Heinrich Best

Maurizio Cotta

This book contributes to a better understanding of relations between social and political change, and the importance of institutional factors in shaping the political elites of European democracies. It helps to substantiate theoretical debates in the social and political sciences on issues such as historical institutionalism and path dependency.

Diversity, Change, and Convergence

Democratic Representation in Europe

Jean Blondel

Party and Government is an eleven-country study of the relationship between the governments of liberal democracies, mainly from Western Europe, but also including the United States and India, and the parties which support these governments. It examines this relationship at the three levels at which governments and parties connect: appointments, policy-making, and patronage. The emphasis is on a two-way relationship: parties influence governments but governments also influence parties. The extent and the direction of this influence varies from country to country. In some cases, governments and parties are almost autonomous from each other, as in the United States; in other cases, on the contrary, there is considerable power of one over the other: sometimes the party dominates, sometimes the government.

An Inquiry into the Relationship between Governments and Supporting Parties in Liberal Democracies

Party and Government

Federico Russo

At a time when political representation can be said to be facing its ultimate crisis, this crucial work clarifies the terms of the debate, providing an up-to date analysis of the main conceptual and institutional controversies that have arisen surrounding this topic. Written by leading scholars in the field, contributions focus on how representation is conceptualised and its relation to democracy.

Research Handbook on Political Representation

Luca Verzichelli

The book focuses on the most recent developments in Italian politics, particularly those of the last 10-15 years. A longer historical perspective, covering the post-war period, is also supplied, providing the reader with the tools for understanding this period of change. The authors address a number of themes, paradoxes and problems inherent to Italian politics. The first theme concerns the shifting balance between the central administration and the periphery. The second theme concernsthe divide between governing parties and permanent oppositions. The third theme relates to the mix of political discontinuity and instability with a simultaneous stability of political parties. Finally, the book considers the relationship between the Italian domestic system and the international system. In particular, it examines the impact of the East-West international divide on Italian politics and the Italian party system, and the relationship between Italy and Europe, and Italy's strong support of European integration.

Political Institutions in Italy

Pedro Tavares de Almeida

Nicolò Conti

Over the last two decades, the process of European integration has become interwoven with the theme of citizenship and the debate on the democratic quality of the EU and of its institutions has become more salient. What are the views about Europe which emerge when we interrogate the national elites of the four large South European countries, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and what is their vision of a supra-national citizenship in its different facets? Are these views sufficiently homogeneous and do they distinguish themselves from those of the rest of the European Union to the point of enabling us to talk about a "distinctive region of Europe"? Which interpretation(s) of European citizenship emerges from a systematic exploration of these opinions? Using a set of survey and textual data collected in the framework of the IntUne project, the authors attempt to provide some original answers to these questions. This book was published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Maurizio Cotta

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