CHAPTER SUMMARIES Part 1 The State: Origins and Development Chapter 1 The Development of the Modern State The state is the main building block of modern government and politics. States are certainly the only unit or entity to be considered far from it but they are universal and they are enormously powerful. Although the decline, or even the death, of the state has been predicted as a consequence of globalisation and the creation of a borderless world, the number of states in the world is still rising. They cover virtually the whole of the habitable space on earth, and their power extends to almost every aspect of political life from mundane aspects of local car parking regulation to the most exalted aspects of international affairs. The first chapter of the book, therefore, considers (1) how and why states were created, (2) what a state is, and (3) how to distinguish a state from other non-state forms of political organisation. Each state has followed a unique path of creation and development, but in west and central Europe, where they first emerged, they were generally a response to the twin needs of warfare and capitalism. The chapter discusses how and why states were more effective at waging war and creating the conditions of economic growth, and why, therefore, states won out over rival forms of political organisation. How do we recognise a state when we see one? They are characterised by three main features: territory, people and sovereignty. Territory consists of an area with recognised and defensible borders, people consist of a population with a common sense of identity, and sovereignty is the power of the state to determine its own affairs. It is important for the modern state that its power is not only legal in a formal sense, but also accepted as morally binding by its residents. The term legitimacy is especially used by Max Weber in his definition of the state, and the last part of the chapter unpacks and explains the meaning of Weber s classic definition of the state.
Chapter 2 The Democratic State The state is a universal form of political organisation, but not all states are democratic. In fact, democracies are still in a minority, even though their numbers are rising fast as a result of what has been termed the three waves of democratisation. Our second chapter considers the origins and nature of the democratic state. Of course, democracy is not a static concept. What satisfied our parents and grandparents is not acceptable today. Consequently, not only is the number of democratic states increasing, but the standards expected of them are changing. A useful definition of a democracy is provided by Freedom House, an independent organisation for monitoring world-wide trends: it consists of A political system whose leaders are elected in competitive multi-party and multi-candidate processes in which opposition parties have a legitimate chance of attaining power or participating in power. Democratic development in most states tracks growing citizen demands for security and protection, which means welfare states that accept responsibility for the young and old, the sick and disabled, and the unemployed and poor. All states pay attention to these needs, but not all do so to the same extent. Moreover, globalisation has important effects on the powers and capacities of states. The chapter concludes with a discussion of empirical theories of the state and society, grouped in four general categories: state supremacy over society; state dependency on society; the interdependency of state and society; and the autonomy of state and society.
Part 2 The Polity: Structures and Institutions Chapter 3 Constitutions Constitutions are the heart of the formal apparatus of democracy. They are the laws that determine how laws are to be made the rules of the democratic political game. Democratic constitutions establish the rule of law and create limited government that is accountable and responsive to its citizens. The best way of doing this is by dividing power between different branches of government in order to create a system of checks and balances. Most democracies power divide power between three branches of government the executive, legislative and judiciary. Democratic constitutions come in a many shapes and forms, with different institutions, and many detailed variations on their general features. The fact that all these different forms can be democratic shows that there is no single recipe for democracy, but different pathways to the same goal. Institutions have a life of their own and they have an independent effect on society and its politics. Among other things they influence and shape the behaviour of individuals within them, a fact recognized by institutional and new-institutional theories of politics. These are discussed in then last section of the chapter. At the same time, the importance of constitutions can be exaggerated, and there are limits to constitutionalism. For this reason the book goes on, in later chapters to discuss the actual workings of state institutions, and the attitudes and behaviour of people in them.
Chapter 4 Presidential and Parliamentary Government In spite of their great constitutional variety, most democracies fall into three categories presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential systems. This greatly simplifies the life of political scientists, because it means that they can generalise about groups of countries, rather than describe in boring detail the unique details of each one. Presidents are directly elected for a fixed term of office. The main example is the president of the United States, but many Latin American and African states have adopted this system as well. In parliamentary systems the political executive (chancellor, premier, or prime minister and their cabinet or council of ministers) is not directly elected but emerges from the ruling party or coalition in the elected assembly. Parliamentary executives continue in office as long as they have the support of the elected assembly, although the assembly, of course, must submit itself for election at regular intervals. Parliamentary systems are found mainly in Western Europe and the stable democracies of the British Commonwealth. The semi-presidential system is a hybrid of the other two types, consisting of a directly elected president and a prime minister who appoints a cabinet from the assembly. There are not many semi-presidential systems in the world, and the best known is in France. There is no best form of democratic government: each of the three types has its advantages and disadvantages, and each is suited to different circumstances. This chapter examines which system of government is best suited to what circumstances.
