This volume, largely the work of Spanish scholars, looks at the functioning of Spain since the introduction of democracy and more particularly since the Constitution of 1978.
Contents: The Franco Legacy in Perspective: Juan Carlos and the Emergence of Democracy Paul Preston. Collective memory and the transition to democracy: on the peculiarity of the Basque Country in Spanish context Paloma Aguilar Fernandez. Reflections on the Struggle Against Franco Elias Diaz. Decentralisation in Spain: weakly institutionalized pluralism Joseph M. Colomer. Elections, parties and democratic consolidation in Spain Jose Ramon Montero. Political Scandals in Democratic Spain Fernando Jimenez Sanchez. Power Diffusion or concentration: in search of the Policy Process Paul Heywood. Pressure Groups and the Articulation of Interests Joaquim M Molins and Alex Casademunt. Judicial Review and Political Empowerment: Abortion in Spain Belen Barreiro Perez-Pardo.

Since the early 1990s, a series of major scandals in both the financial and most especially the political world has resulted in close attention being paid to the issue of corruption and its links to political legitimacy and stability. Indeed, in many countries - in both the developed as well as the developing world - corruption seems to have become almost an obsession. Concern about corruption has become a powerful policy narrative: the explanation of last resort for a whole range of failures and disappointments in the fields of politics, economics and culture. In the more established democracies, worries about corruption have become enmeshed in a wider debate about trust in the political class. Corruption remains as widespread today, possibly even more so, as it was when concerted international attention started being devoted to the issue following the end of the Cold War. This Handbook provides a showcase of the most innovative and exciting research being conducted in Europe and North America in the field of political corruption, as well as providing a new point of reference for all who are interested in the topic. The Handbook is structured around four core themes in the study of corruption in the contemporary world: understanding and defining the nature of corruption; identifying its causes; measuring its extent; and analysing its consequences. Each of these themes is addressed from various perspectives in the first four sections of the Handbook, whilst the fifth section explores new directions that are emerging in corruption research. The contributors are experts in their field, working across a range of different social-science perspectives.

This book identifies neglected areas of research and indicates how research results can be integrated in secondary school curricula. It compares research findings and encourages cooperation in a field of particular interest.

Since the early 1990s, a series of major scandals in both the financial and most especially the political world has resulted in close attention being paid to the issue of corruption and its links to political legitimacy and stability. Indeed, in many countries - in both the developed as well as the developing world - corruption seems to have become almost an obsession. Concern about corruption has become a powerful policy narrative: the explanation of last resort for a whole range of failures and disappointments in the fields of politics, economics and culture. In the more established democracies, worries about corruption have become enmeshed in a wider debate about trust in the political class. Corruption remains as widespread today, possibly even more so, as it was when concerted international attention started being devoted to the issue following the end of the Cold War. This Handbook provides a showcase of the most innovative and exciting research being conducted in Europe and North America in the field of political corruption, as well as providing a new point of reference for all who are interested in the topic. The Handbook is structured around four core themes in the study of corruption in the contemporary world: understanding and defining the nature of corruption; identifying its causes; measuring its extent; and analysing its consequences. Each of these themes is addressed from various perspectives in the first four sections of the Handbook, whilst the fifth section explores new directions that are emerging in corruption research. The contributors are experts in their field, working across a range of different social-science perspectives.

Paul Heywood-Smith's interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict commenced in London in 1973 at the time of the Yom Kippur War. He was then a young lawyer imbued with the values derived from the fight against apartheid and opposition to the Vietnam War. His thesis is that the conflict is the defining conflict of our time, and has had that status for at least sixty years. It is behind the rise of militant Islam. It was the impetus for 9/11 and 7/7. The Case for Palestine presents the history and the issues objectively - and subjectively - in a way comprehensible by all in society. Not to be informed of the Arab-Israeli conflict is to fail to understand what is happening in our lives: in respect of our privacy, our national defence, our security when travelling, our future and our children's future. Heywood-Smith argues that it is the responsibility of all adult and thinking members of the world community to inform themselves of the background to the conflict and the current issues associated with its resolution. It is not good enough for thinking people to say to themselves 'it's too hard'. Nor is it good enough to say: 'I am not anti-Semitic; I must support Israel.' 'Compelling, confronting and controversial. A must read for anyone who wants to understand this interminable and tragic conflict.' - Nick Xenophon, Senator for South Australia

This is the first full-length study in English of the role of Marxist theory in the Spanish Socialist movement prior to the outbreak of Civil War in 1936. In particular, the author stresses the intellectual poverty of this aspect of leftwing politics in Spain. In concentrating on the Partido Socialista Obrero Espafiol (PSOE), the major organised party of the left prior to the Civil War, the study seeks to achieve two main aims: first, to attempt to isolate the political, social and intellectual factors which led to a particularly distorted version of Marxism which became established in Spain at the end of the nineteenth century; and second, to demonstrate how this particular conception of Marxism had a crucial negative impact on the political formulations and fortunes of the PSOE between 1879 and 1936. The central argument of the book is that the significance of Spanish Marxism lay precisely in its poverty, since it was this ‘decaffeinated’ version of the theory which set the parameters within which the PSOE formulated its strategy for socialism.