Search

This book analyzes the roots of widespread disenchantment with American government. While blame often falls on the individuals in office, they are not operating in isolation. Rather they are working within a system designed by the Framers with one goal in mind, protectionism. Although the Framers got much right, their commitment to protection of liberty led them to design a system replete with divisions of power. Whatever its merits at the founding, the government today is frequently described as dysfunctional and far too often unresponsive to the majority, unaccountable, and unable to deliver for its people. For those disillusioned with the current state of government and committed to effectuating meaningful change, this book advocates in favor of a fundamental reassessment of the system's primary objectives, followed by deliberation as to how it should be restructured accordingly. It not only presents specific reform proposals, but it ends with a stark warning: until and unless we embrace reasoned structural reform, we cannot be surprised if at some point the people become so frustrated that they either disengage, fight back, or seek solace in autocratic alternatives. This new edition includes audiobook files created by a state of the art text-to-speech tool at the chapter level.

Konflikte im Bereich Migration nehmen zu: Brennende Asylbewerberheime, Anschläge auf Migant:innen, rassistische Hassrede im Internet, ein Anwachsen rechtspopulistischer xenophobischer Demonstrationen und Parteien. Gerade in solch beunruhigenden Ausprägungsformen treten migrationsbezogene Konflikte häufig in Politik und Medien in Erscheinung und nähren den demokratischen Krisendiskurs. Die demokratie- und ordnungstheoretische Bedeutung sozialer Konflikte reicht allerdings weit über dieses destruktive Erscheinungsbild hinaus. Konflikte sind nicht nur ein unvermeidbares Element gesellschaftlichen Zusammenlebens, die Möglichkeit zur Austragung und Bearbeitung ist in vielen politikwissenschaftlichen Ansätzen gar zu einem Gradmesser demokratischer Qualität avanciert. So werden in diesem Sammelband politische Anerkennungs-, Teilhabe- und Teilnahmekonflikte beschrieben und die Repräsentation von Migrant•innen sowie ihre Einbindung in demokratische Entscheidungsprozesse analysiert.

This book mainly seeks to explain, define and update the recurring forms of populism in the 21st century. Examples used in this Introduction are limited to English speaking countries. But populism's existent expressions are ecumenically global. Like any long-lasting perennial organism it is sturdy and comes in a variety of forms adaptable to environmental changes. In political or cultural terms its expression has been neither exclusively left, center, nor right. Populism contains multitudes, dates back centuries before it was identified with its modern name. Populism has become a hot button issue in the recent times. The UK's Sunday heavy The Guardian published about 300 articles in 1998 that used the term'populism'or'populist'and by 2016 its use had skyrocketed to over 2,000. And growing. Probably the single greatest catalyst to date that injected populism into the world's Internet common discourse, that infused it into journalism right, left and centerand awakened populist political activism was the Great Recession of 2007-08 and the subsequent global deprivations it engendered. In today's world populism promises to remain and renew its intensity due to the covid-19 pandemic's deleterious effects on most nations middle and low-income groups, specially minorities. These are some reasons among many why it is time for populism to be relocated, identified and given refreshed 21st understandings. It has a shifting nature among people, events, causes that constantly demands fresh studies. It is a social and cultural phenomenon both universal and particular. In our 21st century world it is a product of our shared cultures and each our own exceptional deep culture. This Encyclopedia is unique in its composition as it includes all the major disciplines of Social Sciences and thus will be a one stop source of nine different disciplines looking at new populism.

Hungary was once a frontrunner of democratization. However, since Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, the country has been the subject of critical media coverage and concerns due to illiberal policies and anti-EU rhetoric. The book helps to analyze and evaluate the developments by providing relevant case knowledge. It provides sound insights into Hungary's system of government, society, parties and media, as well as selected policy areas. It focuses on how different policy areas have been influenced by the EU, traces important lines of development over the past decades, and compares the findings with other states of the region. The authors'professional expertise and broad knowledge of the political systems of Hungary and Europe provide a well-founded analysis of the developments in the region.