Chapter 5 Multi-Level Government: International, National, and Subnational Government in all but the very smallest states must be divided into geographical layers. There is too much to do for a single centre of government. Democracies usually have four layers, with each lower level nested in a higher one local government is nested inside middle or mesogovernment, which is nested in unitary and federal systems, which are nested in a layer of international and supranational government above them. In this respect there is a fundamental difference between federal and unitary states. Federal systems are more decentralised geographically than unitary states, and they are best suited to the needs of large countries, especially those with socially mixed populations and geographically concentrated minorities. Unitary systems of government are better suited to the needs of small countries with homogeneous populations. Federal systems decentralise power more than unitary ones, but in recent decades there has been a tendency for federal systems to become more centralised and for unitary ones to become more decentralised. This means that the two have tended to converge, while remaining different. Local government in all countries, federal or unitary, has two insoluble dilemmas: 1. Conflict often arises between different levels of democratically elected government, especially when they are controlled by different parties. 2. Conflict often arises between the conflicting claims of democracy and effectiveness, between large scale efficiency and small scale participatory democracy. Attempts to solve these dilemmas has often resulted in endless reform and restructuring of sub-central government as fashions of centralisation and decentralisation come and go. The chapter examines the various ways in which modern states have tried to square the circle of centralisation, decentralisation and democracy, and it ends with an account of the main theories of sub-central government.
Chapter 6 Policy-Making and Legislating: Executives and Legislatures The relations between executives and legislatures is at the very heart of democratic government, and this chapter looks at the fierce controversies that surround them. 1. Have political executives increased their powers in recent decades? Have legislative bodies lost influence to their executives, even though they are supposed to be the central elected institutions of democracy? 2. One might think that the main function of legislative bodies is to legislate, but this is not the case. Why? If law-making is not their main job, what is? 3. How can legislative assemblies establish their power (or regain their old influence) over the executive branch? Are legislative committees the answer? 4. The role and importance of parties has been emphasised in previous chapters. How does a disciplined and centralised party system affect the relative power of the executive and legislative branches of government? Finally the chapter discusses one of comparative politics most important theories. It compares majoritarian and consensus forms of democratic government, and executive-legislative relations in them. The theory is important because it brings together much that has been learned in previous chapters about the main institutions of democracy and the ways in which they work.
Chapter 7 Implementation: The Public Bureaucracy This chapter examines controversies about the role and power of public bureaucrats. In theory, state bureaucrats should implement government policies, but elected politicians should frame these policies because it is they, not the bureaucrats who are responsible to the general public. In practice the distinction between policy making and administration is very difficult to draw, and inevitably the two overlap. Though a fact of political life, this creates difficulties and controversies about the proper role of elected politicians and appointed officials. In particular, the fusion and overlap of policy-making and administrative responsibilities gives bureaucrats a potentially powerful role in the affairs of state. It is claimed that they exercise great power over their nominal political masters by virtue of their superior ability, qualifications, and experience. State bureaucracies are also known for their secrecy and fragmentation, which makes it difficult for politicians to control them, and makes bureaucracies the enemy of open, democratic government. This chapter examines controversies surrounding the role and function of state bureaucrats and the ways in which politicians try to sustain power over them. The chapter also examines the new public management (NPM) practices that have swept across many western states in the past twenty years. These include the privatisation of public services, the introduction of market practices, and attempts to empower public service customers. The chapter examines the controversies these reforms have created, and it ends with an account of the main theories that try to explain the nature and operations of public bureaucracies.
Part 3 Citizens, Elites, and Interest Mediation Chapter 8 Political Attitudes and Behaviour This chapter moves the book away from an analysis of the structures and institutions of government into a consideration of the politics of everyday life. It lays out political science s account of the attitudes and behaviour of individual citizens, starting with an examination of how these are built around the interests of different groups in the population defined by class, ethnicity, language, religion, and territorial identities. The concept of political culture is important in such an approach to attitudes and behaviour, but it is a contested concept, so the chapter provides an account of its claimed advantages and disadvantages. A more recent variant of the political culture approach argues that modern society is moving from material towards post-material concerns. This involves a silent and far-reaching revolution in which the wealthier and younger members of society pay less attention to jobs, money, and security, and more to self-expression and fulfilment, job satisfaction, and quality of life. Critics claim that culture shift has slowed down, and that post-material values have not replaced material ones but have been combined with them. Although citizens display a remarkable array of different political attitudes and behaviour, there are also some common patterns which seem to spread across most democracies: most people are not political; rates of sporadic political activity are relatively high; participation seems to be increasing; voters are not fools; participation is often associated with class and class related variables, and to a lesser extent with gender, age, and length of residence in the community. The chapter ends with an account of general theories of political attitudes and behaviour.
