bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Costs of Contracting
Authors: Domberger Simon
Published: October 2003

This chapter and the previous one outline the costs and benefits of contracting out. While there is merit in separating costs from benefits, and that is how managers intuitively think of the issue, the separation is not always easily achieved, and many of the concepts raised under the heading of benefits also appear under the guise of costs. Hence, costs and benefits become two sides of the same coin, which may not be particularly helpful as a framework for decision‐making. Aspects of the costs of contracting out are addressed in this chapter by looking at the coordination of production activity, cooperation and trust, the costs of transacting and monitoring, loss of control, and miscellaneous other costs. It is concluded that the crucial question is not whether the costs are significantly higher when contacting out than operating in‐house, but whether contracts can be designed in such a way that benefits do exceed the costs; the answer appears to be increasingly in the affirmative.
Specialization
Authors: Domberger Simon
Published: October 2003

This chapter and the next three consider the alternative means through which a contracting strategy is devised and implemented. Chapter 5 identifies the sources of added value generated through a greater degree of specialization––what the management literature refers to as the focus on the organization's distinctive capabilities. The different parts of the chapter are as follows: Redefining organizational boundaries; How does specialization add value? Specialization and competition; Patterns of specialization; and Who benefits from specialization?
Value Capture
Authors: Domberger Simon
Published: October 2003

This chapter, the previous one, and the next two consider the alternative means through which a contracting strategy is devised and implemented. Chapter 6 explores how added value can be captured by the contracting organization, either through a competitive or a negotiated process. The different parts of the chapter are as follows: Competitive tendering––bidding for contracts; Pre‐selection––calling for expressions of interest; Alternative sourcing methods; The contract price; Winners and losers (a discussion of the fact that a winner's bid price may be too high and eventually lose the firm money); and Value migration.
Contracting and the Service Economy
Authors: Domberger Simon
Published: October 2003

This chapter, the previous one, and the following one look at the structural changes that have resulted from the economy‐wide application of contracting out. The public sector is, perhaps, the one that has been most profoundly affected by it, and about which controversy concerning the appropriate scope of private and public production continues to smoulder. Chapter 10 analyses the structural changes in three major economies, the UK, USA, and Australia, and the role that contracting for services has played in bringing about those changes. This is done by using national accounts statistics to examine shifts in employment and output between sectors at a reasonably disaggregated level. The different parts of the chapter are as follows: The nature and significance of services in the economy; Producer services––the growth of intermediate transactions; Contracting for services and the productivity puzzle; and Contracting and producer services––which causes which?
The Future of Contracting
Authors: Domberger Simon
Published: October 2003

This chapter and the previous two look at the structural changes that have resulted from the economy‐wide application of contracting out. The public sector is perhaps the one that has been most profoundly affected by it, and about which controversy concerning the appropriate scope of private and public production continues to smoulder. Chapter 11 takes a forward look at contracting trends, not by gazing at a crystal ball, but by asking whether contracting is a fad. The chapter also examines the downsizing phenomenon and the ongoing confusion between its role and that of contracting out. Lastly, it addresses the matter of where and when the bounds of contracting out will be identified, but finds no definitive answer on the basis of current trends.
Simulation-based Econometric Methods
Authors: Gouriéroux Christian , Monfort Alain
Published: October 2003

This book deals with a new generation of econometric methods leading to criterion functions without simple analytical expression. The difficulty often comes from the presence of integrals of large dimension in the probability density function or in the moments, and the idea is to circumvent this numerical difficulty by an approach based on simulation. The main methods considered are the methods of Simulated Moments, Simulated Maximum Likelihood, Simulated Pseudo‐Maximum Likelihood, Simulated Non‐Linear Least Squares, and Indirect Inference. These methods are applied to Limited Dependent Variables Models, to Financial Series, and to Switching Regime Models.
Simulated Maximum Likelihood, Pseudo‐Maximum Likelihood, and Nonlinear Least Squares Methods
Authors: Gouriéroux Christian , Monfort Alain
Published: October 2003

The simulated analogues to Maximum Likelihood, Pseudo‐Maximum Likelihood, and Non‐Linear Least Squares Methods are presented. Their asymptotic properties and bias corrections are given under various assumptions. Several kinds of simulators are explored and, among them, simulations based on conditioning, on EM algorithm, or on importance sampling. The Metropolis Hastings algorithm is also considered.
Applications to Limited Dependent Variable Models
Authors: Gouriéroux Christian , Monfort Alain
Published: October 2003