Dieses Taschenbuch bietet Europa zum Nachschlagen: In über 100 Sachbeiträgen erklären renommierte EuropaexpertInnen wissenschaftlich fundiert und zugleich verständlich alle wichtigen Themen und Begriffe aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Geschichte der europäischen Einigung. Es erscheint in aktualisierter und erweiterter Fassung schon in der 16. Auflage und richtet sich an alle Europa-Interessierten, die sich gezielt und zuverlässig über den neuesten Stand in europapolitischen Fragen informieren wollen.Das Taschenbuch „Europa von A bis Z“ wird freundlicherweise vom Auswärtigen Amt gefördert. Das Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) wird im Rahmen des Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programms 2021–2027 der Europäischen Union gefördert. Für die Inhalte zeichnet allein das IEP verantwortlich.

The book provides a fresh and innovative interpretation of the new government of Zimbabwe led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, which emerged in late 2017 after the downfall of Robert Mugabe. It demonstrates the contradictory character of the Mnangagwa government, involving both continuities and discontinuities in relation to Mugabe's regime. The temptation amongst Zimbabwean scholars has been to focus on the continuities and to dismiss the significance of any discontinuities, notably reform measures. This book adopts an alternative approach by identifying and focusing specifically on the existence of a formative project of the Mnangagwa's Second Republic, further analysing its political significance, as well as risks and limitations. While doing so, the book covers topics such as reform measures, reconciliation, transitional justice, corruption, the media, agriculture, devolution, and the debt crisis as well as health and education. Discussing the limitations of these different reform measures, the book highlights that any scholarly failure to identify the risks of the project leads to an incomplete understanding of what constitutes the Mnangagwa's Second Republic. The book appeals to students, scholars and researchers of Zimbabwean and African studies, political science and international relations, as well as policymakers interested in a better understanding of political reform processes.

The German Federal Election of 2021 was one of the most open and competitive in the post-war era. This book provides a systematic analysis of its domestic and international context, the shifting balance of the political parties, the election strategies and campaign themes, along with the challenges of government formation. An international array of scholars from Europe, North America and Australasia have contributed specially commissioned chapters on their principal areas of research. The discussion of individual topics is combined with sufficient background information so as to be accessible to readers who may not have detailed knowledge of German politics. In addition, by including links to multimedia election-related content we enhance the value of this volume and make it an indispensable reference tool.

Erweiterungen des Stimmrechts betreffen auch die Frage, wer an der Selbstbestimmung der Gemeinschaft teilnehmen darf. Durch einen umfassenden Vergleich von über 50 Fällen von Wahlrechtserweiterungen an Nicht-Staatsangehörige auf der ganzen Welt bietet dieses Buch eine breite empirische Basis, um diese Reformen zu rekonstruieren und erklärt gleichzeitig, wie Staatsbürgerschaft verstanden wird. Durch mehrere Vergleichsmethoden widerlegt die Autorin die Idee, dass manche Länder eine bestimmte „ethnische“ und andere eine „liberale“ Staatbürgerschaftskultur haben, die alle damit verbundenen Fragen determiniert. Vielmehr reflektieren die Debatten, wie Entscheidungsträger in einem dynamischen politischen Kontext ihre Reformvorschläge sowohl mittels auf Grundlage historischer Bedingungen als auch zeitgenössischer politischer Haltungen gestalten.

This volume examines the impact of Brexit on political traditions such as nationalism, liberalism and conservatism, cosmopolitanism and decentralization. Bringing together scholars of British Politics, the chapters focus on the following topics: Brexit and the myth of British National identity since World War II; the evolution of discourses surrounding Brexit and the broader shifts in the character of British liberal and conservative traditions; how the phenomenon of Brexit has decentered the Labour Party's ideational tradition; the expression of beliefs about Brexit and British foreign policy; the ‘identity effects'of Brexit on unionism and nationalism in Northern Ireland; whether the UK require a more decentred local government at a community level in order for people to feel both represented, and able to participate.

