Causes of bewilderment: Necessity,sufficiency and facilitating conditions for democratization

Explanations of democratization are often criticized using criteria that cannot feasibly be satisfied. One possible result of this is that all explanations are made to appear woefully inadequate. Another is the misapplication of the criteria to deliver prejudiced judgement on rival accounts. The problems attached to such criteria are outlined. Replacement strategies adopted by different approaches are identified and assessed, stressing the constructive role that values and interests may play in the appraisal of competing explanations.     

Book reviews

Improving the quality of public participation in council decision making continues to be a key goal of local government 'modernisation'. Different rationales for this have been advanced, including consumerist aims of service improvement, participation as an important value in itself, and participation as a survival strategy for local government. Based on surveys of, and interviews with, councillors and senior officers in Scottish local government, this article explores the ways in which concepts of 'consumerism' and 'citizenship' inform councils' approaches to public participation.     

Book reviews

Cyril Smith, Marx at the Millennium, (Pluto Press, London 1996). 182pp. ISBN 0–7453–100–1 (pb).

Hans‐Henrik Holm and Georg Sørensen (eds), Whose World Order? Uneven Globalization and the End of the Cold War, (Westview Press, Boulder 1995). x.+246pp. ISBN 0–8133–2187–5 (pb).

David A.Smith and József Böröcz (eds), A New World Order? Global Transformations in the Late Twentieth Century, (Praeger, Westport 1995). xii+253pp. ISBN 0–275–95122–7.

Frank E. Manuel, A Requiem for Karl Marx, (Harvard University Press, 1995). 270pp. ISBN 0–674–76326–2.

Hanna Behrend (ed.), German Unification: the Destruction of an Economy, (Pluto Press, London 1995). 232pp. ISBN 0–7453–1003–6.

David Miller, On Nationality, (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995). 210pp. ISBN 0–19–828047–5.

Thom Keuhls, Beyond Sovereign Territory: The Space of Ecopolitics, (Borderlines Vol. 4, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1996). 168 pp. ISBN 0–8166–2467–4 (hb), 0–8166–2468–2 (pb).     

The Continued Relevance of Local Parties in Representative Democracies

This article assesses the value of local parties. It asks why political parties value their local sections. It also considers the ways in which local parties can benefit society. Local parties act as a democratic training ground for party members, are a conduit for political communication and provide parties with a range of resources. They also act as problem solving agencies; they ensure that policy is responsive to local needs; they provide an additional channel of communication and accountability; and they link citizens with the state. The article ends with an appeal to party scholars to refocus their attention towards local parties.     

NORTHERN TERRITORY

The period under review in this chronicle—December 1980 to mid-August 1981—was, like 1980, characterized by relative political and administrative stability and consolidation. Such a climate of stability was, of course, to be expected as the system instituted with self-government was newly established and refined. Moreover, most of the election pledges which involved significant administrative implications had been implemented in the first months of the Third Assembly. If any major alteration to administrative structure or process is to occur (and there is no present indication of such intention by the government), it is likely to take place after the budget session in August.     

The Institute for Fiscal Studies Report: English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next?

The article reviews the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfFS) report, English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next. The article provides an overview of the main themes and findings of the report which examines the consequences of a sustained period of austerity for English local government and the impact of austerity on certain key council services. The article explores what the report has to say about the way councils have responded to reductions in government funding and the strategies they have developed to protect certain frontline services. The article reviews the suggestions made in the IfFS report for changing English local government funding and finds that they reflect a form of centralist thinking which lacks a radical edge when it comes to reform.