Abstract
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Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004, 176, £45.00, ISBN 0 7546 3594 5
Readership: Advanced undergraduates
Rating: **
Reviewer: FELIX CIUTĂ
(SSEES, University College London)
Seeking to address what it perceives as a gap in a burgeoning literature, this volume investigates the impact of 9/11 on the changing nature of international security, the reconfiguration of transatlantic relations, and the foreign policies of European states. The opening chapters set the ground: the first evaluates the potential relationship between the ‘war on terror’ and the emergence of a new paradigm of security and war, while the second assesses the relevance of the ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis for understanding US foreign policy after 9/11 and the responses it has engendered in Europe and the rest of the world. The next contributions analyse transatlantic relations, and French, German, Russian and British responses to 9/11. Perhaps because the volume is the product of a workshop, its contributions do not share a common framework and do not communicate with each other. As a whole the book offers neither a unifying European thematic, nor a unifying conceptual structure for the assessment of a commonly defined set of issues. This is partly the result of the oddly old-fashioned way of addressing the problem of ‘European security’ through a discussion of the foreign policies of (some) European states. Readers will consequently find that little is said about what makes ‘European security’ a coherent context of analysis. Conceptually, the opening contributions seem on a mission to demonstrate the irrelevance of ‘identity’ and ‘norms’ for understanding international security. It is unfortunate that in doing so, the authors fail to present coherently their own theoretical framework, which remains at the level of a rather basic form of political realism, and that their critique not only caricatures competing arguments, but also contains conceptual confusions and contradictions. The most significant contribution of the book is therefore the undoubtedly useful and well-documented empirical detail provided by the case studies.
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Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, 237, £40.00, ISBN 0 199 25925 9
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates
Rating: ****
Reviewer: Anthony O'Halloran
(University College Cork)
This edited volume consisting of twelve chapters explores the increasingly ubiquitous concept of multi-level governance. The book is divided into three parts, which separately explore multi-level governance under the rubric of theories, levels and sectors. Themes explored include democracy, British politics, the European Union and economic policy. The editors provide readers with an illuminating opening chapter and well-structured conclusion. Particularly useful is the opening chapter's focus on key themes such as the implications of multi-level governance for democracy and how the concept may differ across policy areas.
The editors adopt a collaborative approach, arguing that traditional boundaries in political studies frustrate efforts to construct a deeper understanding of the concept. As such a central objective of the book is to draw on different models in order to understand and develop the concept. Bringing together a diverse range of scholars the editors largely succeed in achieving this objective. Even those familiar with the literature on multi-level governance are likely to encounter new theoretical perspectives.
Apart from the merits of the individual chapters, the real strength of this book lies in its thematic unity. Unlike many edited volumes, this book is not a collection of separate chapters that happen to be between the covers of the same book. Rather Ian Bache and Matthew Flinders ensure that this edited volume is tightly focused. Given the complexity of the concept this is a considerable editorial achievement.
If the book has a weakness it is the occasionally turgid writing style of some contributors. Consequently even experienced scholars will find parts of this book a tough read in places. However, this by no means takes away from the book's overall quality. For serious scholars of multi-level governance the book is essential reading.
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 285, £50, ISBN 0 333 69277 2
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: *****
Reviewer: ALAN SIAROFF
(University of Lethbridge, Alberta)
Reversing the normal reference to ‘the government and politics of’ a given country, in this four-part study Church deliberately uses the phrase ‘Politics and Government’ to emphasise the bottom-up nature of the Swiss polity. The first part of the book outlines the broad history and contexts of the country. The second part is on political actors and institutions, beginning as the title implies with the people, then including chapters on parties, interest groups, and social movements, and only then offering chapters on the key political institutions. The third part looks at the many political processes in Switzerland: electoral, direct democratic, federal, and consultative. Finally the fourth part on ‘Outputs’ looks at various public policies, as well as the issue of European integration.