Revival and Change is a compelling account of the elections, accomplishments, challenges, failures, and ultimate end of the Diefenbaker era.

Dieses Buch ist die erste umfassende Darstellung des Bremer Institutionensystems, der politischen Akteure, der politischen Kultur und der Wahlen auf den verschiedenen Ebenen des politischen Systems. Die Beiträge analysieren dabei Aspekte wie die Stellung des Landes im Bund und in der Europäischen Union, die Rolle der Senatspräsidenten und ihrer Führungsstile, die Interessenorganisationen und Protestbewegungen, die Bremer Medienlandschaft und arbeiten auch ausgewählte Aspekte der Landespolitik wissenschaftlich heraus.

Das Buch liefert eine erste umfassende Analyse der komplexen Wechselwirkungen des Wählerverhaltens und der Parteistrategien im deutschen Mischwahlsystem. Nach einer ausführlichen Einführung in die räumliche Theorie des Parteienwettbewerbs wird das Zusammenspiel von Politiknachfrage der Wähler und Politikangebot der Parteien in der Mehrheits- und der Verhältniswahlkomponente bei Bundestagswahlen untersucht. Die Darstellung richtet sich somit an Politikwissenschaftler, Wahlrechtsexperten in Politik und Wissenschaft, Lehrende an Hochschulen und Journalisten gleichermaßen.

Seit dem Regierungsantritt von Viktor Orbán im Jahr 2010 steht Ungarn aufgrund seiner innenpolitischen Entwicklung und EU-kritischen Haltung im Zentrum kritischer Beobachtung und Berichterstattung. Das Buch hilft durch die Vermittlung von Grundlagenwissen bei der Analyse und Bewertung der Entwicklungen. Es gibt einen fundierten Einblick in das Regierungssystem Ungarns, die Gesellschaft, Parteien und Medien sowie ausgewählte Politikfelder. Dabei konzentriert es sich auf zentrale Merkmale und ihren Zusammenhang mit der EU, zeichnet wichtige Entwicklungslinien der vergangenen Jahrzehnte nach und ordnet die Befunde im Vergleich mit anderen Staaten ein. Die Autoren bringen ein hohes Maß an fachlicher und regionaler Expertise mit.

In den 1970er und 1980er Jahren kam der Entwicklung des Linksextremismus in der öffentlichen und wissenschaftlichen Wahrnehmung große Bedeutung zu. Angesichts eines höheren Gefahrenpotentials des islamistischen und rechten Extremismus schwand diese Aufmerksamkeit in den letzten Jahren. Indessen lassen sich nach wie vor einschlägige politische Bestrebungen – wenn auch mit anderer Bedeutung – ausmachen. Dieses Buch, das für die 2. Auflage aktualisiert wurde, versteht sich als kritische Bestandsaufnahme zum Linksextremismus in Deutschland: Es präsentiert die relevanten Informationen über Auffassungen und Handlungen und schätzt sie hinsichtlich bestimmter Aspekte und Gesichtspunkt ein. Dabei werden häufig politisch motivierte Dramatisierungen oder Verharmlosungen zugunsten einer differenzierten Sicht auf das Gefahrenpotential des Linksextremismus vermieden.

This book charts the economic, social and political rise of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) as well as its political resilience over the last sixteen years. Going beyond the standard dichotomy debate of political Islam versus secularism, the author shows how the JDP, a political party with substantial roots in political Islam, came to power in 2002 as an outcome of the socioeconomic transformation process that started in the country in the 1980s. The book further illustrates how the party consolidated its ruling power by catering to its core constituencies via a multifaceted set of policies that gave rise to the emergence of a powerful political machine. A careful analysis of the JDP's policy agenda highlights the discrepancy between the party's discourse and its supply of policies. Furthermore, the author shows how the party has skilfully (re-)framed its ideological stance by changing alliances, and in analysing this hybrid ideological framing she presents key underpinnings ofthe party that paved the way to a fundamental restructuring of the Turkish party system and establishment of a new regime that replaced the old guard. This book will be of interest to academics, graduate students and researchers interested in comparative politics, political science and sociology.

