting measurable outcomes, this book shows how policies, election results and regime changes indicate shifts away from the liberal-democratic order institutionalized in the course of post-Communist transformation. Offering a unique cross-national comparison of particular facets and themes, as well as in-depth analysis of country cases, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars, of European politics and far right studies.

The transformation process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989 is often clothed in terms of historical and geographical categories, either as a 'return of history' or as a 'return to Europe', or both. Either way, the radical right in CEE claims a prominent place in this politics of return. Studies of the radical right echo the more general concern, in analyses of the region, with historical analogies and the role of legacies. Sometimes parallels are discovered between the post-1989 radical right and inter-war fascism. They imply a 'Weimarisation' of the transformation countries and the return of the pre-socialist, ultranationalist, or even fascist past - the 'return of history'. Another interpretation argues that since some CEE party systems increasingly resemble their West European counterparts, so does the radical right, at least where it is electorally successful - the 'return to Europe'. A third line of thought states that the radical right in the region is a phenomenon sui generis, inherently shaped by the historical forces of state socialism and the transformation process. As a result and in contrast to Western Europe, it is ideologically more extreme and anti-democratic while organisationally more a movement than a party phenomenon. This book provides insight into the role of historical forces in the shaping and performance of the current radical right in CEE. It conceptualises 'legacies' both as a contextual factor, (ie: as part of structural and cultural opportunities for new movements and parties in the region, and as textual factors; ie: as part of the ideological baggage of the past which is revived -- and reinterpreted -- by the radical right). An introductory essay by Michael Minkenberg puts the topic and the concept of legacies into a larger research perspective. Articles by Lenka Bustikova and Herbert Kitschelt as well as John Ishiyama employ the role of legacies as context, whereas the contributions by Timm Beichelt, Sarah de Lange and Simona Guerra as well as James Frusetta and Anca Glont treat legacies as text.

Im vorliegenden Band werden quantitative und qualitative Perspektiven sowie aktuelle Forschungsfragen der vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft zusammengefuhrt und anhand verschiedener Anwendungsfalle diskutiert.

Ohne Zweifel ist die Religion auf die politische Agenda zuruckgekehrt. Eine Vielzahl von Entwicklungen innerhalb und ausserhalb Europas belegt die Beharrlichkeit der Religion auch in der Politik und eine veranderte Rolle ihr gegenuber. Religion und darauf gegrundete kulturelle Unterschiede scheinen eine neue Bedeutung fur die Politik und das Funktionieren der jeweiligen Herrschaftsordnungen zu gewinnen. Dies stellt die immer noch weit verbreitete sakularisierungstheoretische Annahme vom Niedergang der Religion in Frage. Ebenso problematisch ist jedoch eine Verengung des Blickwinkels auf den religiosen Fundamentalismus. Die Beitrage dieses Sonderheftes greifen diese sowie weitere Fragen vornehmlich in vergleichender Perspektive auf und diskutieren Perspektiven fur die Ausgestaltung des Verhaltnisses von Politik und Religion in unterschiedlichen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Kontexten.

Diese Studie untersucht die Erneuerung des Rechtsradikalismus in den USA, Frankreich und Deutschland. Die neue radikale Rechte resultiert aus dem in den meisten westlichen Demokratien zu beobachtenden Modernisierungsschub sozialen und kulturellen Wandels seit den sechziger Jahren einerseits und in spezifischen Mobilisierungsphasen aus dem in den jeweiligen Landern vorhandenen politischen und sozialen Kontext andererseits. Sie reprasentiert dabei den rechten Pol einer neuen, quer zu alten Konfliktlinien verlaufenden ideologischen und organisatorischen Polarisierung. Dies stellt eine grundlegend neue Situation dar, in der Rechtsradikalismus wieder anschlussfahig - und damit politikfahig - werden kann. In den USA dominiert eine bewegungsformige Auspragung der neuen radikalen Rechten mit christlich-fundamentalistischen und fremdenfeindlichen Tendenzen, in Frankreich die parteiformige Organisation des Front national mit seinem Konzept einer ethnokulturellen franzosischen Nation. Das deutsche Szenario ist dagegen durch die Ideologie eines autoritaren und volkischen Nationalismus mit einem schwachen Parteiensektor und hoher Militanz und Gewaltbereitschaft am rechten Rand gekennzeichnet.
"(...) Michael Minkenberg ist eine beachtliche, empirisch gut unterfutterte Studie gelungen, die sich wohltuend von der oftmals eindimensionalen Rechtsradikalismusforschung abhebt. (...)"
Die Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte, Marz 1999"

Dieses Buch prasentiert Beitrage aus dem deutsch-polnischen Vergleichsprojekt: "'Wissen ist Macht': Grenzen der Politikberatung und des Lobbyismus im politischen Entscheidungsprozess". Dabei werden neben den Strukturen und den gesetzlichen Regelungen im Bereich der Politikberatung und des Lobbyismus insbesondere ihre Funktionsweise sowie das Zustandekommen der inhaltlichen Grundlagen fur die politische Entscheidungsfindung analysiert. Ausserdem werden der Gegenstand der Beratung, die Aufgaben sowie die Arbeits- und Kommunikationsweisen verschiedener Politikberater im Hinblick auf die unterschiedlichen "Expertenkulturen" diskutiert.