The centre holds: The 1986 Netherlands election

It is often argued that clientelism is a key feature of electoral mobilisation in southern European democracies. This article examines the evidence for clientelism in the Spanish case, assessing the recruitment, redistributive strategies and electoral performance of governing parties in the 1977–96 period. It finds little evidence of extensive clientelistic mobilisation; instead, political parties’ use of state resources is largely consistent with their programmatic and ideological positions. ‘Old’ clientelism from the pre‐democratic era mostly did not survive the change of regime, whilst ‘new’ clientelism based on the expansion of state employment contributed to the Socialist Party's organisational consolidation, but was not a significant feature of its strategy of electoral mobilisation.     

Europe: Past,present, future

Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence. By FRANÇOIS DUCHÊNE. New York, Norton, 1994. Pp.458, notes, sources, publications, index. £22 (cloth), £10.95 (paper) ISBN 0–393–03497–6 and ‐393–31490–1.

Elusive Union: The Process of Economic and Monetary Union in Europe. By KENNETH DYSON. London, Longman, 1994. Pp.xiii + 361, index. £40 (cloth), £17.99 (paper). ISBN 0–582–225132‐X and 0–582–25131–1.

The Road to Monetary Union in Europe: The Emperor, the Kings, and the Genies. By TOMMASO PADOA‐SCHIOPPA, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994. Pp.286, index. £30 (cloth). ISBN 0–19–828843–3.

The Rotten Heart of Europe, The Dirty War for Europe's Money. By BERNARD CONNALLY. London: Faber, 1995. Pp.xvii + 427, references, index. £17.50 (cloth). ISBN 0–571–17520–1.

Europe: The Strange Superpower. By DAVID BUCHAN. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1993. Pp.181 index. £35 (cloth); £17.50 (paper). ISBN 1–85521–441–5 and ‐439–3.

The European Sisyphus: Essays on Europe, 1964–1994. By STANLEY HOFFMANN, Boulder, Westview Press, 1995. Pp.x + 313, index. £58.50 (cloth); £13.50 (paper). ISBN 0–81–332–3200 and ‐2381–9.

Redefining Europe, New Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation. Edited by HUGH MIALL. London: Pinter. The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1994. Pp.293. Index. £45 (cloth); £14.99 (paper). ISBN 1–85567–257‐X and ‐258–8.

Governing the New Europe. Edited by JACKHAYWARD and EDWARD C. PAGE. Oxford: Polity, 1995. Pp.418, index. £45 (cloth); £14.99 (paper). ISBN 0–7456–1219–9 and ‐1220–2.     

The Erosion of Party Politics in Britain

This article looks at the erosion of democratic practice enacted by "New" Labour in Britain under the leadership of Tony Blair. Building on the internal reforms of the 1980s, the process of Labour Party "modernization" has created an exclusive, top-down managerial style of leadership. This type of party leadership and management has far-reaching implications for British politics more generally, not least the role of political parties. The current crisis of the Conservatives and the destruction of representative democracy within the Labour Party pose serious questions regarding the medium-term future of parties as voluntary membership organizations. These changes are placed in the context of a possible longer-term transformation of British political structures in order to exchange the long-established administration of the Conservative Party for a new type of governmental machinery. The aim is not a new "traditional" party of government, but a partyless formation built around a dominant central presidential figure and his office—a change which necessitates abolishing the Labour Party and social democracy as they currently exist. It is argued that this anticipated remedy to a protracted crisis of the British state accords closely to the requirements of neoliberal economic management, while drawing upon developments in the wider global environment. However, if this is to succeed, Blair's "modernizing" tendency needs to be able to articulate a coherent ideology that strikes a popular chord. Thus far, Blair's managerial approach to politics may have scored a few points against the old party ideologies, but it has also undermined attempts to promote an alternative ideology—even one of a "partyless" nature.     

