The literature on European parties and party systems since 1945: A quantitative analysis

Abstract. This article analyses the structure and evolution of the literature on parties and party systems in Europe since 1945. Using a bibliographical database comprising all references to scientific work on parties and party systems, we propose an innovative quantitative analysis. The completeness of our database allows us to show in detail the evolution of the literature over time. On the basis of a systematic coding of all references with respect to the type of parties, the countries and topics covered, as well as the language, place and type of publication, we propose a detailed quantitative analysis of the literature in all its dimensions. The result of our exploration is an accurate map of the literature on political parties in Europe.     

Book reviews

Michael Cox, US Foreign Policy After the Cold War; Superpower Without a Mission?, (Pinter, London 1995). 148pp. ISBN 1–85567–221–9.

Philip John Davies (ed), An American Quarter Century: US Politics From Vietnam to Clinton, (Manchester University Press, Manchester 1995). 279pp. ISBN 0–7190–4514–2.

Goran Therborn, European Modernity and Beyond: The Trajectory of European Societies, (Sage, London 1995). 403pp. ISBN 8039 8934 2.

John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary, Explaining Northern Ireland, (Blackwell, Oxford 1995). 535pp. ISBN 0–631–18349–3.

Jerzy Szacki, Liberalism After Communism, (Central European Press, Budapest 1995). 216pp. ISBN 1–85866–015–7 (hb), 1–85866–016–5 (pb).

Janusz Bugajski, Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe, second edition, (Westview Press, Boulder 1995). 265pp. ISBN 0–8133–2351–7 (hb), 0–8133–2350–9 (pb).

Jeremy Lester, Modern Tsars and Princes: The Struggle for Hegemony in Russia, (Verso, London 1995). 320pp. ISBN 1–85984–039–6 (pb).     

B. Reviews and notes: Bibliographies and works of reference

A GREEK AND ARABIC LEXICON: MATERIALS FOR A DICTIONARY OF THE MEDIÆVAL TRANSLATIONS FROM GREEK INTO ARABIC. Edited by GERHARD ENDRESS and DIMITRI GUTAS. Fascicle 1. (Handbook of Oriental Studies, the Near and Middle East, XI. Band.) Leiden, Brill, 1992. 30*. 96pp. Hfl.40.‐

THE ROLE OF THE BOOK IN THE CIVILISATIONS OF THE NEAR EAST: PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE HELD AT THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY AND THE CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY, DUBLIN, 29 JUNE – 1 JULY 1988 = MANUSCRIPTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST 5 (1990–1991). Leiden, Ter Lugt Press, c1993. 136pp. Hfl 210.‐

BROCADE OF THE PEN: THE ART OF ISLAMIC WRITING. Edited by CAROL GARRETT FISHER. East Lansing, Michigan State University, 1991. 100pp. B&W illustrations and Arabic calligraphy.

AFGHANISTAN. Compiled by SCHUYLER JONES. (World Bibliographical Series, 135.) Oxford, Santa Barbara & Denver, Clio Press, 1992. xxvi+281pp.     

Fatal virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome in a young adult producing nontraumatic splenic rupture.

A 24-year-old man with no previous medical history was admitted to a local hospital with pancytopenia after a recent "viral illness." During his hospitalization, he developed sudden abdominal distension and hypotension. Surgical exploration of his abdomen revealed a ruptured spleen. The spleen was removed, but the patient did not survive the operation. We investigated this unexpected and unexplained hospital death for any traumatic or iatrogenic injury. The cause of death after review of the clinical history, autopsy, and microscopic sections was virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). VAHS consists of a generalized histiocytic proliferation and marked hemophagocytosis associated with a systemic viral infection. Clinically it presents as pancytopenia and organomegaly. This recently described entity is often confused with malignant histiocytosis. This is the first case report of VAHS producing nontraumatic splenic rupture, thus adding to the differential diagnosis of spontaneous splenic rupture and sudden natural death.     

Positional asphyxiation in adults. A series of 30 cases from the Dade and Broward County Florida Medical Examiner Offices from 1982 to 1990.

Over a 9-year period, 30 cases of positional (or postural) asphyxia were identified in the Dade and Broward County (Florida) Medical Examiner Offices. The victims had an average age of 50.6 years with no significant sex or racial differences as compared with the general medical examiner population. Chronic alcoholism or acute alcohol intoxication was a significant risk factor in 75% of cases and these had an average postmortem ethanol concentration of 0.24 g%. Signs of mechanical asphyxiation (petechiae and/or combined lung weights greater than 900 g) were present in 93% of cases. Victims were commonly (43%) found in a restrictive position producing hyperflexion of the head and neck. Two deaths involved restraint vests ("poseys") in elderly, demented, wheel-chair-confined victims. Scene photographs of the undisturbed decedent are extremely helpful in confirming a suspicion of postional asphyxia.     

C. Reviews and notes bibliographies and works of reference

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC LIBRARY COLLECTIONS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA. By STEPHAN ROMAN (Libraries and Librarianship in the Muslim World.) London, Mansell, 1990. xii, 259 pp. £40.

