num_pages: 288
description: This analysis of political stability in Western Europe explores the role of two major forms of systemic conflict resolution - neo-corporatism and consociationalism. Political Stability and Neo-Corporatism focuses on recent experiences in eight western European countries that share two characteristics. Firstly, they have either long-established patterns of neo-corporatism (Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands) or have recently undertaken experiments in this mode of policy-making (Ireland, France, Italy and Spain). Secondly, they all have pronounced societal cleavages which should make them prone to suffering from serious and persistent conflicts. The high degree of political, social and economic integration achieved by neo-corporatist and consociational arrangements, accounts for the stability of these countries. The book opens up new areas for comparative research using a theoretical framework which encompasses both economic and social patterns of conflict and change. The approach advanced by the contributors makes possible the comparative analysis of diverse and complex political systems, whilst avoiding overgeneralized and abstract explanations.
language: English
title: Political Stability and Neo-Corporatism: Corporatist Integration and Societal Cleavages in Western Europe
titlecomplete: Political Stability and Neo-Corporatism: Corporatist Integration and Societal Cleavages in Western Europe (SAGE Studies in Neo-Corporatism)
publisher: SAGE Publications