The rise and decline of corporatism: The case of Sweden

Abstract. Corporatism is a method to pacify intense minorities by giving them another opportunity to influence politics when they have no chance in parliament. This possibility helps to keep the system together; minorities get an incentive to stick to the system and social integration is promoted. During the 1980s we have, however, witnessed a gradual decline of this neocorporatist model of interest representation. Europe is approaching the American pluralist model instead. Sweden, once the prototype of the Social Democratic Corporatist State, is the best example of this change.     

The rise of Pasok: The Greek election of 1981

Presidents and Prime Ministers. Edited by Richard Rose and Ezra N. Suleiman. Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1980. Pp. 347. £4.75.

Western European Party Systems. Edited by Peter H. Merkl. New York: Collier Macmillan, 1980. Pp. 676. £25.95.

Government and Administration in Western Europe. Edited by F. F. Ridley. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1979. Pp. 244. £15 (hardback), £4.95 (paperback).

The Politics of Grandeur: Ideological Aspects of de Gaulle's Foreign Policy. By Philip G. Cerny Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980 Pp. 319. £1250.

Contemporary France. Politics and Society Since 1945. By D. L. Hanley, A. P. Kerr and N. H. Waites. London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1979. Pp. ix + 325. £8.50.

Social Change in France. By M. Vaughan, M. Kolinsky and P. Sheriff. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1980. Pp. vii + 216. £9.95.

French Politics and Public Policy. Edited by Philip G. Cerny and Martin A. Schain. London: Frances Pinter, 1980. Pp. xxii + 300. £12.50.

The Unexpected Rebellion: Ethnic Activism in Contemporary France. By William B. Beer. Foreword by Nicolas Wahl. New York and London: New York University Press, 1980. Pp. 150.

La Décadence: 1932–1939. By J.‐B. Duroselle. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, ‘Politique Etrangère de la France’ Collection, 1979. Pp. 568.

French Conservatism in Crisis. The Republican Federation of France in 1930s. By William D. Irvine. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. Pp. xx + 256. Bibliography. Index. $17.50.

Vichy et La Corporation Paysanne. By Isabel Boussard. Paris: Presses de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1980. Pp. 415.

L'aventure algérienne, 1940–1944: Pétain, Giraud, de Gaulle. By Lucien Adès. Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1979. Pp. 258.

France and the United States. By Jean‐Baptiste Duroselle. The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Translation. Pp. 276. £12.60.

Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial Societies. By Suzanne Berger and Michael J. Piore. Cambridge: CUP, 1980. Pp. xi + 159. £10.50.

Mobilità senza movimento: Le elezioni del 3 giugno 1979. Edited by Arturo Parisi. Bologna: II Mulino, 1980. Pp. 160. 29 tables. L.8,000.

Eminenza Rossa. By Giancarlo Galli. Milan: Sugar Co Edizioni, 1976. Pp. 232. L.3,200

Maurizio Valenzi—Sindaco a Napoli. Interview by Massimo Ghiara. Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1978. Pp. 190. L. 2,000.

L'Albero in Piazza: storia, cronaca e leggenda delle feste dell ‘Unità. By Claudio Bernieri. Milan: Gabrielle Mazzotta editore, 1977. Pp. 167. L. 2,000.

Le origini dello stalinismo nel PCI: storia della ‘svolta’ comunista degli anni trenta. By Ferdinando ORMEA. Milan: Feltrinelli Editore, 1978. Pp. 344. L.9,000.

Berlinguer. By Vittorio Gorresio. Milan: Feltrinelli Editore, 1976. Pp. 200. L.2,500.

Capital Markets and Industrial Investment in Germany and France. By B. T. Bayliss and A. A. S. Butt Philip. London: Saxon House, 1980. Pp. xiii + 198. £10.50.

Britain in Europe. Edited, by William Wallace. London: Heinemann, 1980. Pp. x + 213. £4.95 (paperback) £10.50 (hardback).

British Foreign Policy and the Atlantic Area. By ARTHUR Cyr. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1979. Pp. 172. £10.00.

The Reluctant Party: Labour and the EEC, 1961–1975. By L.J. Robins. Ormskirk: G. W. and A. Hesketh, 1979. Pp. 155.

Budgetary Politics: The Finances of the European Communities. By Helen Wallace. London: George Allen &; Unwin, 1980. Pp. 120. £6.95 (hardback), £2.95 (paperback).

The Economics of International Integration. By Peter Robson. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1980. Pp. ix + 197. £12.50. £4.95 (paperback).

Agriculture and the European Community. By John S. Marsh and Pamela J. Swanney. London: George Allen &; Unwin, 1980. Pp. 98. £6.95 (hardback), £2.95 (paperback).

The European Community and the Third World: The Lome Convention and its Impact. By Ellen Frey‐Wouters. Eastbourne: Hall‐Saunders Ltd., Praeger Special Studies, 1980. Pp. xii+290. £15.50.

The International Division of Labour and Multinational Companies. A study by P. K. M. Tharakan and a symposium at ECSIM. Farnborough: Saxon House, 1979. Pp. 152.

Regional Policy: Past Experience and New Directions. Edited by Duncan Macklennan and John B. Parr. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1979. Pp. xviii + 334. £17.50 (hardback), £6.95 (paperback).

Regional Policy in the European Community. Edited by D. Yuill, K. Allen and C. Hull. London: Croom Helm, 1980. Pp. 251. £12.95.

A Political and Electoral Handbook for Wales. By Denis Balsom and Martin Burch. Farnborough: Gower, 1980. Pp. x + 195. £12.50.

Western European Cities in Crisis. Edited by Michael C. Romanos. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books, 1979. Pp. xviii + 243.

A Tale of Five Cities: Life in Provincial Europe Today. By John Ardagh, London: Secker and Warburg, 1979. Pp. 457. £8.95.     

The rise and demise of theocracy: theory and some evidence

This paper models theocracy as a regime where the clergy in power retains knowledge of the cost of political production but which is potentially incompetent, quarrelsome, or corrupt. This is contrasted with a secular regime where government is contracted out to a secular ruler, and hence the church loses the possibility of observing costs and creates for itself a hidden-information agency problem. The church is free to choose between regimes—a make-or-buy choice—and we look for the range of environmental parameters that are most conducive to the superiority of theocracy and therefore to its occurrence and persistence, despite its disabilities. Numerical solution of the model indicates that the optimal environment for a theocracy is one in which the “bad” (high-cost) state is disastrously bad but the probability of its occurrence is not very high. Quantitative evidence on the rise of ancient Israelite theocracy and the current surge of Islamic theocratic fundamentalism provides surprisingly strong support for this prediction. Lastly, supportive evidence is suggested by two rare instances of a theocracy’s peaceful demise.     

Presidential oversight: Controlling the regulators

In 1974, President Ford initiated a procedure by which the regulatory policies of federal agencies were subjected to systematic oversight. This activity continued with modest success through subsequent administrations. A substantial stiffening of oversight powers under President Reagan raises basic questions about the best means for performing effective oversight. Proposals for a so-called regulatory budget, within which each agency would be obliged to operate, could expand the oversight authority; but it is too exclusively cost-oriented. A more promising approach is to impose expiration dates on regulations, making them subject to renewal, and to reform the legislative mandates of the regulatory agencies.