OPIS NA DOKUMENTITE NA ARABSKI EZIK, ZAPAZENI V ORIENTALSKIYA OTDEL NA NARODNATA BIBLIOTEKA ‘KIRIL I METODII’ V SOFIYA, XIII‐XX V. = INVENTORY OF THE DOCUMENTS IN ARABIC LANGUAGE KEPT IN THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ‘CYRIL AND METHODIUS’ NATIONAL LIBRARY IN SOFIA, XIII‐XX C. Compiled by STOYANKA KENDEROVA. Sofia, Narodna Biblioteka ‘Kiril i Metodii’, 1984. 387 + 14pp.

KASHSHAF AL‐DAWRIYYAT AL‐'ARABIYYA, 1876–1984: DALIL BIBLIYUGHRAFI LI‐L‐MAQALAT WA‐AL‐DIRASAT AL‐BAHITHA FI TARIKH AL‐'ARAB WA‐TURATHIHIM AL‐FIKRI WA‐AL‐HADARI AL‐MANSHURA FI AHAMM AL‐DAWRIYYAT AL‐'ARABIYYA = INDEX ARABICUS, 1876–1984: A CLASSIFIED INDEX OF ARTICLES RELATIVE TO ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES PUBLISHED IN ARABIC SCHOLARLY PERIODICALS. Compiled by ‘ABD AL‐JABBAR ‘ABD AL‐RAHMAN (ABDUL JABBAR ABDULRAHMAN). Baghdad, Markaz al‐Tawthiq al‐I'lami li‐Duwal ai‐ Khalij al‐'Arabi, 1989. 4 vols. US$200.‐

BRITAIN IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1921–1956: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By VINCENT PONKO. (Themes in European Expansion, 9; Garland Reference Library of Social Science, 357.) New York, Garland, 1990. 513pp. US$57.00

TURKISH LINGUISTICS TODAY. Edited by HENDRIK BOESCHOTEN and LUDO VERHOEVEN. Leiden, Brill, 1991. vii, 193pp. Hfl.95.‐

HANDBUCH DER TÜRKISCHEN SPRACHWISSENSCHAFT. TEIL I. Herausgegeben von GYORGY HAZAI. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1990. 493pp. DM188.‐     

In Pursuit of Civic Participation: The Early Experiences of the Northern Ireland Civic Forum, 2000–2002

Northern Ireland's Civic Forum is a key civic participation mechanism agreed as part of the Belfast Agreement and established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. It brings together representatives from various sectors to act as a 'consultative forum' on 'social, economic, and cultural issues'. This article argues that 'civic society' has to be understood as a 'transactional reality' in the Foucauldian sense, such that the task of the Civic Forum – to allow the participation of 'civic society'– entails the continual construction of its own boundaries and remit. These are contested, not only outside the forum where political considerations have made it somewhat controversial, but also within. It is argued here that this is necessarily so, given the need for the forum to carve out a position between its constitutive outsides. Of particular concern has been the meaning of 'consultative', as competing understandings of this key term position the forum differently with respect both to the legislative Northern Ireland Assembly and to Northern Irish society as a whole. Additionally, the ethical imperative to give voice to wider society is examined, as it influences the way members of the forum articulate their role. Finally, I discuss the forum's sense of its unique identity – as given by its opportunity to enact an inclusive and diverse political space. The argument draws throughout on a qualitative sociological study that employed observation of the forum's plenary sessions over an eighteen-month period (2000–2002) and semi-structured interviews with selected members.     

A Global Ranking of Political Science Departments

Rankings of academic institutions are key information tools for universities, funding agencies, students and faculty. The main method for ranking departments in political science, through peer evaluations, is subjective, biased towards established institutions, and costly in terms of time and money. The alternative method, based on supposedly 'objective' measures of outputs in scientific journals, has thus far only been applied narrowly in political science, using publications in a small number of US-based journals. An alternative method is proposed in this paper – that of ranking departments based on the quantity and impact of their publications in the 63 main political science journals in a given five-year period. The result is a series of global and easily updatable rankings that compare well with results produced by applying a similar method in economics.     

Nationalism or Nationalist Foreign Policy? Contemporary Chinese Nationalism and its Role in Shaping Chinese Foreign Policy in Response to the Belgrade Embassy Bombing

Focusing on the Chinese response towards the Belgrade Embassy Bombing in 1999 as a case study, this article will address the role of contemporary Chinese nationalism in the Chinese foreign policymaking process. By dividing the meaning of Chinese nationalism into several layers, the author will explore the potential of nationalism in replacing communism as the new frame for Chinese foreign policy after the death of Mao. Then the article will examine four possible explanations in an attempt to account for a primarily nationalist Chinese foreign policy in response to the Belgrade Embassy bombing. Underlying the analysis of these arguments is the suggestion that contemporary Chinese nationalism exists more vividly in official rhetoric than actuality, and that it is unlikely to become the new Chinese foreign policy framer in the future.     

Contractarianism, Liberal Neutrality, and Epistemology

This paper examines three arguments that attempt to justify liberal neutrality. Firstly the type of neutrality between conceptions of the good that is sought by the arguments is explained. Then the contractarian procedure that is one of the premises of each of the arguments is presented. The remaining sections then examine the arguments, which are Thomas Nagel's appeal to epistemic restraint, Brian Barry's appeal to the uncertainty thesis, and John Rawls's appeal to the burdens of judgement. The arguments attempt to show how the contractarian procedure results in liberal neutrality. They do so by trying to show how no conception of the good can be acceptable to everyone due to the epistemological status of conceptions of the good. It is concluded that none of the arguments succeeds.