Chapter 9 Pressure Groups and Social Movements This chapter examines the dense network of voluntary organisations that forms the social basis of pluralist democracy. These clubs - churches, community associations, sports clubs, youth clubs, charities, business and professional associations, and trade unions - are enormously important for democracy. Though most of them are not primarily political they, nevertheless, help to integrate and stabilise society, allowing democratic government to operate effectively. They also mean that particular groups and interests can be readily mobilised politically, if the need arises. The need quite often arises. At the same time, groups that are political pressure groups and social movements can provide government with pre-packaged opinion on a wide range of issues. In the jargon of political science, they aggregate (collect together) opinion, and articulate it (press their opinions on government). Although a vibrant group life is essential for democracy, groups that are too strong are a threat to it. They can capture policy areas and make public decisions that favour their private interests. Besides, strong group pressures from every side may cause hyper-pluralism and overloaded government. This makes the role of groups in politics a controversial matter, and to understand the controversy it is necessary to understand how they work politically, and why some are powerful while others are comparatively powerless. In most countries groups have a close relationship with government, ranging from highly formalised corporatist arrangements and para-government systems, to the iron-triangles and policy communities, and to policy networks of the most pluralist systems. The chapter explains these terms and examines how such political systems work. Finally, it lays out the main theories of pressure group and social movement politics, concentrating on classical pluralist, Marxist, and elitist theories, as well as more recent work by social capital and civil society theorists.
Chapter 10 The Mass Media The ability of the mass media to deliver a full and accurate account of news and opinion about politics is essential for an informed citizen body. Therefore, the news media must be free from government control, just as they must also be free from domination by particular economic and political interests that might make them systematically biased. Do western societies meet these requirements? This chapter tackles this central question. It looks, first, at the controversy over public service broadcasting in the public interest versus leaving the mass media to market forces. This involves the twin issues of content and market regulation of the media. Next, the chapter turns to the increasing problem of the concentration of ownership and control of the media that has resulted in a few multi-national, multi-media conglomerates dominating the market. And, third, the chapter lays out various schools of thought about the effects of the mass media on public opinion. Do newspapers and television mould and shape what we think about politics, as some claim, or do they simply reinforce existing opinion? And are media effects the benign ones of informing and educating us, or are they malign because they spread fear and alienation among the population with an endless flow of bad news? Lastly the chapter examines the role of the new electronic media and the progress of e-politics. Will the new media transform political life, or will they simply conduct politics as usual?
Chapter 11 Voters and Elections Elections are vital to democracy and an important part of the study of comparative politics. This chapter describes the necessary preconditions for democratic elections and presents the arguments for and against the main kinds of voting systems. There is no best voting system, and in order to choose between them you must first decide what you want and decide accordingly. It is a source of concern that election turnout has declined in many western democracies in the post-war period. Is this because the electorate is apathetic and disillusioned, or is it the result socio-demographic changes, such as the ageing of the population and its increasing geographical mobility? Much of the chapter deals with the huge amount of information about patterns of party voting because this, after all, determines the kinds of governments that rule us. The discussion covers the ways in which voting is shaped by basic social and economic cleavages particularly caste, class, and status, which are often tangled up with race, religion, language, and region and sometimes with age and gender as well. Voting patterns usually reflect a mixture of these influences. The world is changing, however, and new voting patterns are emerging that are not based so much on objective social differences such as class, but on political ideas and values. Finally, as in other chapters, this one ends with a section on theories of voting, particularly sociological, party identification, and rational-choice theories.
Chapter 12 Parties and Governments Politics is about the struggle for power, and this chapter is about how parties are at the very centre of this struggle in their attempts to win elections and gain government office. Its main topics are: The three main phases of party organisation caucus, mass parties, and catch-all parties and how they are now said to be moving into a new phase involving media parties, cartel parties, and electoral-professional parties. How the old parties, formed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, are being challenged by new parties and new social movement, and how they have adapted to these challenges. The result is continuity with change, in which the new has combined and fused with the old, rather than a transformation of party systems. The differences between one-party, two-party, and multi-party coalition government. This leads naturally into the controversy about whether one party government is preferable to coalition government, and whether coalition government is unstable, unaccountable, and unrepresentative. Theories of parties, particularly those that claim that political parties are and always will tend to rule by the few (oligarchy), the connection between voting systems and party systems, and between social divisions and party systems.
