Separatism and sovereignty in the new Europe

Sample

Mark D. Brewer, Jeffrey M. Stonecash

From the publisher. In Dynamics of American Political Parties, Mark D. Brewer and Jeffrey M. Stonecash examine the process of gradual change that inexorably shapes and reshapes American politics. Parties and the politicians that comprise them seek control of government in order to implement their visions of proper public policy. To gain control parties need to win elections, and winning elections requires assembling an electoral coalition that is larger than that crafted by the opposition. Parties are always looking for opportunities to build such winning coalitions, and opportunities are always there, but they are rarely, if ever, without risk. Uncertainty rules and intra-party conflict rages as different factions and groups within the parties debate the proper course(s) of action and battle it out for control of the party. Parties can never be sure how their strategic maneuvers will play out, and, even when it appears that a certain strategy has been successful, party leaders are unclear about how long apparent success will last. Change unfolds slowly, in fits and starts.

Sample

Chitralekha Zutshi

"Despite its centrality to the political life of India and Pakistan, Kashmir has met with rather perfunctory treatment from historians of South Asia. The few works of history and politics that have appeared on this region, moreover, insist on defining Kashmiri culture, history, and identity in terms of the ahistorical concept of Kashmiriyat, or a uniquely Kashmiri cultural identity. This book, in contrast, questions the notion of any transcendent cultural uniqueness and Kashmiriyat by returning Kashmir to the mainstream of South Asian historiography. It examines the hundred-year impact of indirect colonial rule on Kashmirs class formation. It studies the uses (and abuses) made of Kashmirs political elites by the state. It looks at the responses of Kashmirs society to social and economic restructuring. It shows that while all these historical changes had a profound impact on the political culture of the Kashmir Valley, there is nothing very inevitable or quite definite about the 'political regionalism' and 'Islamic particularism' of this area. Using local language sources and every important archive, this major history of the formation of Kashmir shows precisely how the Kashmir Valley assumed the position it has come to occupy in postcolonial South Asia."--Jacket.

Sample

Luca Costantini

"Traiciones políticas y sentimentales, intercambio de parejas, facciones y familias en lucha componen una narración política y humana del partido que quiso interpretar el espíritu de los indignados del 15-M. Un partido surgido del malestar de la crisis económica que quiso asaltar los cielos y llegar al paraíso en una apuesta por el doble o nada. Una estrategia basada en el golpe de efecto para arrebatarle al PSOE el cetro de la izquierda. Pero es también la historia de una generación de jóvenes políticos despiadados, arribistas, atrevidos y visionarios, tanto en el uso de las redes como de la televisión. AQUÍ MANDO YO desentraña por primera vez el fenómeno Iglesias y su modo de comunicación ideado por Silvio Berlusconi en Italia. Inédita es también la crónica de su conflicto con Íñigo Errejón, surgido, en contra de los que se cree, nada más celebrarse las elecciones europeas de 2014; así como la intrahistoria del carácter y los rasgos más íntimos de los protagonistas de este relato, desde el líder máximo de Podemos hasta Tania Sánchez e Irene Montero." --Back cover.

Sample

Antonis A. Ellinas

"This book examines the fascinating interplay of party and media behavior to explain one of the most important phenomena in Western Europe: the rise of far-right parties. To account for the divergent electoral fortunes of these parties, the book examines how political parties and the mass media have dealt with growing public concerns over national identity. Mainstream politicians chose to "play the nationalist card," creating opportunities for the entry of far-right parties into the political system. In some cases, the media gave outsized exposure to such parties, allowing them to capitalize on these opportunities; in other cases, they ignored them, blocking their entry into the political system. Using elite interviews, content analysis, and primary documents to trace identity politics since the 1980s, this book presents an original interpretation of identity politics and media behavior in Austria, Germany, Greece, and France since the 1980s"--Provided by publisher.