Starting from the reality that Switzerland has been under-examined in European political studies, Church sets out to correct both the common myths and the academic assumptions about the country. For example, he argues that the many horizontal linkages and the lack of national deference to elites make it inappropriate to call Switzerland consociational (a la Lijphart), stressing instead that it is a consensual democracy with a high degree of direct citizen governance. That said, Church also stresses how Swiss politics is becoming more conflictual and more pluralist.
Church's deep knowledge of Switzerland has produced an extremely comprehensive and informative book, which is destined to be the standard English language text on the country for some time to come. Everything from the new 1999 constitution to social policies is clearly analysed. The various annexes are quite useful, as is the thorough multilingual bibliography. The only criticism one can offer is that the book was written with a British audience in mind, so for example the analysis of federalism starts from a perspective opposite to the Germanic/North American one.
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Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2003, 332, £18.95, ISBN 1 900621 42 8
Reviewer: MICHAEL JOHNS
(Laurentian University)
This book begins with the premise that with globalization the traditional ‘old states’ of Europe have, like their eastern neighbours, faced pressures to rethink the make-up of their governments and institutions.
Ruane et al. concentrate their analysis on three of the oldest, most well-established states in western Europe: Britain, France and Spain. Focusing on the challenges faced by three historical colonial powers emphasizes the fact that no area of Europe is immune to the power of globalization. These three states are all centralist in design yet all have had to cede power to regions within their borders.
The volume is divided into an introduction, conclusion and three sections. The editors have brought together experts on each of the cases, with each section a different theme where each state is examined. Unlike many other edited volumes where the editors are responsible for the introduction and conclusion only; in this book the editors also contribute to several of the chapters. This creates an interesting dynamic to the book in that it is a combination of an edited volume and a regular multi-authored manuscript. The first section looks at the changing nature of the political process in each country with specific emphasis placed on centreperiphery relations. The second section follows from the first and looks specifically at the issues of regionalism and nationalism within each state. The final section is a departure from the previous two. It concerns the changing role of the state on issues of security. Other state institutions may have been more appropriate to analyze in order to maintain the flow of the book.
This book is an excellent resource for scholars interested not only in the three cases but also those interested in globalization and regionalism. It is also a good introduction for scholars interested in the growing impact of the European Union. The book argues effectively that EU member states are no more immune than incoming members to the forces of globalization.
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Brighton: Sussex Academic Print, 2004, 271, £49.95, ISBN 1 903900 38 7
Readership: Undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: VASILIS MARGARAS
(Loughborough University)
The book describes the transition process in Spain successfully by giving emphasis to the developments that took place in the period between 1964–1977. There is an emphasis on the role of the Francoist regime reformists who co-operated with other elements of society and politics in order to promote change.
The book describes the process that led to the new constitution, the consensus and compromise of the Spanish democracy. A good point of the book is that it goes back to 1964, thus giving us more facts on the emergence of the reformists. It is argued that a young generation of reformists emerged in the 1960s that had a vital role in the Spanish democratic transition. The ideas of the reformists changed over time: in the 1960s they were advocating timid reform (limited democracy), whereas by the late 1960s more progressive changes (complete democracy) were advocated.
Chapter 1 analyses the historical period that led to the first divisions between reformists and hardliners. Chapter 2 gives us an overview of the 1964 Law of Associations and the importance of the Cortes ‘family’ sector for the reformists. Chapters 3 and 5 analyse the appointment of King Juan Carlos as Franco's successor and his main political ideas whereas Chapter 4 focuses on the role of Manuel Fraga. Chapter 6 examines the role of two major reformist groups (GODSA, Tacito) as well as the political failures of President Navarro. Finally, the role of President Suarez and the path towards the first democratic elections are discussed. The book provides a good overview of the transition and there is an interesting analysis of major events. The author also uses good primary and secondary sources.
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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, 280, $17.99, ISBN 0 521 53505 0
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: *****
Reviewer: MIN SHU
(University of Bristol)
Marks and Steenbergen ask an intriguing question in this edited volume: how is political contestation structured around European integration? In the introduction, the two editors distinguish between four theoretical accounts: the international model (less vs. more integration), the regulation model (left vs. right), the Hix-Lord model (two unrelated dimensions of left vs. right and less vs. more integration), and the Hooghe-Marks model (two correlated dimensions). The rest of the book dwells on the empirical falsification of these four models. Authored by leading scholars in the field, individual chapters look into the political mobilisation of mass voters, political parties, MEPs, interest groups and social movements.