Presents several applications of the methods presented in the previous chapters to Limited Dependent Variables models. Considers Discrete Choice models, Multivariate Probit Models, Logistic approximations, and empirical applications. Also considers various simulators for probabilities of subsets, constrained moments, or conditional moments in the multivariate normal case. In particular, Stern simulator, GHK simulator, acceptance‐rejection simulator, and Gibbs simulator are presented.
Applications to Financial Series
Authors: Gouriéroux Christian , Monfort Alain
Published: October 2003

Applications to estimation of Stochastic Differential Equations, Stochastic Volatility Models, and Factor Models are considered. The methods used are Indirect Inference, Simulated Moments (based on the infinitesimal operator) and Simulated Maximum Likelihood.
Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

This book gives a comprehensive introduction to arbitrage theory for the pricing of contingent claims, such as options, futures, and other financial derivatives. The arbitrage theory for the term structure of interest rates is given particular consideration. Also included is a self‐contained exposition of stochastic optimal control, with applications to portfolio optimisation. The mathematical development is precise but avoids the explicit use of measure theory.
Introduction
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

In this chapter, the reader is introduced, via a concrete example, to the general problem of pricing contingent claims.
The Binomial Model
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

In this chapter, we analyse the simplest model for option pricing: the binomial model.
Differential Equations
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

Here the theory developed in the previous chapter is used to analyse stochastic differential equations. These will later on be used to describe the behaviour of asset price processes.
Arbitrage Pricing
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

In this chapter, the reader is introduced to the Black‐Scholes model and to the basic ideas behind arbitrage pricing of contingent claims. We treat European options, futures, futures options, and also include a brief discussion on American options.
Several Underlying Assets
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

In this chapter, the arbitrage theory from chapter 6 is extended to the case of several underlying risky assets.
Incomplete Markets
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the problems surrounding arbitrage pricing in incomplete markets.
Dividends
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

Here, the theory developed earlier is extended to the case of dividend‐paying assets.
Currency Derivatives
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

In this chapter, we consider the particular problems of pricing options in a multi‐currency framework.
Stochastic Optimal Control
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

This chapter gives a self‐contained introduction to optimal control of stochastic differential equations. We derive the Hamilton‐Jacobi‐Bellman equation as well as a verification theorem. The general theory is then applied to optimal consumption and investment problems.
Short Rate Models
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

Here, we present the standard theory of arbitrage pricing of interest‐rate‐related claims for short rate models.
Martingale Models for the Short Rate
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

This chapter introduces the concept of martingale modelling of the short rate. We discuss the standard short rate models and derive the corresponding bond and option prices. In particular, we present the theory of affine term structures.
Forward Rate Models
Authors: Björk Tomas
Published: October 2003

Here we present the Heath–Jarrow–Morton approach of modelling the evolution of the entire forward rate curve.
Trade Policy and Economic Welfare
Authors: Corden W. Max.
Published: October 2003

Expounds the normative theory of trade policy and sets out a framework for analysing trade and other intervention policies in the presence of domestic distortions. It includes discussion of static and dynamic arguments for protection, especially the infant industry argument, effects of trade policy on income distribution, monopoly, X‐efficiency, foreign investment, and capital accumulation, and the choice between tariffs and subsidies as methods of protection. Chapters especially written for the second edition cover the environment and trade policy, strategic trade policy, and the relationship between trade policy and the exchange rate. The book contains many diagrams and very little mathematics.
Introduction
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

There are three stages of thought in the development of the normative theory of trade policy. This book expounds the third stage, where the link between the case for free trade and for laissez‐faire is broken.
The Theory of Domestic Divergences
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

The basic theory of domestic divergences (distortions) and trade policy is laid out. Production and consumption divergences are distinguished. The concepts of the by‐product distortion effect of a tariff, the second‐best optimum tariff, home‐market bias, and the hierarchy of policies are introduced. The theory is explained both with partial equilibrium diagrams and with two‐product geometry.
The Terms of Trade Argument for Taxes on Trade
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