‘THEY HAVEN'T GONE AWAY,YOU KNOW’. IRISH REPUBLICAN ‘DISSIDENTS’ AND ‘ARMED STRUGGLE’

The shift by the provisional Republican movement towards constitutional politics in Northern Ireland has caused splits among Republicans. The formation of the Continuity and Real Irish Republican Armies, pledged to continue ‘armed struggle’ against British rule in Northern Ireland, was predictable, given the historical propensity of Republicans to divide amid claims of ‘betrayal’ by the leadership. The odds against militarist Republican ‘dissidents’ appear overwhelming, as they lack weapons, members and support. Sinn Féin has carried most of the Nationalist constituency on its transition towards constitutionalism and the Irish Republic has abandoned its claim to Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, continued political uncertainty over the province's political future has contributed to the maintenance of a long-standing militaristic tradition within Irish republicanism.     

Religion,Postmodernization, and Israeli Approaches to the Conflict with the Palestinians

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the relationship between religion and Israeli approaches to the conflict with the Palestinians. It seeks to explain why religion has become closely correlated with hawkishness since 1967. While the Jewish religion advocates no single approach to the conflict with the Palestinians, the religious have been significantly more hawkish than the nonreligious in Israel. This is because religion in Israel has reinforced ethnocentricity among the Jewish public, which in turn is highly correlated with hawkishness. Yet the correlation between religion and hawkishness only became politically prominent after 1967. This prominence is a function of the way religion has interacted with changes in Israeli political culture that were driven by the process of postmodernization. Whereas mainstream Israeli political culture has become less ethnocentric and more liberal, and consequently more dovish, the religious community has moved in the opposite direction. In this vein, religion has served to shield its adherents from most of the effects of postmodernization while simultaneously encouraging countervailing trends, which accounts for the polarization referred to above. In other words, it is the way religion has interacted with postmodernization that has made it the most effective incubator for hawkishness in Israel since 1967.     

Making Palestinian “Martyrdom Operations”/“Suicide Attacks”: Interviews With Would-Be Perpetrators and Organizers

Knowledge about the ways in which suicide attacks are recruited and prepared and on the motivation of suicide bombers and the factors that influence the decisions of organizers of suicide attacks has so far been sketchy and sporadic, derived mostly from media sources. In this study, 15 Palestinian would-be suicides and 14 organizers of suicide attacks participated in semi-structured interviews designed to fill this lacuna. The paper focuses on the self-reported feelings and behavior of the suicide bombers from recruitment to dispatching, as well as on the organizers' self-reported views and decisions concerning suicide attacks.     

The Increasing Role of Religion in State Failure: 1960 to 2004

This study examines the extent of religious conflict between 1960 and 2004 in the context of all domestic conflicts in that era based on data from the State Failure dataset. The findings show that until 2002 religious conflicts were a minority of all conflicts, but from 2002 to 2004 they were a majority of all conflicts. This study also examines the extent to which groups belonging to different religious traditions (i.e., Christianity, Islam, etc.) participate in conflict. The specific results on the relative participation in conflict by Christian and Muslim groups depend on the method used to measure conflict. However, no matter how conflict is measured, the results consistently show a rise in Islamic participation in conflict since the late 1970s. Also, for nearly the entire period covered by this study, the majority of religious conflicts involved Muslims. All of this supports contentions that rather than causing religion's demise, modernity has caused a resurgence of religion.     

The Role of the Chemical Weapons Convention in Countering Chemical Terrorism

A series of incidents over the past two decades has indicated that some terrorist groups are interested in acquiring and using improvised chemical devices (ICDs). Although the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a disarmament treaty that is legally binding only on sovereign states that join it voluntarily, the Convention fortuitously includes several provisions that can help its members to prevent chemical terrorism or to manage the consequences of an attack. This article examines the articles of the CWC that are relevant to counterterrorism and discusses how their implementation could be improved at the national and international levels. The article also addresses the role that the CWC secretariat, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, currently plays in preventing and responding to incidents of chemical terrorism, and the political factors that constrain its activities in the counterterrorism field.