Such comprehensive coverage is made possible by extensive data sources and sophisticated quantitative analysis. The datasets are drawn from Euro-barometer surveys, expert surveys of party positions, European Election Studies, EP party manifestos, MEP survey, MEP's roll call votes and Reuter's report on European protest events. Regarding analytical methods, apart from OLS and logistic regression, some chapters employ factor analysis and multidimensional scaling to ascertain the latent dimension(s) of political behaviour, others use correspondence analysis to analyse the contact between interest groups and politicians, variance analysis to identify the impact of issues and levels.
Substantively, for those who have read half of the book in Comparative Political Studies (Vol. 35, No. 8), the additional chapters are no less thought-provoking. Just take one example, which finds that MEPs’ orientations towards more or less integration are explained by national background rather than party affiliation (p. 158). This explains why the data of EP party manifestos (which assumes intraparty cohesion) only identify one dimension of contestation in the EP.
If time, issue and territory are the basic angles to study integration politics (p. 236), the EU is a quite different entity (especially after the enlargement and the Constitution) from the situation described in the book – the latest data is from 1999. Nevertheless, the comparative framework, the rigorous analysis and the innovative techniques developed in the book will undoubtedly shape EU studies in the coming years.
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 422, £50.00, ISBN 0 333 92083 X
Readership: Academic/research, professional
Rating: *****
Reviewer: MICHAEL KAEDING
(Leiden University)
France's political parties have traditionally been weak and prone to splits. The elections of 2002, which were devastating in terms of fragmentation, abstention and far-right protest voting, were merely the most recent and extreme expression of this feature. Andrew Knapp's book seeks to explain why the basis of party support has been so uncertain and asks whether France's continuing stable government is achieved only at the cost of public alienation from the political system as a whole.
His chronological framework of all eight political parties in France involves four perspectives: the social groups that parties represent, and their opposition to other groups; the ideas that they express; the ways in which they behave as organisations; and the institutional rules within which they compete.
To conclude, he argues that the results of 2002 can be seen as a culmination of developments underway over a whole generation. French voters are increasingly inclined to abstain or to spoil their ballots because the party system is increasingly unrepresentative of voters’ preferences; the notions of left and right are viewed with growing scepticism by voters; party membership and party activism attract the French in ever-smaller numbers.
However, he identifies five sets of reasons to avoid excessive hand-wringing over the 2002 results: First, there is no evidence that the French are disillusioned with or hostile to democracy as a principle. France has had no difficulty, either in 2002 or in earlier elections, in electing stable parliamentary majorities. Parties in France continue to perform important functions for the political process. While abstentions may result from a lack of political and social integration, or from a terminal alienation from the political system as a whole, this is only true in a minority of cases. Finally, the circumstances of the election might have been calculated to encourage precisely this type of behaviour.
Knapp explains successfully the paradoxes of France's current relationship to politics through a comprehensive analysis of French political parties and their interaction over the past half-century, set in the twin context of French history and contemporary theories of parties and party systems. Moreover, it is an exceptionally stimulating contribution to the debate of the 2002 elections in France, extraordinarily well researched and should be widely read by scholars and practitioners alike.
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Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, 422, £22.50, ISBN 0 19 927091 0
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: LEE MCGOWAN
(Queen's University Belfast)
The EU integration process has served as one of a number of catalysts that led to the re-defining and reshaping of the state in Europe and gave rise to new challenges and opportunities for all the regional units. This book (new in paperback) is set against this backdrop and is to be welcomed as a timely addition to the growing body of literature on sub-national democracy. Loughlin has carefully selected a team of leading authorities and together they have produced a comparative inventory of subnational democracy in all of the EU 15 member states (prior to the recent enlargement). The work commences with an examination of the transformation of the democratic state and considers such issues as state tradition, regional and local democracy as well as the challenges presented by both Europeanisation and globalisation. The country case studies follow and are grouped under four distinct headings: the Anglo-Saxon tradition; the Germanic tradition; the Napoleonic tradition; and the Scandinavian tradition.