This chapter begins with elaborating the theory of the optimum trade tax based on the effects of tariffs and export taxes on a country's terms of trade. It also allows for private monopoly, for foreign reaction and retaliation, and for the effects of growth on the terms of trade.
Monopoly, Market Structure, and Economies of Scale
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

Analyses the effects of protection on domestic monopoly profits, allows for economies of scale, and analyses the X‐efficiency effects of protection, rent‐seeking, and various kinds of dumping.
The Infant Industry Argument
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

Presents a comprehensive exposition of various possible bases for an infant industry argument for protection. It distinguishes dynamic internal economies and dynamic external economies and, in the latter case, reciprocal external economies, and externalities resulting from labour training, knowledge diffusion, and atmosphere creation. It shows that static economies of scale have a doubtful role in justifying an infant industry argument.
Protection and Foreign Investment
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

First, the direct and indirect effects of protection on capital inflow are presented. Secondly, the principles for taxing foreign capital are reviewed. Then, tariffs are shown in some cases to be second‐best taxes or subsidies on foreign capital. Finally, it is shown that transfer pricing by vertically integrated multinationals has implications for tax and tariff policies.
Optimal Tariff Dismantling
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

Various partial trade liberalization (tariff reduction) policies in the presence of specific constraints are analysed. Some tariffs may not be alterable—the ‘concertina method’ (the high tariffs being reduced first) might be used, or there could be staged across‐the‐board tariff reductions
The Environment and Trade Policy
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

Trade policy may affect the environment in various ways, but in all cases, the best policy is to apply taxes directly at the point of the external diseconomy. The analysis of Ch. 2 of this book is applied here. The effects of a tax or anti‐pollution regulation applied in one country on the terms of trade, on competitiveness, and on pollution in another country are analysed. In addition, there are transborder externalities and global public goods, which can be categorized in various ways. Arguments for and against the use of trade policy to deal with these externalities are given.
Strategic Trade Policy
Authors: Corden W. Max
Published: October 2003

Theories of strategic trade policy that allow for oligopoly and for strategic interactions, and which appear to justify trade interventions, are analysed sceptically. Also discussed is the industrial policy, and the argument that import protection may be justified if it fosters exporting.
Participation, Inequality, and the Whereabouts of Democracy
Authors: Vilas Carlos M.
Published: October 2003

The articles in the book are set in the context of the ongoing debate over the conflict‐ridden and partial democracy that has emerged in the region, a democracy that tolerates military vetoes over policy, authoritarian educational systems, public insecurity, significant violence, and massive and increasing inequality. The chapters show the shift away from action by popular actors in the political realm in favour of the social one, from broad‐based movements to fragmentation, and a wide variety of experiments and adaptations in parties, unions, and other popular groups in the continuing struggle for popular representation.
Union Politics, Market‐Oriented Reforms, and the Reshaping of Argentine Corporatism
Authors: Murillo M. Victoria
Published: October 2003

Market‐oriented reforms and the withdrawal of the Argentine state from important economic reforms under the government of President Carlos Menem posed major challenges for the Argentine union movement, traditionally allied to the Peronist party of Menem. The author identifies three distinct strategies pursued by segments of the union movement in response to market reforms—‘opposition’, ‘loyalty’, and ‘organizational autonomy’. The latter constituted the strongest departure from union traditions in Argentina, and entailed the development of new organizational resources adapted to the new environment of economic competition. Unions pursuing organizational autonomy moved from corporatist dependence on state regulation towards ownership and administration of productive and consumption activities. The author argues that organizational autonomy as a strategic response to market reform was shaped by the re‐distribution of union power resources (industrial, political, and organizational) as well as by organizational legacies.
The Crisis of Developmentalism and the Rural Labor Movement in North‐East Brazil
Authors: Pereira Anthony W.
Published: October 2003

Explores the emergence of a combative rural labour movement since the late 1970s in North‐east Brazil, with primary emphasis on the state of Pernambuco. Confounding the emphasis on autonomy, pluralism, and multi‐ or non‐class organization in the ‘new social movements’ literature, the author finds an ‘old’ union‐based, state‐linked, class‐based movement under a corporatist union structure acting much like a ‘new’ movement—adopting a combative strategy able to win significant rights for its members in some localities. Historical analysis demonstrates that this contemporary union movement was built on the foundations of rural mobilization in the early 1960s—in the form of the Peasant Leagues—that was much more in keeping with the ‘new social movements’ characterization. In explaining the emergence of a combative ‘old’ social movement on the foundations of a ‘new’ one, the author focuses on changes in both rural class structure and mobilization strategies that took place under the post‐1964 Brazilian military dictatorship.
The Authoritarian Alternative: ‘Anti‐Politics’ In the Popular Sectors of Lima
Authors: Panfichi Aldo
Published: October 2003

