Book reviews

Ernest Gellner, Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and its Rivals, (Hamish Hamilton, London 1994). 225pp. ISBN 0–241–00220–6 (hb).

James Petras and Morris Morley, Empire or Republic? American Global Power and Domestic Decay, (Routledge, London 1995). 172pp. ISBN 0–415–91064–1.

Keith Cowling and Roger Sugden, Beyond Capitalism: Towards a New World Order, (Pinter, London 1994), 195pp. ISBN 1 85567 301 0.

John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the End of the Cold War. Implications, Reconsiderations, Provocations, (OUP, Oxford 1994). x. + 301 pp. ISBN 0–19–508551–5.

Alan Haworth, Anti‐Libertarianism: Markets, Philosophy and Myth, (Routledge, London 1994). 154pp. ISBN 0–415–08254–4.

Honi Fern Haber, Beyond Postmodern Politics. Selves, Community and the Politics of Difference, (Routledge, London 1995). 160pp. ISBN 0–415–90822–1.

Stjepan G. Mestrovic The Balkanization of the West: The Confluence of Postmodernism and Postcommunism (Routledge, London 1994). 226pp. ISBN 0–415–08755–4 (pbk).     

Interests groups in Parliament: Exploring MPs’ interest affiliations (2000‐2011)

This research note presents an innovative dataset of Swiss MPs’ interest ties between 2000‐2011. The longitudinal analysis shows that the average number of interest ties per MP has more than doubled: from 3.5 in 2000 to 7.6 in 2011. Since the mid‐2000s, public interest groups have accounted for approximately one out of two ties between MPs and interest groups, showing the strongest increase during the period. However, when looking at the most present individual groups, important business groups dominate and appear well connected with the governmental parties of the political right. Finally, interest groups are also able to forge themselves a strategic presence within the parliamentary committees that are the most relevant for their policy issues. Next research steps include the assessment of the (un)biased access of interest groups to the parliamentary venue and their policy influence.     

Book Reviews

Andrea C. Bianculli and Andrea Ribeiro Hoffmann, eds., Regional Organizations and Social Policy in Europe and Latin America: A Space for Social Citizenship? New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Abbreviations, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 317 pp.; hardcover $109, ebook $84.99. Barry Cannon, The Right in Latin America: Elite Power, Hegemony and the Struggle for the State. New York: Routledge, 2016. Tables, bibliography, index, 182 pp.; hardcover $127.50, paperback $44.59. Jordi Díez, The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America: Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Bibliography, index, 301 pp.; hardcover $48.99, paperback $29.99, ebook $24. Julio Ríos‐Figueroa, Constitutional Courts as Mediators: Armed Conflict, Civil‐Military Relations, and the Rule of Law in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Illustrations, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 256 pp.; hardcover $110, paperback $34.99, ebook $88. María Soledad Segura and Silvio Waisbord, Media Movements: Civil Society and Media Policy Reform in Latin America. London: Zed Books, 2016. Bibliography, index, 224 pp.; hardcover $95, paperback $29.95, ebook $23.96. Lee J. Alston, Marcus André Melo, Bernardo Mueller, and Carlos Pereira, Brazil in Transition: Beliefs, Leadership, and Institutional Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Illustrations, tables, abbreviations, bibliography, index, 280 pp.; hardcover $39.50, ebook. Sean W. Burges, Brazil in the World: The International Relations of a South American Giant. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 296 pp.; hardcover $115, paperback $32.95, ebook. Alejandro Velasco, Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015. Maps, figures, notes, bibliography, index, 321 pp.; paperback $29.95. Tiffany D. Barnes, Gendering Legislative Behavior: Institutional Constraints and Collaboration. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Map, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 274 pp.; hardcover $99.99, paperback $34.99, ebook $28. Judith Teichman, The Politics of Inclusive Development: Policy, Sate Capacity, and Coalition Building. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Figures, bibliography, index, 261 pp.; hardcover $109, ebook $84.99.     

Participatory Governance in Latin America: Promises and Limitations

Maxwell A. Cameron, Eric Hershberg, and Kenneth E. Sharpe, eds., New Institutions for Participatory Democracy in Latin America: Voice and Consequence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Tables, figures, bibliography, index; 263 pp.; hardcover $105, paperback $30, ebook $19.99. Françoise Montambeault, The Politics of Local Participatory Democracy in Latin America: Institutions, Actors, and Interactions. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015. Figures, tables, notes, bibliography, index, 288 pp.; hardcover $65, ebook. Patricio Silva and Herwig Cleuren, eds., Widening Democracy: Citizens and Participatory Schemes in Brazil and Chile. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Figures, tables, notes, bibliography, index; 379 pp.; hardcover $87, ebook $90. J. Ricardo Tranjan, Participatory Democracy in Brazil: Socioeconomic and Political Origins. Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 2016. Figures, tables, notes, bibliography; 288 pp.; paperback $35, ebook. Brian Wampler, Activating Democracy in Brazil: Popular Participation, Social Justice, and Interlocking Institutions. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2015. Figures, tables, abbreviations, notes, bibliography, index; 312 pp.; paperback $39, ebook $39.     

Union Affiliation,Socialization, and Political Identities: The Case of Mexico

The literature on voting behavior has generally accepted that party identification largely determines voter choice. While many studies have found that party identification is largely transmitted through social learning, less studied are the processes of the construction of party identity by way of group membership. This study seeks to understand how group identity influences party identification among Mexican workers through an analysis of the effects of union affiliation on political behavior. It assesses the utility of corporatist legacies in explaining party identity in Mexico and provides a first assessment of party affinities among independent unionists. The evidence draws from original survey data collected during six demonstrations in Mexico City. The study finds that union membership does condition the party identity of corporatist workers but not that of independent unionists.     

La nacionalización del hogar en España

The nationalization of the domestic sphere in Spain is a topic that has been largely ignored. Recently, the interest in the study of banal nationalism and the impact of nationalism on everyday life has been on the rise, particularly for the Francoist and democratic era; however, its origins are not clear at all. An examination of developments in domestic architecture, interior decoration, and even gardening shows that the domestic sphere was nationalized during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Regionalist architecture was in vogue for villas and country-houses and furniture was increasingly modeled after local artisanal traditions. Domestic practices such as cooking, consuming, and cleaning were also increasingly connected with supposedly “national” traditions. During this period Spanish cuisine and many of its regional dishes were “invented”. The first phase of the nationalization of the domestic sphere in Spain is analyzed using a wide array of primary sources (press, manuals, speeches, etc.), thus contributing to the history of nationalism, gender studies, the history of architecture, and food studies, which by focusing on modernization processes largely disregarded this profound nationalization of the private sphere.     

Is death and dying merely an ethical issue?

Some people worry about the current tendency to ignore the distinction of religious and ethical issues in the area of death and dying. This article attempts to identify sources and consequences of such blending. One of the countries offering a microcosm of religious and ethical trends with regard to death and dying is the Netherlands. Issues identified in Dutch society are, therefore, being compared with similar listings in North American and European literature on death and dying. In an even more paradigmatic way the unfinished debate on the distinction between active and passive euthanasia remains representatives of a religious approach to death and dying.     

Status and practices of the legal text

Translated by Isabelle Llasera from Statut et pratiques du texte juridique, in D. Bourcier and P. Mackay (eds.),Lire le droit. Langue, texte, cognition (Paris: Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1992).