The origins of this ambitious project rest with the EU's Committee of the Regions, which enabled Loughlin to undertake the research. Unlike the earlier publications for COR this work has been specifically targeted at the academic community. It comes highly recommended and serves as an essential starting point for anyone wishing to understand the role and limitations of sub national democracy in the EU. However, as the book was written in 2000 the case studies are ageing all too quickly and are being overtaken by events. This is particularly the situation, for example, in the context of the United Kingdom, with regard to the sections on Northern Ireland and the London Assembly. At times the book displays characteristics more in common with a report than an academic text, but on the whole this should not detract from the overall worth and value of this work.
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, 223, £50.00, ISBN 1 4039 0265 8
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: DIEGO MURO
(King's College London)
In this engaging study, Ludger Mees explores the rationale behind ETA's decision to call a cease-fire in 1998, and then call it off 14 months later, ‘despite the manifest unpopularity and political ineffectiveness of terrorism’ (p. 1). This well-written introduction to the ‘Basque problem’ has been organised in order to attract the interest of both the newcomer and the informed scholar. In the first part of the book (chapters 2–6), Mees provides a succinct historical introduction of the emergence and development of Basque nationalism since the late nineteenth century up to the establishment and consolidation of the Basque Autonomous Government in the 1980s. In the second part (chapters 7–9), and this is the historian's most personal contribution, Mees uses political science tools (resource mobilization theory, political opportunity structure, and so forth) to explain the politics of the Basque conflict between the years 1998 and 2001.
Nationalism, Violence and Democracy epitomises a relentless move in the field of Basque studies towards interdisciplinary approaches. Indeed, with the ‘normalisation’ of Spain since the death of Franco in 1975 much of the country's political life (and that of the Basque Provinces) is better understood with approaches from the field of comparative politics. Ludger Mees is at his best offering a historical overview but is less informative when he explains why ETA's violence reproduced after the death of the dictator. It is at the very end when he suggests that ETA is not only ‘a problem of paramilitary commandos’ but of ‘a culture of violence’ as well (p. 184). It would have been interesting to learn more about this ‘culture of violence’, of how it was grounded in Basque ethnicity and why it does resonate among radical Basque nationalists. Nonetheless, Mees’ book is a must-read for those interested in the Basque conflict.
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Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004, 198, £14.99, ISBN 0 7190 6804 5
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: DAN HOUGH
(University of Sussex)
Although parties of the far-left periodically come under the academic spotlight, rarely do they do so within the context of the process of European integration. Dunphy's thought-provoking account illustrates how far left parties in eight EU states have developed their ideas on the ‘European project’ – both as individual parties and in co-operation with other far-left actors. Dunphy begins by analysing the (often surprisingly wide and varied) visions that far-left parties have had of European integration before launching into a meaty chapter discussing the historical context within which these ideas have developed. These chapters are important and Dunphy is not scared to critique ideas such as Eurocommunism and the ‘Euro-left’. The ideas proposed by far-left parties have been, at times, abstract and difficult to digest, but Dunphy does an excellent job of explaining them in clear, concise and, at times, compelling language.
The second section of the book analyses the positions and programmes adopted by individual parties. While Dunphy naturally gives more coverage to the larger and arguably more significant far-left groupings – the Italian PCI and the French PCF – he donates considerable space to the communist parties of Southern and Scandinavian Europe. There is substantial evidence of new research here and, in the final two chapters, Dunphy draws the strands of the country-specific developments together. Dunphy illustrates where the seeds of a coherent far-left agenda exist while pointing out the areas where consensus has been harder to come by. Perhaps the only notable omission is an analysis of the German PDS – a party that has been represented in the European Parliament since 1998. This book is none the less an excellent piece of research and is a must for all those interested in communist and post-communist party politics.