Explores the emergence and success of President Alberto Fujimori as the dominant political figure in Peru during the first half of the 1990s. It is particularly concerned with explaining the support of a broad sector of the urban population of Lima for an authoritarian, personalistic leader. It attributes Fujimori's rise and success to the conjunction of three factors in a specific historical moment: (1) the dramatic worsening of a long‐term economic crisis and consequent generalized sense of insecurity and despair; (2) the discrediting of democratic institutions and the whole range of established political parties across the ideological spectrum combined with the indiscriminate violence of guerilla insurgents; and (3) the emergence of personalistic and authoritarian leaders from social sectors marginal to the political system who offer hope for a better future. Fujimori's background as an unknown Peruvian of Japanese descent and his ability to use his ‘outsider’ status to articulate a symbolic connection with the Peruvian popular classes and a critique of the political establishment were crucial to his political and electoral success.
The Quetzal Is Red: Military States, Popular Movements, and Political Violence in Guatemala
Authors: Yashar Deborah J.
Published: October 2003

Contemporary political discourse in Guatemala reflects a deep historical division over popular political participation. From the perspective of military and economic elites, social mobilization is potentially subversive and destabilizing. The transition to democracy in the 1986 did not overcome this antagonism between state and society. Comparing the democratic transition in October 1944 with the 1986 transition, this study argues that a democratic change occurred in 1944 when there were divisions within and between military and civilian elites. In contrast, in 1986, the military had the support of a united elite. This second transition represented a more limited political liberalization rather than a full return to democratic politics. The flourishing organization of popular sectors remained at the margins of the political regime. Fear of state repression drove citizenship ‘underground’ and therefore disconnected from the formal political process. The continued practice of exclusion and mistrust perpetuate the tensions between state and society, and threatens to undermine Guatemala's fragile democracy.
Political Violence and the Grassroots in Lima, Peru
Authors: Burt Jo‐Marie
Published: October 2003

In the early 1990s, the rural‐based Maoist guerrilla organization, know as Shining Path, held Lima virtually under siege. The capture of the movement's leader by the Fujimori government in 1992 effectively undermined the movement's activities. The question remains, however, as to why Shining Path generated so much support in Lima's shantytowns. Are poor people more willing to support violent political alternatives? This study argues that subaltern groups in Peru continually negotiate relationships with a range of political actors, from populist presidents to leftist organizations. It looks beyond Shining Path's use of terror and intimidation to its provision of material and symbolic goods. Within the shantytowns, the absence of state services, extreme poverty, growing crime, and insecurity and weak local institutions to mediate conflict made Shining Path's tactics seem as an effective means of restoring social order and imparting social justice. The group failed to develop long‐term political ties. When the state targeted the shantytowns with increased services and provided a security, Shining Path lost support among popular sectors.
Rethinking Economic Alternatives: Left Parties and the Articulation of Popular Demands in Chile and Peru
Authors: Roberts Kenneth M.
Published: October 2003

How have left parties responded to the challenges of neo‐liberalism, the debt crisis, and the decline of socialist models, and how have they adapted their economic projects? In Peru, the left went from serious national contender in the 1980s to political also‐ran in the 1990s under Fujimori's neo‐liberal reforms, while the Chilean left was able to return to power in the 1990s with a moderate economic programme following Pinochet's authoritarian neo‐liberal transformation of that country. This comparative examination of left parties’ responses in Chile and Peru argues that structural changes in capitalism have helped consolidate social democratic reformism on the left even as two structural constraints undermine the possibilities for redistributive social democratic reforms: namely, (1) the internationalization of economic competition and capital markets, and (2) the structural weakness of labour and social fragmentation of civil society.
Putting Conservatism to Good Use? Long Crisis and Vetoed Alternatives in Uruguay
Authors: Filgueira Fernando , Papadópulos Jorge
Published: October 2003

