This book provides a thorough introduction to East Central Europe and its renewed emergence since the momentous changes in the former Soviet bloc. By carefully differentiating between Central Europe, East Central Europe and the Balkans, Attila [ac]Agh shows how the term `Eastern Europe' was a political misnomer of the Cold War. Drawing on ......
Offers an assessment of democracy in America that charts the strengths and weaknesses of the nation's democratic mechanisms and outlines the challenges that lie ahead. This title focuses on the quality of American political life, the representativeness of its governing institutions, and the issues of racial and economic equity.
Vladmir Putin's recent election as Russia's president was the culmination of over a decade of competitive elections and attempts at democratic reform. In fact, voting in Russia has become the only legitimate means for gaining a position of political leadership in the government, or for the transfer of power from one set of leaders to another. This important development is traced from Russia's early electoral heritage to the present with examinations of executive, legislative, and local elections. Multiple tables and figures show electoral results and party support.
The essays in this volume focus on how the design of democratic institutions may be improved. This book also looks at questions of corruption and excessive influence and electoral structures.
A wide-ranging overview of the processes of democratization in post-Communist Europe, placing the transitions in these states within a broad European and global context. The authors introduce the concepts and theories of democracy and then look at the emerging politics of the new democracies in terms of: the formation of civil society; economic ......
The Triumph of Campaign-Centered Politics is an incisive overview of contemporary campaigns and elections and the role parties play in them. Anyone looking to better understand and identify important features of current campaigns and elections, and to place these features in a historical context, will find the book invaluable. Drawing on extensive interviewing and archival research, Menefee-Libey argues that campaign-centered politics is now the dominant force in American elections with serious implications for representative democracy.
This text offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking assessment of government, politics, and policy in the United States. Written by an international team of leading scholars and focused on the trends of the 1990s, this book sets the scene for a thorough understanding of American politics. Part One concentrates on the institutional framework of American government; Part Two examines the parties, pressure groups, and electoral system and the ways in which these dynamic forces channel public opinion and shape the political agenda; Part Three surveys both the substance and the process of public policy in three key areas--the economy, social policy, and foreign policy; Part Four provides overviews of some issues of contemporary political controversy--affirmative action, campaign finance reform, the role of the media, education, and city governance; Part Five assesses the state of American politics at the century's end.
ISBN-13: 9781566430487
(Paperback)
Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS Imprint: CHATHAM HOUSE PUBLISHERS INC.,U.S.
This book provides a thorough introduction to East Central Europe and its renewed emergence since the momentous changes in the former Soviet bloc. By carefully differentiating between Central Europe, East Central Europe and the Balkans, Attila [ac]Agh shows how the term `Eastern Europe' was a political misnomer of the Cold War. Drawing on ......
A comprehensive examination of the concept of "civil society", in which international scholars analyze civil society and democracy, citizenship, race and ethnicity and post-communism. Issues addressed include: The extent to which actual societies exhibit the features of the "ideal-type" civil society; the consequences of institutionalizing the ......