Party politics of the right: Neo‐populist parties and the future of the West European party system

Radical Right‐Wing Populism in Western Europe. By HANS‐GEORG BETZ. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Pp.x + 226, 22 tables, biblio. $18.95 (paper); $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0–312–12195–4 and 0–312–08390.

Volkes Stimme? Rechtspopulismus in Europa. By Armin PFAHL‐TRAUGHBER with contributions by OLIVER SCHMIDTKE and CAS MUDDE. Bonn: Dietz, 1994. Pp.191, biblio. DM19.80 (paper). ISBN 3–8012–3059–7.

Wer wählt rechts? Die Wähler und Anhänger rechts‐extremistischer Parteien im vereinigten Deutschland. By JÜRGEN W. FALTER, in collaboration with MARKUS KLEIN. München: C.H. Beck, 1994. Pp.167, biblio. DM17.80 (paper). ISBN 3‐ 406–37442–5.

Rechtsextremismus in Deutschland. Voraussetzungen, Zusammenhänge, Wirkung. Edited by WOLFGANG BENZ. Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 1994 (new exp. and rev. edition). Pp.331, index. DM18.90 (paper). ISBN 3–596–12276–7.

The Dark Side of Europe. The Extreme Right Today. By GEOFFREY HARRIS, foreword by GLYN FORD. Edinburgh University Press, 1994 (2nd edition). Pp.xi + 265, index, £12.95 (paper). ISBN 0–7486–0466–9.

Rechtsextremismus: weiblich ‐ männlich? Eine Fallstudie zu geschlechtsspezifischen Lebensverläufen, Handlungsspielräumen und Orientierungsweisen. By URSULA BIRSL, foreword by PETER LOSCHE. Leverkusen: Leske + Budrich, 1994. Pp.369, biblio. DM48 (paper). ISBN 3–8100–1204–1.

Rechtsextremismus und Fremdenfeindlichkeit. Studien zur aktuellen Entwicklung. Edited by INSTITUT FÜR SOZIALFORSCHUNG. Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus, 1994. Pp.219, biblio. DM18 (paper). ISBN 3–593–35026–2.

Racism, Ethnicity and Politics in Contemporary Europe. Edited by ALEC G. HARGREAVES and JEREMY LEAMAN. Gower House, Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995. Pp.296, index, £39.95 (cloth). ISBN 1–85278–8838–0.

Das Gewalt‐Dilemma. Gesellschaftliche Reaktionen auf fremdenfreindliche Gewalt und Rechtsextremismus. Edited by WILHELM HEITMEYER. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1994. Pp.463, DM29.80 (paper). ISBN 3–518–11905–2.     

The politics of opposition and European integration in Scandinavia: Is Euro‐scepticism a government‐opposition dynamic?

Scandinavian party competition has incorporated divisions over European integration to a greater degree than most West European party systems, but with considerable variation in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. From a comparative politics perspective this raises questions about the relatively high salience of Euro‐scepticism in Scandinavian politics, the differences between the three cases and changes over time. The central argument in this article is that Europeanisation of party politics ‐ the translation of issues related to European integration into domestic party politics ‐ is driven by the dynamics of long‐ and short‐term government‐opposition competition, and the key driver of change is party strategy. Whether at the centre or extremes of the party system, Euro‐scepticism is a product of party competition — and is, both in its origins and development, ‘the politics of opposition ‘.     

Urban ethnic politics in the post‐modern city: Comparing Miami and Toronto

This paper synthesises variants of post‐modern political theory in order to examine contemporary urban ethnic politics in Miami, Florida, and Toronto, Ontario. Cities in general, and Miami and Toronto in particular, are conceptualised not as foundational entities to be excavated in search of pre‐given data, but as texts—configurations of signs, symbols and codes to be read, interpreted and analysed. The focus is on race and ethnicity as socially constructed and political contested imageries, but the approach, aptly described as empirical post‐modernism, has even broader implications for the study of power and identity politics in contemporary world cities.     

Escaping the International Governance Dilemma? Incorporated Transgovernmental Networks in the European Union

This article investigates the role of transgovernmental networks of national regulators in addressing collective action problems endemic to international cooperation. In contrast to recent work on transgovernmental actors, which emphasizes such networks as alternatives to more traditional international institutions, we examine the synergistic interaction between the two. Building on the broader premise that patterns of “dual delegation” above and below the nation‐state enhance the coordinating role of networks of national agencies in two‐level international governance, the article examines the formal incorporation of transgovernmental networks into European Union (EU) policymaking. The focus on authoritative rule‐making adds a crucial dimension to the landscape of EU governance innovations while connecting to the broader study of transgovernmental networks in international governance. The article develops an analytical framework that maps these incorporated networks across different sectors in terms of function, emergence, and effectiveness. Two case studies of data privacy and energy market regulation are presented to apply and illustrate the insights of this mapping.     