Uruguay was able to resist many aspects of neo‐liberal reform that took hold in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, despite economic crises, a fundamental change of Uruguay's position in the international market, and pressures from international financial institutions. By examining the limited change in social security, the patterns of labour organization and negotiation, and finally the limits on privatization of public enterprises, it shows how political factors, more than economic or social ones, brought about resistance to those changes, and a more egalitarian response than in other countries. Uruguay's institutionalized pattern of political incorporation allowed new popular actors to effectively participate, and the consensus styles of leadership built on clientelistic parties‐forced changes limited the sharpening income divisions common in other countries. The experience poses the question of whether Uruguay is an outlier or a possible alternative path.
The Difficult Transition from Clientelism to Citizenship: Lessons from Mexico
Authors: Fox Jonathan
Published: October 2003

Democracy requires elections, but elections do not always guarantee the organizational autonomy that citizenship requires. Clientelism stands in opposition to autonomy, and its change from an authoritarian form, where compliance is gained by threats of coercion, goes through many stages before arriving at full autonomy for groups. This study examines a series of three Mexican rural development programmes from the mid 1970s through the 1980s, with an emphasis on the rural Solidarity funds. These show change, but many obstacles, yielding a new form of popular linkage to politics, here called semi‐clientelism, distinctive because compliance is gained by the threat of withholding benefits rather than coercion, while organizations still have no right to autonomy. As a result of bargaining among three key actors, social movements, authoritarian elites, and reformist state managers, voters are less coerced, but still limited.
Prescriptive Language
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Following an introductory classification of prescriptive language that emphasizes the parallel between imperatives and moral language, this chapter distinguishes between the indicative and imperative moods of language (sentences that are called ‘statements’ and ‘commands’ respectively). It then dismisses various attempts to account for imperatives, particularly their reduction to indicatives as well as expressivist theories like Ayer's and Stevenson's.
Inference
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Hare argues that one exception to the rule that no imperative conclusion can validly be drawn from premises that do not contain at least one imperative are ‘hypothetical imperatives’ because their content, though of an imperative, is that of a statement implicit in the premises. He then argues that no ethical theory can be a ‘Cartesian’ moral system, i.e. consist of particular duties derived from self‐evident principles alone. Finally, three arguments are given why description can never be prescription, and thus that no imperative can be inferred from indicative alone.
Commending and Choosing
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Value‐words have their peculiar combination of descriptive and prescriptive meaning, Hare argues, because they are used for a specific purpose—to commend. To commend is not, however, to say something about a particular class of objects, but to make known to someone a standard for judging objects in this class in general—i.e. to guide her choice about objects in this class. Put in terms of Part I, to commend is to teach or decide on principles of choosing between objects of a certain class. Consequently, value‐judgements share the characteristics of universal imperative sentences.
‘Ought’ and ‘Right’
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Hare argues that, though some philosophers have drawn a rigid distinction between ‘good’ and ‘right’ or ‘ought’, these words are logically related. Thus, ‘right’ or ‘ought’ is equally supervenient on non‐evaluative properties but not entailed by any non‐evaluative statements, and have descriptive as well as evaluative meaning—the latter arising from their use for prescription. Like in the case of ‘good’, ‘ought’‐judgements do not, however, express a singular imperative (‘press this button’), but teach or decide upon a universal principle how to act in particular circumstances. The difference between hypothetical and categorical imperatives thus lies not in the meaning of ‘ought’ but merely in the sets of principles referred to.
An Analytical Model
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Hare clarifies the relation between value‐words and the imperative mood by showing how, through the combination of non‐evaluative words and the imperative mood, we can establish an artificial terminology that could fulfil the same function as our value‐words do now. He does so by first defining the artificial concepts ‘right’ and ‘better than’ (which is substituted for ‘good’) in terms of the word ‘ought’, and then defining an artificial concept ‘ought’ in terms of the imperative mood, enriched so as to be capable of framing sentences in all persons and all tenses. This artificial concept ‘ought’ is then shown to fulfil the prescriptive function of the value‐word ‘ought’, though it is not capable of also fulfilling all its descriptive functions.
‘Ought’ and ‘Can’
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Discusses the thesis that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’. A sense in which ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ is developed in kinship to remarks by Strawson on the existential presuppositions of definite descriptions. The question of what it is about the human situation that gives rise to the need for a prescriptively charged language leads to a discussion of the problem of freedom of will. It is argued that our requirement for a prescriptive vocabulary is explained by our having free will.
Ideals
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