This book is the most comprehensive single volume reference work available for British political facts. Covering the period from 1900 to the present, it is the latest edition in a series previously edited by David Butler and various collaborators. This new edition updates the contents to the immediate post-European Union referendum period in the UK. It is useful to a wide range of potential readers, including students, educators, journalists, policy professionals, and anyone with an interest in politics and political history. It will be valuable to academics working in a variety of disciplines, including history and political science.

The methodologies used to study public opinion are now in flux. The primary polling method of the last half-century, the telephone survey, is rapidly becoming obsolete as a data collection method. At the same time, new methods of contacting potential respondents and obtaining their response are appearing, providing a variety of options for scholars and practitioners. Generally speaking, we are moving from a polling world that was largely interviewer driven over the phone and face-to-face to predominantly interviewer driven self-administered poll environments, New methods of data collection, however, must still deal with fundamental questions to polling methodology and total survey error including sampling, selection bias, non-response error, poststratification weighting, and questionnaire design features. The Oxford Handbook on Polling and Survey Methods brings together a unique mixture of academics and practitioners, from various backgrounds, academic disciplines, and experiences. In some sense, this is reflective of the interdisciplinary nature of the polling and survey industry: polls and surveys are widely used in academia, government, and the private sector. Designing, implementing, and analyzing high quality, accurate, and cost-effective polls and surveys requires a combination of skills and methodological perspectives. Despite the well-publicized issues that have cropped up in recent political polling, a great deal is known today about how to collect high quality polling and survey data even in complex and difficult environments. Divided into four main sections, the Handbook draws on the existing research and explores data collection methods. It then addresses data analysis and the methods available for combining polling data with other types of data. The next section covers analytic issues, including the new approaches to studying public opinion (ie social media, the analysis of open-ended questions using text analytic tools, and data imputation). The final section focuses on the presentation of polling results, an area where there is a great deal of innovation. A comprehensive overview of the topic, this volume highlights current polling trends provides ideas for the development of new and better approaches for measuring, modeling, and visualizing public opinion and social behavior.

This edited volume considers the extent to which the Obama presidency matched the promises of hope and change that were held out in the 2008 election. Contributors assess the character of “change” and, within this context, survey the extent to which there was enduring change within particular policy areas, both domestic and foreign. The authors combine empirical detail with more speculative assessment of the limits and possibilities of change amidst a very dense institutional landscape and in an era of intense political polarization. Some see significant changes, the full consequences of which may only be evident in later years. Other authors in the collection present a markedly different picture and suggest that processes of change were not only limited and partial but at times leading the US in directions far removed from the promises of 2008. The book will make an important contribution to the debates about the Obama legacy.

The International Almanac is the only up to date source for the history of election results in the Western world from their origins to the present. It provides clear and authoritative information for 25 different countries, ranging alphabetically from Australia to the USA, and geographically across four continents, including Japan and new Mediterranean democracies as well as old Anglo-American and Scandinavian democracies. Each chapter gives a comprehensive list of all parties that have contested one or more elections, its vote at each election and percentage share of the poll, and the number of seats won in the national assembly. The results have been checked from original sources in more than 15 languages. The new edition of the Almanac brings election results up to date and incorporates fresh materials from historical research, while retaining the features that have made the volume the authoritative book on elections.

This book is an examination of the manner in which American presidents respond to pandemics and other public health crises. Skidmore argues that presidential performance in dealing with emergencies and pandemics varies, but those who are informed, focused, and confident that government can work are most likely to be successful. As an example, Gerald Ford's “Swine Flu program” is widely derided as incompetent and politically motivated. Closer examination, however, suggests the contrary, demonstrating the potential of government to act quickly and effectively against public health emergencies, even when facing formidable obstacles. The American government has a mixed record ranging from excellent to unacceptable, even counterproductive, in dealing with emergency threats to life and health. Despite ideological arguments to the contrary, however, governments are important to effective responses, and in the American setting, presidential action is essential.

