Federalism and Political Performance compares the political performance of federal and non-federal states and evaluates the impact of different types of federation. The contributors draw together focused case-studies to illustrate their arguments on a wide range of countries, including Russia, India, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Canada. A thorough and authoritative volume and a valuable resource for students and scholars of Comparative Politics.

The partisan groups in parliament form the link between mass suffrage, parties and parliaments, and are generally accepted today as necessary instruments of parliamentary business. Parliamentary party groups are central actors in most European democracies. This volume analyses the manifestations and operations of these actors across thirteen different countries and in the European parliament.

This timely volume puts emphasis on the effect of social capital on everyday life: how the routines of daily life lead people to get involved in their communities. Focussing on its micro-level causes and consequences, the book's international contributors argue that social capital is fundamentally concerned with the value of social networks and about how people interact with each other.
The book suggests that different modes of participation have different consequences for creating - or destroying - a sense of community or participation. The diversity of countries, institutions and groups...

This text looks at the political future of democracy, exploring the latest ideas aimed at renewing popular power. Featuring new writing by leading European, American and Australian democratic theorists, this book explores the importance of public deliberation in democracies, how effective representation for all might be achieved, and how associations outside government may be at the heart of democracy's future. The contributors examine issues such as how our political systems can be revitalized; how ordinary people can be empowered when issues are so complex; whether the interests of...

Adminstrative reform in most western democracies since about 1980 has been characterized by bringing in market-based concepts of public-service delivery. This book looks critically at administrative reform in a comparative perspective. The contributors - experts on administrative reform - assess its scope and objectives, and also the ways in which these reforms have impacted on the traditional roles of elective office and civil servants. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics in Politics and Public Administration, as well as for civil servants and experts on...

This work gives an up-to-date reference on the state of the art in this important methodological area, which is central both to theoretical models of party competition and to empirical accounts, whether these are case studies or comparative analyses. It looks at subjects including tracking estimates of public opinion and party policy intentions in Britain and the USA; the policy space of party manifestos; and party platforms and voters' perceptions. Its panel of respected contributors reviews the refinements which have been made to established techniques as well as considering the potential...

Political Journalism explores practices of political journalism, ranging from American 'civic journalism' to the press corps covering the European Union in Brussels, from Bangkok newsrooms to French and Italian scandal hunters. Challenging both the 'mediamalaise' thesis and the notion of the journalist as the faithful servant of democracy, it explores political journalism in the making and maps the opportunities and threats encountered by political journalism in the contemporary sphere.

The European Union is one of the world's biggest economies. However, its role as an international actor is ambiguous and it's not always able to transform its political power into effective external policies. The development of an assertive European Union challenges the image of an internal project aimed at economic integration and international relations theories based on unitary state actors. The contributors explore a wide range of issues and policy areas in all three pillars of the Union.

The end of the twentieth century saw an unprecedented coincidence of electoral success for social democratic parties in western Europe leading to intensive discussion on the future of this new European left. The debates often centred on the notion of a 'Third way' and generated major expectations for policy change among social democratic politicians and voters. The authors collected here examine the recent social and employment policies of these progressive parties, looking for change in the guiding principles of policy and on actual policy decisions. They show how the maxims of demand...

In recent decades, environmental issues have increasingly been incorporated into liberal democratic thought and political practice. Environmentalism and ecologism have become fashionable, even respectable schools of political thought. This apparently successful integration of environmental movements, issues and ideas in mainstream politics raises the question of whether there is a future for what once was a counter-movement and counter-ideology. Liberal Democracy and Environmentalism provides a reflective assessment of recent developments, social relevance and future of environmental...