Structuring Europe: Powersharing Institutions and British Preferences on European Integration

Scholars examining British-European relations typically ascribe UK governmental positions firstly to a combination of distinct and incompatible values, attitudes, and beliefs stemming from historical experience; secondly to a distinct and incompatible set of functional imperatives – namely less interaction with European partners than is the case for other EU member states; and third a distinct and incompatible set of domestic interests. This article challenges these views. It presents evidence to suggest that British governments have failed to assimilate social demands, and that the reason is an under-recognized and untheorized intervening variable – namely the structure of decisionmaking institutions in Parliament. It models the influence of this variable, and suggests that historical institutionalist theory captures key elements of the variable in a manner superior to extant approaches.     

The regulation and deregulation of televison: a British/West European comparison

This article compares and contrasts the systems of regulation and deregulation in the British and West European television industries. Although all television systems were affected by the information revolution and neo-liberal political economy in the 1980s,in many respects the British experience was Unique. The evolution of a mixed public/private system over forty years and the unique position of the BBC as a source of skilled labour and as a cultural benchmark for the entire industry,placed it in a stronger position than other public service systems to meet the new challanges to its hegemony. The British television industry demonstrates the tenacity of well-estabilished social structures and policy-making behaviour. This will be shown by reviewing the history of the recent Broadcasting Act. The European dimension of broadcasting policy and regulation is discussed in terms of the EC Directives and support for high defination television. This shows that the aim of protecting European industry and culture is not dissimilar from the ambitions of national regulation at an earlier stage.     

National Labour Organizations and European Integration: British Trade Unions and '1992'

The conversion of British trade unions to positive attitudes towards the European Community was a significant feature of British politics in the late 1980s. This article explains the origins of this policy shift and questions the received wisdom that short term opportunism was the primary motivating factor. The British trade union response to '1992' was far from uniform and distinct factions can be identified within a policy coalition. The reasons for the durability and cohesiveness of this coalition are discussed along with the general shifts in thinking on the British Left and the developments in European integration which explain the general change of attitudes.     

British Trade Unions and European Union Integration in the 1990s: Politics versus Political Economy

This article evaluates the changing assessments within the British trade union movement of the efficacy of European Union integration from the viewpoint of labour interests. It argues that there has been a marked further 'Europeanisation' of British trade unionism during the 1990s, consolidating an on-going process which previous research shows began in earnest in the mid 1980s. A shift in trade union economic policy assessments has seen the decisive abandonment of the previously dominant 'naive' or national Keynesianism. While there remain important differences in economic perspective between unions, these are not such as would create significant divisions over the question of European integration per se , the net benefits of which are now generally, though perhaps not universally, accepted. The absence of fundamental divisions is evident from a careful assessment of the debates about economic and monetary union at TUC Congress. The Europeanisation of British trade unionism needs to be seen within the context of an emergent regionalism, in Europe and elsewhere. It can best be understood as a rational response by an important corporate actor (albeit one whose national influence has been considerably diminished in recent decades) to globalisation and a significantly changing political economy environment.     

Atlantic capitalism versus Rhine capitalism in the European community

The advent of the Single European Market in 1993 has prompted a debate about the differences between the German social market economy and the British liberal market, and whether these can coexist. ‘Rhine Capitalism’ based on social solidarity will remain a source of competitive advantage through its emphasis on continuous development of labour skills and technology. Britain's ‘Atlantic Capitalism’ lacks such a framework for dialogue between government and producer interests, which will make the creation of a national competitiveness strategy to counter deindustrialisation problematic. At the European Community level, some regulatory framework similar to Germany's Ordnungspolitik will probably emerge to underpin the operation of the Single Market.     

英国政治的欧洲化:以欧洲政策制定为例

英国自加入欧共体伊始,其国内的政治体系就不可避免地受到欧洲一体化进程的影响.以英国欧洲政策制定过程为例,白厅、内阁、议会在机构设置上出现的变化以及政策制定者偏好的变化都说明英国政治欧洲化的趋势不可逆转,但其进程取决于有关各方利益的平衡,取决于政策制定者身份认同的转变,取决于英国能否变被动为主动,积极参与并影响欧盟政治进程.     