Establishes that aesthetic judgements are universalizable and addresses the problem of delimiting moral from aesthetic and evaluative questions. It is argued that there are at least two kinds of grounds on which someone might claim to know what the best thing to do is: interests and ideals. The question of ideals is elaborated in the subsequent discussion. It is argued that when interests are not concerned, conflicts between ideals are (unproblematically) not susceptible to much in the way of argument; conflicts between interests, if ideals are not involved, can be reconciled by means of the moral reasoning generated by the logic of moral terms.
A Practical Example
Authors: Hare R. M.
Published: October 2003

An important moral problem of the sort that confronts us in real life serves as the recapitulation of the main themes of the book. This is the question of race.
The Course of Change in the Pay Structure
Authors: Phelps Brown Henry
Published: October 2003

This chapter surveys the changes that have come about in pay structure in the course of time and, together with the next chapter (which surveys occupational pay structure in various types of economy), brings out the interconnection between pay structure and social structure that is formed by status and class. The different sections of this chapter are: Changes in the differential for manual skill; Changes in the relations between the pay for white‐collar and for manual occupations; Changes in the relative pay of occupations linked with particular industries; and The influence of trade unions on occupational differentials. The last section reviews and discusses the material presented, drawing out six main points.
Differences of Individual Earnings Within an Occupation
Authors: Phelps Brown Henry
Published: October 2003

So far in the book, only the average pay in each occupation has been addressed, but there is generally a wide dispersion of individual pay about that average. The examination of these differences in this chapter throws light on the factors affecting individual pay, in the presence of a given structure of pay by occupation. These factors are also explored by another approach in the next chapter. The different sections of the chapter are: The extent of the variance of earnings within particular occupations; Short‐period fluctuations of earnings; The variation of earnings with age; Differences in individual performance; Differences within local labour markets; and Differences of region and of unionization. The last section reviews and discusses the material presented, drawing out three main points.
The Reformers' Inheritance
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

The process of the democratization of a regime is best understood in terms of the dynamic between elites and civil society forces. Crucial in this is the context within which that relationship is played out. In the Soviet Union of the second half of the 1980s, that context was shaped by the Soviet legacy. This legacy comprised a unitarist political system which not only had little room for real popular participation but also had significant structural weaknesses; in particular, an economy which had declined to the point of stagnation and a multi‐ethnic state structure. Such a legacy imposed severe constraints on the possibilities for systemic reform.
The Attempt at Liberalization
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

On achieving power, Gorbachev initially sought to introduce a range of political and economic measures that would remedy the system's problems without fundamentally changing its structure. However, this process of reform became radicalized in the second half of 1986. The notions of perestroika, glasnost and democratisation signalled the attempted liberalization of political life. This radicalization of the programme provoked more determined resistance on the part of conservative opponents, which in turn stimulated further radicalization of the measures Gorbachev sought to introduce. This dynamic led to the adoption at the XIX Conference of the Communist Party in mid‐1988 of measures designed to revolutionize the political system. The programme of liberal reform had become a programme of systemic transformation, which paradoxically undercut the authority of the party and unleashed new political forces.
From Reform to Transformation
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

Following the adoption of a programme for political transformation at the XIX Conference, Gorbachev and those around him set about trying to translate it into practice. But the effect of this programme was not only to open up the political system to mass involvement but also challenges by new elite actors from outside the Soviet elite. As a result, the group around Gorbachev found themselves facing opposition not only from conservatives who believed that change had gone too far but also from radicals who believed that change had not gone far enough. Against a background of increasing economic difficulty and heightened local and regional nationalism, declarations of sovereignty by republican governments led to the fragmenting of the system. In this situation, conservative Soviet elements mobilized and struck back, principally in the form of the 1991 putsch, which opened the way to the dismantling of the Soviet Union by Boris Yeltsin in alliance with other national leaders.
A Debilitated President
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