Part 4 Policies and Performance Chapter 13 Political Ideologies: Conservatism, Liberalism, Christian Democracy and Socialism People use frameworks of ideas known as ideologies to help them understand and interpret politics. The chapter starts by explaining the concept of ideology, and goes on to outline four main democratic ideologies conservatism, liberalism, Christian democracy, and socialism/social democracy and two more minor ones nationalism, and green theory. Each of these has many variations, and each overlaps at some points with the others, but nevertheless each has its own characteristic view of the political world. The chapter describes the defining characteristics of each of these six ideologies, and how they compare and contrast with each other. It does not, of course, make any statements about which is better or worse, because it is for individuals to decide, but it does lay out the basic assumptions and arguments of each, in order to better understand them and their view of what government and politics are and should be.
Chapter 14 Decision-Making This chapter deals with public policies and the way governments decide on the policies that affect us all in our daily lives. It covers the politics of decisionmaking and of avoiding decisions (non-decision-making), which tactic is favoured by politicians who do not want to face an issue. It then analyses the endless policy-making cycle which starts with setting the policy agenda, and works its way through successive phases of decision-making, the choice of means, implementation, outputs and outcomes, and evaluation and feedback into the process of agenda-setting. The scope of public policy-making depends on the demarcation between the private and the public. Where the line is drawn is itself a matter of political controversy that is directly related to the political ideologies discussed in the previous chapter. Similarly, ideologies have a lot to say about how decisionmaking should be structured: should it incorporate the major interests of society business, professional, and trade union into a formal and hierarchical state apparatus, or should it keep these interests and pressure groups at arms length from government in a looser, more pluralist manner? The chapter discusses these different styles of decision-making and their implications for the content of public policy. Finally, theories of policy-making presented, broadly divided into models emphasising rational and carefully calculated behaviour, and models stressing the limitations of rational policy-making ( satisficing instead of optimising ) and the relevance of cultural and political factors.
Chapter 15 Defence and Security The age-old tasks of governments include the defence of the state against its external enemies, the maintenance of internal law and order, and the protection of citizens and their property. In fact, some state theories are based on the idea that security and protection are the ultimate reasons for their existence. This leads to a discussion of the state and war, and under what circumstances states have the right to go to war to defend themselves, or even make pre-emptive strikes against their enemies. It also leads to a discussion of the role the arms trade in national economies and of whether the state might be controlled by a the military-industrial complex. Internally, the safety of citizens involves crime and related matters of punishment and crime prevention. In recent years the problems of international terrorism, organised crime, and corruption have also appeared at the top of the political agenda, and the chapter discusses the difficulties of handling them, particularly the problems of international co-operation.
Chapter 16 Welfare Welfare states accept some responsibility for the well-being of their young and old, sick and disabled, and unemployed and poor. Many of them spend between a fifth and a third of their national wealth on social security programmes, mostly on pensions, medical care, and income support for the sick and disabled. However, they organise their social security programmes in an astonishing variety of ways: they offer different entitlements, with varying restrictions, to different social groups, and with varying obligations. They raise money to pay for services in different ways, some relying on general taxation, others on contributions to specific funds. In spite of these variations most welfare states pass through similar periods of growth in which welfare spending increases faster than economic growth in the later stages of industrialisation. The chapter outlines this historical pattern and the recent ways in which welfare states have been confronted by the pressures of globalisation, as well as the changing needs and problems of an ageing society. Just as welfare states grew in nation-specific ways, so they seem to be reformed in their own ways. There is little evidence of welfare state convergence among the democracies.
Chapter 17 The Future of the Democratic State Is the state withering away as globalisation makes it a redundant part of history? Developments such as the rise of hugely wealthy and powerful multinational companies, the rise of non-governmental organisations, the changing nature of international conflicts, and international crime and terrorism all cast doubts on the state s claim to be the sole source of political power, or even its most important source. Is the era of state power approaching its end? The final chapter considers this question, pointing to simultaneous trends in which state power increases in some respects but diminishes in others, while in proto-states the defining characteristics of state power have largely disappeared altogether. So far as the future of the democratic state is concerned it is important to remember that democracy is not fixed or static thing, but a continuous and developing attempt to make government accountable and responsive to the needs of the people it governs. The chapter outlines the main ways in which contemporary democracies are reforming and developing their systems of government. Meanwhile, some of the new democracies have successfully adopted elements of democratic government but, nonetheless, fail to protect the freedom and basic rights of their citizens. The challenge for these countries is how to develop a fully-fledged system of democracy.