Alexander H. Trechsel – författare

For a long time analyses of political parties were framed within the usual context of democracy and of the historical transformation of the forms of democratic government. More recently several authors, among which eminently Peter Mair, progressively began to question the relationship between the normative definition of democratic government and the actual operation of parties. These new concerns are well epitomized by the tension between ‘responsiveness’ and ‘responsibility’ that gives the title to this book.

While classic democratic theory sees as desirable that parties in government (and in opposition, too) are sympathetically responsive to their supporters first and more generally to public opinion and, at the same time, responsible toward the internal and international systemic constraints and compatibilities, these two roles seem to have become more difficult to reconcile and even increasingly incompatible.

The chapters of this book explore the tensions between responsiveness and responsibility decomposing the international sources from the domestic sources and discussing the options and the possibilities for political parties to continue to play the role of provider of political stability in rapidly changing domestic and international environments.

This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

For a long time analyses of political parties were framed within the usual context of democracy and of the historical transformation of the forms of democratic government. More recently several authors, among which eminently Peter Mair, progressively began to question the relationship between the normative definition of democratic government and the actual operation of parties. These new concerns are well epitomized by the tension between ‘responsiveness’ and ‘responsibility’ that gives the title to this book.

While classic democratic theory sees as desirable that parties in government (and in opposition, too) are sympathetically responsive to their supporters first and more generally to public opinion and, at the same time, responsible toward the internal and international systemic constraints and compatibilities, these two roles seem to have become more difficult to reconcile and even increasingly incompatible.

The chapters of this book explore the tensions between responsiveness and responsibility decomposing the international sources from the domestic sources and discussing the options and the possibilities for political parties to continue to play the role of provider of political stability in rapidly changing domestic and international environments.

This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

An excellent new analysis of federalism and the EU that investigates their mutual impact.

It shows how scholars of comparative politics increasingly include the EU among their cases when investigating the impact of federalism on key issues such as policy making.

The last decade saw a new wave of scholarly publications hit the shores as research on federalism and on the EU came together. These emerging strands of research genuinely enrich our understanding of the EU and its politics. Despite this recent wave, the topic of federalism and the EU is still extremely fruitful. This volume contributes to the continuing debate at a moment in time when the EU is undergoing profound changes.

It is structured around four interrelated dimensions:

This structure allows the reader to consecutively "funnel down" from the more theoretical and abstract levels to the more concrete policy oriented level.

An excellent new analysis of federalism and the EU that investigates their mutual impact.

It shows how scholars of comparative politics increasingly include the EU among their cases when investigating the impact of federalism on key issues such as policy making.

The last decade saw a new wave of scholarly publications hit the shores as research on federalism and on the EU came together. These emerging strands of research genuinely enrich our understanding of the EU and its politics. Despite this recent wave, the topic of federalism and the EU is still extremely fruitful. This volume contributes to the continuing debate at a moment in time when the EU is undergoing profound changes.

It is structured around four interrelated dimensions:

This structure allows the reader to consecutively "funnel down" from the more theoretical and abstract levels to the more concrete policy oriented level.