Overlapping games and cross‐cutting coalitions in the European Union

Despite hopes of theoretical convergence between the disciplines of comparative politics and international relations, the integration of explanations of the European policy‐making process and of the process of European integration is yet to be accomplished. This article looks at how decision‐making crises could be the focal points with which to explore the no‐man's land where comparative politics and international relations could meet each other. The article will highlight the structural ambivalence of the EU policy process and the collision of functional areas and territorial politics over multidimensional decisions. It will also show that the interplay of overlapping policy games, cross‐cutting coalitions and poor coordination mechanisms at all levels can go a long way to explaining the oscillations between path‐dependency and policy instability.     

Interest‐group politics in France and Ireland: Comparative perspectives on neo‐corporation

An examination of a range of interest‐groups in France and Ireland shows that there are numerous types of involvement in decision‐making processes and that groups display considerable differences in priorities and strategies both as between groups and over time. The nature of governmental response also varies in a similar fashion. The findings are interpreted against neo‐corporatist theory and its variants of sectoral and meso‐corpor‐atism. The conclusion is that neither corporatist nor pluralist models properly fit the situation of the two countries and that an adequate theory will have to take into account both modes of explanation as well as allowing for the volatility and evolutionary potential of interest‐group behaviour.     

Iati‐Onkwehonwe: blood quantum,membership and the politics of exclusion in kahnawake∗

The decades since the 1970s have seen an ‘explosion of interest’ in the concept of citizenship, both as means to elucidating the compromises over demands of justice and membership which underlie communities and feed into definitions of citizenship, and the increasing instability of those communities and ideals in the modern era. While there have been as many contexts of the negotiation of citizenship as there are nations (whether real or imagined), within Canada some of the most intriguing discourses around belonging have occurred within First Nations. This article is an attempt to elucidate the struggles over citizenship and membership within one Canadian Aboriginal community, the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake. Here, intertwined with issues of blood, ‘Indian status’ and entitlement, Kahnawake has been riven by contests over the meaning of ‘belonging’ and who should belong in this First Nation.     

Authority and the study of French politics: A response to Duclaud‐Williams

This article reconsiders the value of French authority attitudes for the understanding of French politics in the light of Duclaud‐Williams’ recent critique of the works of Michel Crozier. It is argued that the criticisms made by Duclaud‐Williams do not amount to a refutation of Crozier's thesis or of the type of approach it represents, and that advances in this area are more likely to come from further attempts at identifying empirically the nature and role of French authority norms, such as that of Schonfeld, which is discussed and evaluated here.     

From the margins of politics: The influence of think‐tanks in Britain

Independent policy research institutes have not been subject to much attention from political scientists. however, these organisations have grown considerably in number in great britain over the past four decades. some of these institutes ‐ which are better known as ‘think‐tanks’ ‐ are often said to be influential. this article outlines the development of the british think‐tank industry and then concentrates on the character of think‐tank influence. think‐tank influence is not limited to affecting the course of legislation but must be understood in broader political and cultural terms.     

Pension politics in France: Patterns of co‐operation and conflict in two recent reforms

This article looks at the political side of pension reform in France. Policy makers are caught between two contrasting pressures: increasing expenditure on the one hand, and strong public support for existing arrangements on the other. In the last few years, the government has attempted to deal with the issue on two occasions, with rather different results. First, in 1993 a pension reform was successfully adopted after negotiations with the unions. Later, in 1995 the government had to abandon plans for a second reform as a result of a massive union‐led protest movement. The article argues that the different fortunes of the two reforms are related to changes in the configuration of power between the two events. It also claims that the popularity of current pension arrangements constitutes a strong pressure on the government to adopt a negotiated solution to the pension problem.     

Re‐casting the politics of steel in Europe: The impact on trade unions

In this article we explore the response of European trade unions to the 1990s steel crisis. Trade unions have faced wide ranging challenges including: the globalisation of the industry; steel companies becoming increasingly international; privatisation; the eastern European steel market; the liberalisation of world trade; the new emerging priorities of the EU and internal company reorganisation. Our key argument is that their response has been highly traditional and unsuited to the new challenges. When we consider the more progressive responses they have made, there is little sign that these alternatives will be anymore successful.     

Agenda-setting under pressure: Does domestic politics influence the European Commission?

