Explores the impact interparty conflicts have on a party's coalition bargaining. Focusing on Denmark, Norway, the UK, Italy and France, the text investigates whether organizational imperatives of political parties play a role in interplay competition. The author challenges traditional views to show that the degree of centralization or decentralization of a party and the nature of the interparty conflict affects the party's elite to neutralize and pacify internal opposition. He argues that decentralized models provide a variety of ways to manage such conflict without members leaving the party or voicing dissent outside the party.

In this introduction to the theme of political parties, attention is given to those theoretical works that have the most direct bearing on the subject. To illustrate these theoretical ideas, the book applies comparative approaches to the British case. The book focuses on concepts which highlight various "trade offs" confronting party leadership and their impact on party behaviour. It addresses concepts that relate to competitive parties - party institutionalization, organizational models, intra-party competition, and the impact of intra-party conflicts on party behaviour. The latter aspect takes the reader through to the second part of the book, namely competitive party systems. Here, notions that pertain to multiparty electoral competition, the impact of regional integration on a party's behaviour, issue orientation, and party system change are discussed. Students taking courses on political parties should find this book a useful introduction to the basic conceptual paradigms and salient theories of the topic.

The "Israeli History, Politics and Society" series comprises multidisciplinary studies that range from elections and the Yom Kippur war to the search for a true Israeli identity and the various initiatives to foment or prevent the peace process. This volume brings together a set of articles that try to estimate the direction of developments in Israeli public administration: whether ministries will remain under the ambit of the Weberian model, follow the New Public Management model, or move towards a mix of the two. Each essay focuses on a specific factor which may inhibit reforms, such as the weakness of mechanisms for policy control, monitoring and evaluation; lack of co-ordination between the different ministries; lack of effective accountability mechanisms; an administrative culture that is characterized by frequent infringements of moral integrity; a high level of politicization; and a Supreme Court which plays a paramount role by routinely intervening in the practices of public administration as well as in the business of other governmental and non-governmental institutions. Each article probes how these distinctive features of Israeli public administration reflect underlying traits of the nation's history, culture and geography, and gauges the extent to which formal structures provide an indication of how policy-making and programme implementation really operate.

A favorable reputation is an asset of importance that no public sector entity can afford to neglect because it gives power, autonomy, and access to critical resources. However, reputations must be built, maintained, and protected. As a result, public sector organizations in most OECD countries have increased their capacity for managing reputation. This edited volume seeks to describe, explain, and critically analyze the significance of organizational reputation and reputation management activities in the public sector. This book provides a comprehensive first look at how reputation management and branding efforts in public organizations play out, focusing on public agencies as formal organizations with their own hierarchies, identities, and cultures - existing in a network of other public organizations with similar or different functions, power, and reputation. From this unique organizational perspective, the chapters in this volume examine issues such as organizational identity, power, conflict, politics, culture, and symbolism within the public sector. Paying specific attention to strategies and processes, and illustrating with examples from the countries of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and Sweden, the book deepens our understanding of reputation management efforts at various levels of government.

A favorable reputation is an asset of importance that no public sector entity can afford to neglect because it gives power, autonomy, and access to critical resources. However, reputations must be built, maintained, and protected. As a result, public sector organizations in most OECD countries have increased their capacity for managing reputation. This edited volume seeks to describe, explain, and critically analyze the significance of organizational reputation and reputation management activities in the public sector. This book provides a comprehensive first look at how reputation management and branding efforts in public organizations play out, focusing on public agencies as formal organizations with their own hierarchies, identities, and cultures - existing in a network of other public organizations with similar or different functions, power, and reputation. From this unique organizational perspective, the chapters in this volume examine issues such as organizational identity, power, conflict, politics, culture, and symbolism within the public sector. Paying specific attention to strategies and processes, and illustrating with examples from the countries of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and Sweden, the book deepens our understanding of reputation management efforts at various levels of government.