Dartmouth,Sir Mansfield Cumming and the origins of the British intelligence community

This article uses original archive material to trace the connection between two processes of institutional development that was to result in the British intelligence Community becoming an integral part of government. The first process was the development in the latter part of the nineteenth century of a scheme of education and training for naval cadets at Dartmouth. The importance of this scheme is that it gives, through the Records of Progress and Conduct, a unique insight into the qualities that the first two heads of Britain's foreign intelligence service, and the first head of Britain's signals intelligence unit brought to their respective posts. This article argues that there are a number of timeless and vital competencies which cadets Smith, Sinclair and Hall displayed, albeit in embryonic form, that were critical, later on, in propelling their respective organizations to the centre of government. This is the second process of institutionalization. It is a position that they still occupy today.     

European companies between globalization and localization: a comparison of internationalization strategies of British and German MNCs

This paper assesses the extent of which British and German multinational companies have moved on a continuum between nationally embedded MNCs and globally oriented TNCs. Degree of national embeddedness and implantation into national economic and policy networks is held to influence the internationalization strategy of companies - the degree of FDI undertaken, the kind of competitive advantage they seek to derive from it and the way in which they combine nationally based and globally focused activities. It is shown that the different national business systems of Britain and Germany influence the responses of MNCs in their management of the tensions between pressures for globalization and established, nationally shaped business strategies and patterns of activities. In both cases, however, exaggerated claims about globalization of company activities and assets are shown to be misguided. But the paper also recognizes that some more globalized structures and strategies have begun to emerge in the second half of the 1990s. The study is based on a small number of case studies of British and German companies, complemented by official statistics and secondary data.     

The court of justice of the European community and the politics of institutional reform

Two prominent jurists recently proposed a reform of the European Court of Justice that aims at adapting it to the gradual fédéralisation of the Community (European political union) and particularly to the extension of majority voting in the Community council. Their judicial proposal would, however, generally reinforce the contemporary tendency of the Court to defend all legislative initiatives of the Community. This account presents several alternative reforms that could better respond to the political need for an impartial arbiter for conflicting interpretations of Community competences. Debate on the political role of the European Court of Justice and on its reform must be considerably broadened.     

Passions and interests revisited: the psychological foundations of economics and politics

Homo Politicus, Homo Oeconomicus. Can these two abstract human types meaningfully be distinguished? Is there a characteristic set of motivations that drive human beings in so far as they are political actors and a different set that drive their economic lives? What are the psychological foundations of economics and politics? The answers to these questions have significant implications both for the study and the practice of economics and politics. If homo politicus is essentially identical to homo oeconomicus, it is safe to generalize from the study of economic behavior to political phenomena. If not, such a procedure will distort our understanding of politics. Similarly, if we design political institutions and public policies assuming that people will behave as they do when they confront economic choices, we may find our intentions thwarted if we have neglected the distinctive motivations characteristic of political action.     

The paradox of the region: economic regulation and the representation of interests

This article deals with the relationship between economic regulation and interes-group representation at the regional level in advanced capitalist societies. The importance of an ‘intermediate government’ of economic development at the regional level has increased in recent years within such societies as a result of the crisis of the Keynesian wlfare state and the decline of Fordism. At the same time, however, the growing need for regional regulation does not necessarily call into being an explicit demand for and supply of efficient regional government within the existing institutional framework. This ‘paradox fo the region’ is explored int he context of the Italian case, characterized by strong local but weak regional identities organizations of business and labour for an effective intermediate government of the economy, an proposes a strategy for reinforcing such organizatons at this level through the reform of regional government administration and the supervised delegation of public powers to them.     

Russia in the Arctic: economic interests override military aspirations

Morocco has adopted an activist foreign policy towards Africa, combining religious outreach and commercial engagement. It has re-joined the African Union, enhanced its status as a continental economic power and perhaps improved its position on Western Sahara.