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Chicago IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2004, 217, £20.00, ISBN 1 56663 571 3
Readership: Undergraduates
Rating: ***
Reviewer: WILLIAM I. BRUSTEIN
(University of Pittsburgh)
European anti-Semitism has reached a level not seen since the Holocaust, according to Pierre-Andre Taguieff. The principal purveyors of the new anti-Semitism include propagandists of radical Islam, members of the humanitarian neo-Christian movement, political and intellectual elites, left-wing anti-imperialists, and the entire Arab world. For Taguieff, the new anti-Semitism makes no distinction between antipathy to Israeli policies, to Zionism and to Jews – they are all connected. Roughly two-thirds of the book's narrative deals with Israelophobia and Palestinophilia within the Islamic world. Taquieff contends that the radical message of Bin Laden, which, among other things, calls for the elimination of Israel is heard and embraced by millions of Muslims and that the appeal of ‘westernized Islam’ (secularized and respectful of individual liberty) is a lot less pervasive than the western world might think.
In many ways, this book is as much a political call to action as it is a scholarly contribution. Taguieff forcefully advocates an active resistance against the transnational Islamist-terrorist network for it is nothing more than a political and religious enterprise bent on conquest and domination of the world. Radical Islam might well be, according to Taguieff, the ‘communism’ of the twenty-first century. For France, which has Europe's largest Muslim population, Taguieff calls for an end to the ‘disturbing silence’ of the French elites and media in response to the persistent attacks by North Africans on French Jews.
To support his contention that today's anti-Semitism has reached epidemic levels Taquieff relies principally on secondary sources. Comparative empirical data on Judeophobia would certainly have made his arguments more compelling. Without such evidence it is hard to truly know how pervasive radical Islam is within the Muslim world and how extensive the new anti-Semitism is within Europe. Nor does he offer convincing proof that all those who are deeply opposed to current Israeli policies vis a vis the Palestinians or even antagonistic to the concept of Zionism are indeed anti-Semitic.
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Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004, 344, £18.99, ISBN 0 745 629 814
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates
Rating: ***
Reviewer: ALASDAIR BLAIR
(Coventry University)
This book joins a growing list of publications that aim to provide an accessible introduction to the study of the European Union (EU). Written by former graduate students of the London School of Economics, the book acts as a bridge between the textbook market that is dominated by, among others, Cini, Dinan, Nugent, George and Bache, and Wallace and Wallace, and a growing literature that centres on EU companions, dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Aimed at the undergraduate market, the 23 chapters of this book are divided into 7 parts. The first part focuses on the background to the EU, the second examines the EU as a polity, the third concentrates on the legal dimension, the fourth reviews economic and monetary integration, the fifth devotes 7 chapters to common policies, the sixth tackles current and future aspects of integration, and the seventh provides a conclusion. A chronology, list of treaty changes and basic statistical data supplement this information.
The authors have succeeded in their attempt to provide an accessible guide to the EU. The chapters follow a common structure that provides a review of the key facts, discusses the main problems and issues, and includes a discussion of whether there are winners and losers. Conscious of the need to pass on their own learning points, the authors include a section at the end of each chapter devoted to ‘student-to-student tips’. A list of further sources that includes a mix of books, journal articles and websites complement each chapter. Written in an accessible manner, this book will be a useful addition to reading lists. The overall product is an impressive achievement for a group of former students and will hopefully encourage future generations of students to engage with the wider literature that is highlighted in this text.
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 252, £16.99, ISBN 0 333 98121 9
Readership: Academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: MICHAEL KAEDING
(Leiden University)
The scope of Geddes's book is two-pronged: on the one hand, the assessment of Britain's role in the EU; and, on the other hand, the assessment of EU's impacts on British politics.
The ‘Britain in Europe’ theme centres on analysis of British relations with the EU and the role of British governments in attempting to shape Europe's institutional architecture. The focus here lies on inter-state relations and exploration of the UK's role within the EU and the attitudes of various UK governments, from Heath to Blair, to the development of European integration (chapters 4–7). The questions he addresses are the following: What factors have motivated British policy towards the EU? Have British governments been particularly effective players of the EU game? How have British policies towards the EU changed over time? What factors have contributed to these changes?
