James L. Newell - Böcker

This book presents a comprehensive and incisive exploration of the intricacies of the Italian political system.Written in a lucid and informative style, the work features:an examination of Italian political history from 1943 to the present dayan analysis of the governmental system, the constitutional framework, the core institutions, the electoral system and the key partiesan analysis of the role of contemporary pressure groups and social movements including environmental, labour and institutional organisationsdiscussions of important topical issues, such as corruption and organised crimean exploration of Italian foreign policy towards the EU, the US and the wider worlda wide range of examples, tables and figures.Italian Politics: Exploring the Dynamics of Political Change is an indispensable resource for students and scholars delving into Italian politics, Italian studies, European politics/studies, political systems and comparative politics.

This book presents a comprehensive and incisive exploration of the intricacies of the Italian political system.Written in a lucid and informative style, the work features:an examination of Italian political history from 1943 to the present dayan analysis of the governmental system, the constitutional framework, the core institutions, the electoral system and the key partiesan analysis of the role of contemporary pressure groups and social movements including environmental, labour and institutional organisationsdiscussions of important topical issues, such as corruption and organised crimean exploration of Italian foreign policy towards the EU, the US and the wider worlda wide range of examples, tables and figures.Italian Politics: Exploring the Dynamics of Political Change is an indispensable resource for students and scholars delving into Italian politics, Italian studies, European politics/studies, political systems and comparative politics.

This innovative text offers a completely fresh approach to Italian politics by placing it in its historical, institutional, social and international contexts. Students will get to grips with the theories and concepts of comparative politics and how they apply specifically to Italy, while gaining real insight into more controversial topics such as the Mafia, corruption and the striking success of Berlusconi. The textbook uses clear and simple language to critically analyze Italy's institutions, its political culture, parties and interest groups, public policy, and its place in the international system. Often regarded as an anomaly, Italy is frequently described in terms of 'crisis', 'instability' and 'alienation'. Sceptical of these conventional accounts, Newell argues that, if understood in its own terms, the Italian political system is just as effective as other established democracies. With features including text boxes and further reading suggestions, this is an unbeatable introduction to the politics of Italy.

This innovative text offers a completely fresh approach to Italian politics by placing it in its historical, institutional, social and international contexts. Students will get to grips with the theories and concepts of comparative politics and how they apply specifically to Italy, while gaining real insight into more controversial topics such as the Mafia, corruption and the striking success of Berlusconi. The textbook uses clear and simple language to critically analyze Italy's institutions, its political culture, parties and interest groups, public policy, and its place in the international system. Often regarded as an anomaly, Italy is frequently described in terms of 'crisis', 'instability' and 'alienation'. Sceptical of these conventional accounts, Newell argues that, if understood in its own terms, the Italian political system is just as effective as other established democracies. With features including text boxes and further reading suggestions, this is an unbeatable introduction to the politics of Italy.

This book is about one of the most remarkable European politicians of recent decades, Silvio Berlusconi, and about his contribution to the dramatic changes that have overtaken Italian politics since the early 1990s. From the vantage point of 2017, would Italian political history of the past twenty-five years look substantially different had Berlusconi not had the high-profile role in it that he did? Asking the question makes it possible to contribute to a broader debate of recent years concerning the significance of leaders in post-Cold War democratic politics. Having considered Berlusconi’s legacy in the areas of political culture, voting and party politics, public policy and the quality of Italian democracy, the book concludes by considering the international significance of the Berlusconi phenomenon in relation to the recent election of Donald Trump, with whom Berlusconi is often compared.

Recognising that corruption is a serious problem in the globalised world of the early twenty-first century, the book takes the reader on a journey – beginning with what corruption is, why its study is important and how it can be measured. From there it moves on to explore corruption’s causes, its consequences and how it can be tackled – before discovering how these things are playing out in the established liberal democracies, in the former communist regimes and in the newly industrialised and ‘developing’ world. On the way it takes a couple of detours – first, to explore corruption’s mechanisms and dynamics and second to survey the scandals to which it may give rise. The book is therefore offered as an informative ‘travel guide’ of potential interest to journalists and policy makers as well as to students and academics.