The European Union (EU) has become increasingly visible and contested over the past decades. Several studies have shown that domestic pressure has made the EU's ‘electorally connected’ institutions more responsive. Yet, we still know little about how politicisation has affected the Union's non-majoritarian institutions. We address this question by focusing on agenda-setting and ask whether and how domestic politics influences the prioritisation of legislative proposals by the European Commission. We argue that the Commission, as both a policy-seeker and a survival-driven bureaucracy, will respond to domestic issue salience and Euroscepticism, at party, mass and electoral level, through targeted performance and through aggregate restraint. Building on new data on the prioritisation of legislative proposals under the ordinary legislative procedure (1999–2019), our analysis shows that the Commission's choice to prioritise is responsive to the salience of policy issues for Europe's citizens. By contrast, our evidence suggests that governing parties’ issue salience does not drive, and Euroscepticism does not constrain, the Commission's priority-setting. Our findings contribute to the literature on multilevel politics, shedding new light on the strategic responses of non-majoritarian institutions to the domestic politicisation of ‘Europe’.     

‘New politics’ in Finland: The greens and the left wing in the 1990s

This article examines the development of two Finnish political parties (the Green Association and the Left‐Wing Alliance) from a ‘New Politics’ perspective, focusing on changes in their electoral, programmatic and organisational profiles, with emphasis on the composition and value‐related features of their electorates in 1991, 1995 and 1999. The results confirm the position of the Greens as the prime representative of New Politics; but the party has moved away from its anti‐establishment role and its supporters increasingly share the social and attitudinal characteristics of the average electorate. The UNA, on the other hand, has moved towards a New Politics profile and a gradual dealignment of its old male‐dominated working class electorate; but its central characteristics and its supporters are still firmly entrenched in an old leftist format.     

New politics: Just post‐materialist? The case of the Austrian and Swiss Greens

While Inglehart's post‐material model figures very prominently in the literature on new politics, the limits of its relevance have seldom been critically assessed. This article uses various inconsistencies between his model and the socio‐economic features of the Austrian and Swiss Greens to point to some of its theoretical shortcomings. Because of its psychological assumptions, the model neglects various cultural and historical structures which are essential for any full and consistent explanation of new politics in Austria and Switzerland.     

Integration in small steps: The European commission and member‐state aid to industry

Member states of the European Union traditionally have used a variety of aids to industry to develop national champions, rescue major enterprises in financial trouble, and to make industry more competitive internationally. Yet making the single European market operational and sustaining cohesion across member states with different abilities to aid their industrial enterprises requires that the European Commission monitor state aid closely. Most accounts of this tension point to the weak record of the Commission in rejecting aid packages proposed by member states. This article argues that the rate of rejection of aids by the Commission is a highly misleading indicator of the Commission's influence in this policy area. In fact, the Commission has developed substantial capacities to regulate state aid relative to the constraints within which it operates.     

Anti‐Zionist politics and political antisemitism in Britain, 1920–1924

Anti‐Zionism in Britain in the early 1920s was inextricably bound up with an assault on the Jews as Jews which obscured the substantive issues of Palestine and Jewish‐Arab relations. As a result, Jews were later inclined to disregard the case anti‐Zionism made.     

The language of politics and the politics of language: Unpacking ‘social exclusion’ in new labour policy

Since the election to power of New Labour in 1997, the concept of social exclusion has played a defining role in framing welfare policy. The rapid absorption of its terminology in government discourse has signalled a shift away from existing notions of inequality and disadvantage to a broader understanding of material poverty, which also includes (or instead prioritises) other social, cultural and political factors. This has important implications for New Labour policy-making. In particular, it allows for problems of inequality and disadvantage to be reinterpreted and new political measures to be introduced. Such measures produce different effects across space and society, which may be argued to disadvantage policy subjects. The aims of this paper are to explore how social exclusion has become installed as the primary framework of welfare policy in the UK and to examine the key assumptions embedded within specific policy formulations using discourse and content analysis. It thus points towards the importance of language in stipulating relatively enduring and stable sets of socio-political connections, and its role in mediating a particular (political) vision of the relationship(s) between state, economy and society as implicit in New Labour's ‘Third Way’.     

Judicial policy‐making and the evolving rotection of human rights: The European court of human rights in comparative perspective

This contribution is a comparative analysis of three attempts to strengthen the supranational protection of human rights in an increasingly transnational world. It focuses on the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights. The recent decision by the Inter‐American Court on the forced disappearance of individuals by state or para‐state forces illustrates the important role of cross‐pollenisation from the European Court and the United Nations. It further demonstrates how judges on supranational courts attempt to make law in the face of uncertain government compliance.