The Soldier Vote tells the story of how Americans in the armed forces gained the right to vote while away from home. The ability for deployed military personnel to cast a ballot was difficult and often vociferously resisted by politicians of both political parties. While progress has been made, significant challenges remain. Using newly obtained data about the military voter, The Soldier Vote challenges some widely held views about the nature of the military vote and how service personnel vote.

This book discusses voting procedures in collective decision-making. Drawing on well-established election processes from all over the world, the author presents a voting procedure that allows for the speedy but fair election of a proportional, all-party coalition. The methodology - a matrix vote - is accurate, robust and ethno-color blind. In the vote, the counting procedure encourages all concerned to cross the gender as well as any party and/or sectarian divides. While in the resulting executive each party will be represented fairly and, at best, with the consensus of parliament, every minister will be the one most suited to his/her new portfolio. By using preferential voting and thus achieving consensus, the matrix vote will be fundamental to the resolution of conflicts.The matrix vote can also be used when:• two or more parliamentary parties elect a coalition government• one parliamentary party elects a government or shadow cabinet, or organizations in civil society elect their governing boards or executive committees• any group chooses a fixed number of individuals to form a team in which each member carries out a different function

This book makes a timely contribution to our understanding of the dramatic political changes that have recently affected Scotland and thrown into doubt the country's future position within the United Kingdom. Its focus is on the Labour Party and the loss of its traditional electoral support base. This theme is related to religion and its relevance to Scotland's identity politics. The author examines how Labour was able to appeal across the ethno-religious divide in Scotland for many decades, before considering the impact of the new political context of devolution in the 21st century and the greater scrutiny given to the question of sectarianism in Scottish life. Walker demonstrates the role played by the sectarianism controversy in Labour's loss of political control and its eclipse by the Scottish National Party (SNP). This book is also the first to assess the significance of the Irish dimension in Scotland's political development, in particular the impact of the conflictin nearby Northern Ireland. It will appeal to students and scholars of Scottish and Irish politics, political science and political/electoral history, as well as the interested wider reader.

Was ist eigentlich der Sinn und Zweck des Wählens? Warum gelten Wahlen seit dem 20. Jahrhundert für nahezu alle Staaten als unverzichtbar? Um die Erfolgsgeschichte und die variierenden Bedeutungen von Wahlen zu verstehen, gilt es, die historische Dimension zu berücksichtigen und mit einem anthropologisch interessierten Blick neue Fragen zu stellen. Diese Neue Wahlgeschichte lässt den scheinbar so selbstverständlichen Gegenstand „Wahlen“ erklärungsbedürftig erscheinen. Sie fragt nach Praktiken, Materialität, Ideen und Diskursen, um die Funktionen politischer Wahlen in verschiedenen historischen und politischen Kontexten von Europa über Nordamerika bis hin nach Lateinamerika zu ergründen. Da das Interesse dem Massenwahlrecht als Grundlage moderner Demokratien gilt, richtet sich der Fokus auf das 19. und 20. Jahrhundert.

This book addresses how the Conservative Party has re-focused its interest in social policy. Analysing to what extent the Conservatives have changed within this particular policy sphere, the book explores various theoretical, social, political, and electoral dimensions of the subject matter.