This wide-ranging book seeks to unravel the complexities of post-1992 Italian democracy. It takes as its point of departure the dramatic political tensions of the early 1990s and evaluates these against the background of an analysis of the ‘First Republic’ that predates these changes. Martin Bull and James Newell, renowned scholars of Italian Politics, argue that the early 1990s revolution in Italian party politics should be seen both as a major cause of subsequent changes in the political system and as a consequence of longer-term, still on-going changes in the Italian polity. The books explains how we can understand in this light the mixed success of the parties in attempting to act as autonomous vehicles of reform – and therefore why, if we are witnessing a transformation to a ‘Second Republic’, many of its key features still remain to be shaped. Each of the thematic chapters clearly juxtaposes Italy as it was before the 1990s with Italy today, thereby evaluating the degree to which the early 1990s can be seen as a watershed. In this way the book offers a novel account of both contemporary political developments and their historical significance in teh context of the ‘Italian political model’ that took shape in the period after 1945.This will be essential reading for all students of Italian and Comparative Politics, who will find the clarity and breadth of the book invaluable. Equally, scholars will be fascinated by this new and compelling argument.

This wide-ranging book seeks to unravel the complexities of post-1992 Italian democracy. It takes as its point of departure the dramatic political tensions of the early 1990s and evaluates these against the background of an analysis of the ‘First Republic’ that predates these changes. Martin Bull and James Newell, renowned scholars of Italian Politics, argue that the early 1990s revolution in Italian party politics should be seen both as a major cause of subsequent changes in the political system and as a consequence of longer-term, still on-going changes in the Italian polity. The books explains how we can understand in this light the mixed success of the parties in attempting to act as autonomous vehicles of reform – and therefore why, if we are witnessing a transformation to a ‘Second Republic’, many of its key features still remain to be shaped. Each of the thematic chapters clearly juxtaposes Italy as it was before the 1990s with Italy today, thereby evaluating the degree to which the early 1990s can be seen as a watershed. In this way the book offers a novel account of both contemporary political developments and their historical significance in teh context of the ‘Italian political model’ that took shape in the period after 1945.This will be essential reading for all students of Italian and Comparative Politics, who will find the clarity and breadth of the book invaluable. Equally, scholars will be fascinated by this new and compelling argument.

The world is standing at a crossroads. On the one hand, economic globalization has brought unprecedented levels of prosperity. It has lifted millions out of poverty; it has massively enhanced education and skills development; and it has increased the potential for the exercise of power from below, for the complexity of global supply chains renders them highly vulnerable to disruption by the protests of small groups of people in far-flung places. On the other hand, neoliberal globalization has brought rising inequality; the emergence, in the developed world, of the so-called left behind; refugee crises; and increasingly problems related to health and the climate, which the institutions of global governance have struggled to deal with, thus undermining their authority and fuelling the growth of populist nationalism.In order to get a sense of whether economic globalization will in future take a positive or a negative path, it is essential to look at the past. It is only through gaining an understanding of how we have come to be where we are that we will be better placed to see where we are going and, most importantly, to take the action needed to enable us to face the future with optimism rather than with fear.This volume provides a comprehensive overview in historical perspective of the development and current state of globalization, offering a wealth of information to students, professionals and researchers alike.

2004 was a year that threw into sharp relief the principal features of the present political conjuncture, that is, one in which the Italian political transition shows few signs of coming to a conclusion. 2004 was, therefore, a year of limited change, one in which reforms were announced but not fully achieved and where the few that were achieved were noteworthy for the compromises that were necessary in order to make them possible at all. It was, too, a year in which there emerged a stalemate between the center-right and center-left coalitions which, pending the regional elections of 2005 and the general election of 2006, took almost equal shares of the vote at the elections for the European Parliament.This volume examines these elections, paying special attention to Forza Italia, the prime minister's party, and the workings of the governing alliance and gives a well-rounded overview over the year's most important developments regarding the government’s approach to the European constitution, the new judicial system, and the pensions legislation – the only major reform actually completed during 2004.