The ‘Europe in Britain’ theme involves analysis of the extent to which European integration has been absorbed into the logic of British domestic politics (chapters 8–10). The main questions here are: What impact has European integration had on the organization of the British political system? What impact has European integration had on debates within and between the main political parties? In what directions have public attitudes towards the EU developed? What part has the mass media played in shaping these views?
Theoretically weak though, Geddes's well-researched work on the ‘European Union and British Politics’ successfully explores the ways in which there has been a historical institutional pattering of Britain's relations with the EU. It is informative and clearly structured, and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex processes of Europeanisation in the UK.
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Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002, 349, £60.00, ISBN 0 333 99839 1
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: VASILIS MARGARAS
(Loughborough University)
The volume explores main issues of globalization that have shaped Europe as we understand it today. The main questions that scholars attempt to answer are: what did Europe do for globalization in the past, and what is globalization doing for Europe today? Contents include the following topics: the myth of exploding income equality in Europe and the World; globalization and the European Economy; Europe and the causes of globalization; the standardization of law; the globalizing process of the nation; Europe in the global financial market; corporate diversification, internationalisation and location of technological activities by MNCs in Europe; the question of income convergence and structural change in the EU periphery; Europeanization and trade in the 1990s, the question of central Europe; the nature of welfare state; the globalization impact on constitutional design, as well as alternative histories of Europe's role in globalization.
There is an interesting analysis of the multiple facets of European globalization. Globalization is rightly perceived as a complex phenomenon that needs to be addressed through a framework that combines issues of political science, economics, history and law. Causes and consequences, negative and positive aspects of globalization are analyzed in depth by a group of international scholars who provide us with interesting insights on current issues. The main success of the book is that it explains the means by which globalization affects Europe (and vice versa) by using interesting, updated sources and contrasting examples. The volume also gives us many examples of European countries (including case studies ranging from Ireland to Mediterranean EU Members, from Eastern Europe to the financial centre of London), thus rendering the volume an interesting contribution to the European globalization debate.
Europe
New books received
Carlos Closa and Paul M. Heywood (2004) Spain and the European Union. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 274, £18.50, ISBN 0 333 75339 9
Simon Green (2004) The Politics of Exclusion: institutions and immigration policy in contemporary Germany. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 162, £45.00, ISBN 0 7190 6588 7
Montserrat Guibernau (2004) Catalan Nationalism: Francoism, transition and democracy. London: Routledge, 200, £60, ISBN 0 415 32240 5
Richard Gunther, Jose Ramon Montero, Joan Botella (2004) Democracy in Modern Spain. New Haven CT: Yale University, 478, £26.00, ISBN 0 300 10152 X
Richard K. Herrman, Thomas Risse and Marilynn B. Brewer (2004) Transnational Identities: becoming European in the EU. Lanham MA: Rowman and Littlefield, 305, £14.00, ISBN 0 7425 3007 8
Patrick Ireland (2004) Becoming Europe: immigration, integration and the welfare state. Pittsburgh PA: Pittsburgh University Press, 288, $27.95, ISBN 0 8229 5845 7
R. Daniel Kelemen (2004) The Rules of Federalism: institutions and regulatory politics in the EU and beyond. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 244, £32.95, ISBN 0 674 01309 3
Lennart J. Lundqvist (2004) Sweden and Ecological Governance. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 246, £50.00, ISBN 0 7190 6902 5
Neil Nugent (ed) (2004) European Union Enlargement. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 312, £18.99, ISBN 1 4039 1353 6
Peter Taylor-Gooby (2004) Making a European Welfare State?: convergences and conflicts over European social policy. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing, 162, £17.99, ISBN 1 405 121165
Ben Tonra and Thomas Christiansen (2004) Rethinking European Union Foreign Policy. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 175, £12.99, ISBN 0 7190 6002 8