In Voters'Verdicts, Chris Bonneau and Damon Cann address contemporary concerns with judicial elections by investigating factors that influence voters'decisions in the election of state supreme court judges. Bonneau and Cann demonstrate that the move to nonpartisan elections, while it depresses political participation, does little to mute the effects of partisanship and ideology. The authors note the irony that judicial elections, often faulted for politicizing the legal process, historically represented an attempt to correct the lack of accountability in the selection of judges by appointment, since unlike appointive systems, judicial elections are at least transparent. This comprehensive study rests on a broad evidentiary base that spans numerous states and a variety of electoral systems. Bonneau and Cann use the first national survey of voters in state supreme court elections paired with novel laboratory experiments to evaluate the influence of incumbency and other ballot cues on voters'decisions. Data-rich and analytically rigorous, this provocative volume shows why voters decide to participate in judicial elections and what factors they consider in casting their votes. A volume in the series Constitutionalism and Democracy

One of modern democracy's biggest challenges is the overseas voter.This book is the first of its kind to explore the issues of military and overseas voting, an often neglected voting bloc, by investigating the successfulness of overseas voting initiatives, technologies, and policy efforts.

In the first book of its kind, Leo Huberts provides a critical synthesis of cutting-edge research on public sector integrity exploring issues such as the definition and importance of public sector integrity, the various methodological approaches to the field as well as considering the causes of for the violation of values associated with integrity.

This book analyzes how the media covers women leaders and reinforces gendered evaluations of their candidacies and performance. It deals with current transformations in political communication that may change the nature and scope of leadership in contemporary democracies with implications for relations between female leaders, media and citizens.

Sarkozy came to power promising radical political and social change while simultaneously developing a presidential persona that melded the public and the personal under the glare of media attention, unparalleled in the French Fifth Republic. This volume provides a detailed analysis of the fit between his ambitions and the outcomes of his presidency

This edited volume examines the political, social, and economic developments in contemporary Spain, with a particular focus on the period of the Socialist government (2008-11), the 2011 elections, and the challenges facing Spain and the new Popular Party government.

What if Clinton/Gore lost in 1992? Or won in 1992 and lost in 1996? This book is a look back at the importance of all the right moves made by Bill Clinton from the New Hampshire primary to the selection of Al Gore as his running mate to his handling of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994-95.

This book examines the influence of terrorist threat in the recent elections in the US, Great Britain, and Russia to analyze the influence of post-9/11 fears on voting behaviour in comparative perspective. It is in these different countries that warnings about terrorism find the most resonance with candidates, journalists and voters alike.

In recent years democratic theory has taken a deliberative turn. Instead of merely casting the occasional ballot, deliberative democrats want citizens to reason together. They embrace'talk as a decision procedure'. But of course thousands or millions of people cannot realistically talk to one another all at once. When putting their theories into practice, deliberative democrats therefore tend to focus on'mini-publics', usually of a couple dozen to a couple hundred people. The central question then is how to connect micro-deliberations in mini-publics to the political decision-making processes of the larger society. In Innovating Democracy, Robert Goodin surveys these new deliberative mechanisms, asking how they work and what we can properly expect of them. Much though they have to offer, they cannot deliver all that deliberative democrats hope. Talk, Goodin concludes, is good as discovery procedure but not as a decision procedure. His slogan is,'First talk, then vote'. Micro-deliberative mechanisms should supplement, not supplant, representative democracy. Goodin goes on to show how to adapt our thinking about those familiar institutions to take full advantage of deliberative inputs. That involves rethinking who should get a say, how we hold people accountable, how we sequence deliberative moments and what the roles of parties and legislatures can be in that. Revisioning macro-democratic processes in light of the processes and promise of micro-deliberation, Innovating Democracy provides an integrated perspective on democratic theory and practice after the deliberative turn.

Argues that ordinary people exercise extraordinary political courage and power in American politics when, frustrated by politics as usual, they rise up in anger and hope, and defy the authorities and the status quo rules that ordinarily govern their daily lives. By doing so, they disrupt the workings of important institutions and become a force in American politics. Drawing on critical episodes in U.S. history, Piven shows that it is in fact precisely at those seismic moments when people act outside of political norms that they become empowered to their full democratic potential.