The book further examines the election outcome, analysing the votes and discussing the impact of the election on the turnover of parliamentary personnel as well as examining the outcome from the viewpoint of government formation.

This edited volume revolves around two sets of questions. First, what do the 2019 European elections suggest about the extent to which the mainstream parties of the left are attempting to deal with their decline through an increased, common, emphasis on their project for a more integrated, 'social Europe' as opposed to an emphasis on the more 'traditional', domestically-focussed, issues? Given the heightened profile of Europe in domestic politics; given the polarisation around Europe; given the way in which (especially in the countries of the Eurozone) media discussion of the domestic implications of EU decision-making can influence the climate of opinion regardless of the actions of domestic party actors themselves, we would expect the social democrats among them to seek to reassert control over the conditions of opinion formation through a renewed emphasis on integration (as well as its benefits and its potential as a source of identities to rival national, exclusionary identities) in opposition to their populist and Eurosceptical adversaries. To what extent do the campaigns waged by these parties bear out this expectation? Second, how well are the parties coping with the internal and external, institutional and political obstacles in the way of pursuit of this agenda?

This edited volume revolves around two sets of questions. First, what do the 2019 European elections suggest about the extent to which the mainstream parties of the left are attempting to deal with their decline through an increased, common, emphasis on their project for a more integrated, 'social Europe' as opposed to an emphasis on the more 'traditional', domestically-focussed, issues? Given the heightened profile of Europe in domestic politics; given the polarisation around Europe; given the way in which (especially in the countries of the Eurozone) media discussion of the domestic implications of EU decision-making can influence the climate of opinion regardless of the actions of domestic party actors themselves, we would expect the social democrats among them to seek to reassert control over the conditions of opinion formation through a renewed emphasis on integration (as well as its benefits and its potential as a source of identities to rival national, exclusionary identities) in opposition to their populist and Eurosceptical adversaries. To what extent do the campaigns waged by these parties bear out this expectation? Second, how well are the parties coping with the internal and external, institutional and political obstacles in the way of pursuit of this agenda?

By analysingthe transformations that have taken place in MPs’ communication practices in non-election periods, the contributors illuminate how social media is affecting MPs’ communication and examine the strains in the relationship between executives and legislatures that populist and nationalist parties exploit.

By analysingthe transformations that have taken place in MPs’ communication practices in non-election periods, the contributors illuminate how social media is affecting MPs’ communication and examine the strains in the relationship between executives and legislatures that populist and nationalist parties exploit.

This is a book about European integration and mainstream parties of the left, the main underlying question driving it being: Given that the communist left was fatally wounded by the collapse of the Berlin Wall;

This is a book about European integration and mainstream parties of the left, the main underlying question driving it being: Given that the communist left was fatally wounded by the collapse of the Berlin Wall; given that, since then, the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ have not infrequently been attacked (especially by populists) as being no longer useful for making sense of politics; given that social democracy, understood as ‘national Keynesianism’ no longer appears to be viable (as reflected in its long-term electoral decline), what does it mean to be on the left in the early 21st century and what can be done to revive its fortunes? Its answer is that being on the left means embracing principles of equality and international solidarity, and that since the nation state is too small to respond effectively to climate change and the other most pressing issues of the present, no viable strategy for left-wing revival in Europe can dispense with European integration as a centralelement, of which European democratisation is a core component.

Consequently, the electoral analyses presented in this book make it possible for the reader to understand the challenges and related consequences that established democracies are currently facing, beyond Italy.

In this intriguing book, professors Fasano, Natale and Newell offer a comprehensive and compelling discussion of the European left's evolution. As the left grapples with its historical legacy and attempts to connect with voters in a changing political landscape, the authors examine the journey of the Italian Democratic Party (PD) from its inception to the present day, shedding light on its evolution and struggles. Drawing a fascinating parallel with the UK's New Labour, the book explores the challenges faced by these parties as they navigate their post-communist heritage. A timely exploration of social-democratic politics in an era of populism, this book is a must-read for political enthusiasts, scholars, and anyone interested in the changing landscape of the left in all the European countries.