“A major piece of work... a classic. There is no other book like it.” —Norman Schofield, Washington University “The authors succeed brilliantly in tackling a large number of important questions concerning the interaction among voters and elected representatives in the political arena, using a common, rigorous language.” —Antonio Merlo, University of Pennsylvania Positive Political Theory II: Strategy and Structure is the second volume in Jeffrey Banks and David Austen-Smith's monumental study of the links between individual preferences and collective choice. The book focuses on representative systems, including both elections and legislative decision-making processes, clearly connecting individual preferences to collective outcomes. This book is not a survey. Rather, it is the coherent, cumulative result of the authors'brilliant efforts to indirectly connect preferences to collective choice through strategic behaviors such as agenda-selection and voting. The book will be an invaluable reference and teaching tool for economists and political scientists, and an essential companion to any scholar interested in the latest theoretical advances in positive political theory.

Elections, Parties and Representation in Post-Communist Europe 1990-2002 stresses the ways in which the development of political parties affected the quality of democracy, the nature of political representation, and political accountability in the early stages of post-communist politics. It also analyzes the nature and consequences of the corpus of parliamentary candidates and deputies for the representation of social classes, women and minorities. In contrast with the wide social profile of communist parliaments, politics largely became the playground of new highly educated male elites.

In the coming presidential primaries, no state is as important in setting the stage - or affecting the odds - as New Hampshire. This small, mountainous, proudly distinctive state holds the first primary and the results, both real and in comparison to expectations, can greatly influence the competition for the highest office in the land. Candidates who do well can create momentum and gain support, while those who do worse than expected can be counted out. Scala explains the distinctiveness of New Hampshire politics and how the candidates create strategies to appeal to the state's voters. New Hampshire's sympathy for reformist candidates has the paradoxical affect of jumpstarting the campaigns of those candidates least representative of Democratic voters nationally. The implications for Democratic chances to win the presidency in 2004 are discussed.

Embodying Democracy analyzes the politics of electoral reform in eight post-communist states including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine. By exploring the multiple factors that shaped the design of electoral institutions during the first ten years of post-communist transition, it accounts for an important element of the post-communist reform process and illuminates general features of institutional design in post-transition states.

Can Labour and the Liberal Democrats redefine politics to make the 21st Century a progressive century? Can the centre-left find a common cause to tackle the alienation from politics, the globalisation of power, the need to modernise public services and the will to face up to the environmental challenges? Will the centre-left unite to change the voting system and win the case for Britain entering the single currency? Will the centre-left give real priority to family life and the tackling of discrimination against women? These are some of the questions that are tackled in this topical and controversial book, which brings together leading politicians, journalists, academics and thinkers. Contributors include Robin Cook, Menzies Campbell, Lord Ashdown, Harriet Harman, Ruth Kelly, Peter Mandelson, Don MacIntyre, Steve Richards, Anna Coote, Polly Toynbee, Matthew Taylor, Kirsty Milne, Don Foster and Chris Huhne.

Labour's 1997 victory was widely credited to the party's reinvention of itself as New Labour. This book argues that the transformation of the Labour Party is best understood as the product of Thatcherism, and marks the emergence of a new consensus in British politics.

Referenda on important public policy questions have come to play a central role in policy making in many states. Referenda, or ballot propositions, have resulted in limits on taxation and limits on the number of terms of elected officials, and have dealt with bilingual education, campaign finances, and affirmative action, in states all over the country. Shaun Bowler and Todd Donovan present a searching and original examination of how voters make decisions in direct referenda. The authors ask if voters have some information about the issue easily at their disposal and if they make choices that seem sensible given their interests and the information they have. Looking at the way voters respond to different kinds of questions, the authors suggest that while direct democracy has its failings, the flaws do not necessarily lie with citizens being'duped,'nor with voters approving propositions they do not want or do not understand at some basic level. As cynicism about government has increased many have sought to take policy questions out of the hands of elected officials and put the questions directly before the voters for decision. And yet many are skeptical about the ability of voters to make intelligent decisions about complex policy issues. This important book demonstrates that voters are capable of responding thoughtfully to referenda questions. This book will appeal to students of contemporary American politics and electoral politics. Shaun Bowler is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine. Todd Donovan is Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Washington University.