The new constitution adopted in December 1993 was designed to subordinate the legislature to executive authority and minimize electoral uncertainty for the president. With the new Duma marginalized, Yeltsin ruled through what many called his “court”. This strategy created continuing tension within elite circles. This was not eased by the parliamentary election of 1995 in which the anti‐Yeltsin forces again did well and by the fraught circumstances of the 1996 presidential election. Although this returned Yeltsin to office, his physical frailty led to his increasing reliance upon his immediate entourage, especially the so‐called “family” of advisors and oligarchs. The resultant political vacuum could not be filled by an activist President Yeltsin, by a vigorous parliament, or by an independent prime minister, with the result that the Yeltsin regime headed into its twilight with, at its head, a debilitated president occupying a powerful presidency.
A Stunted Civil Society
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

The course of Russian politics was structured by the political elites acting with little restraint by civil society forces. This was, in part, because of the weakness of those forces. The bourgeoisie did not emerge as an independent force, with significant sections of it remaining closely linked into and reliant upon elements within the state, the working class remained weakly organized with trade unions that could not bring effective force to bear upon the government, the peasantry remained impoverished and unorganized in the countryside and the urban middle class was weak and politically inert. With the exception of the Communist Party, political parties have been weak and ephemeral. The result of all of this is a civil society that is stunted and unable to impose significant constraints upon the elite, which has monopolized political decision‐making.
Conclusion
Authors: Gill Graeme , Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2003

In both Gorbachev's Soviet Union and Yeltsin's Russia, elites were able to act relatively unconstrained by the populace at large. The Soviet legacy was not a fruitful one for the development of a powerful civil society. The economic difficulties of the post‐Soviet period and the resultant mass disillusionment posed a further barrier to such a development. In this context, politics has overwhelmingly been the preserve of the elites; an arena in which they fought out their interests. The result was that those elites had little incentive to build a system based upon real democratic principles, in which the populace has a decisive voice. In these circumstances, under Yeltsin, democracy in Russia proved to be stillborn.
Introduction
Authors: Webb Paul
Published: October 2003

This introductory chapter describes the aim of the book and the scope and framework of the analysis it presents. It distinguishes three broad types of research inquiry into the performance and standing of political parties: (1) studies focusing on party connections with the electorate (e.g. partisan dealignment, electoral volatility, membership change); (2) studies examining the development of party organizations over time; and (3) studies investigating aspects of party performance on behalf of the wider political system. Accordingly, each of the country case studies in the following 13 chapters are divided into the same three sections, plus an introduction, and a conclusion. These three sections cover: the popular legitimacy of parties; party organizational strength; and the systemic functionality of parties—which addresses governance and political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication and education.
Political Parties in Britain
Authors: Webb Paul
Published: October 2003

For thirty years following the end of the Second World War, it was orthodox to regard Britain as having one of the most stable and party‐oriented political systems in the Western world—parties penetrated state and society so significantly that it was virtually impossible to conceive of political life in the country without thinking first and foremost of party political life. However, since the middle of the 1970s, old certainties have been challenged by a continuing and multi‐dimensional debate about the transformation of British party politics. This challenge is predicated on a number of interconnected developments, which include: the apparent growth of electoral volatility; the spread of partisan and class dealignment; the emergence of nationalist cleavages in Scotland and Wales, which have threatened to fragment the national political culture; the erosion of two‐party electoral domination; and the growing chorus of criticism levelled at the damaging iniquities of the electoral system and the adversarial ‘winner‐takes‐all’ political mentality that is closely associated with it. Despite this, the single‐member plurality (SMP) (first‐past‐the‐post) electoral system continues to ensure that single‐party majority governments remain the norm. This chapter looks at what such changes imply for the general status of parties in the country, and is arranged in the same three sections as the other country case studies in the book; these examine the popular legitimacy of British political parties, their organizational strength, and their systemic functionalities (in governance and political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political communication, and political participation).
Italian Parties
Authors: Bardi Luciano
Published: October 2003

For over forty years, Italy was seen as a ‘party government’ system, with a party system that was extremely fragmented, consisting of up to 10 national parties, at least seven of which could at any time be considered ‘relevant’. As a consequence of various factors that found expression in the results of two crucial elections in 1992 and 1994, all of this has abruptly come to an end. Party organizations have literally fallen apart after at least thirty years of successful adaptation to societal and political system changes, with all parties and other electoral competitors having been deeply affected, and a number of the traditional parties, including the three largest ones, suffering divisions and transformations. The transformation was the result of three sets of direct causes: first, there had been shifts in political demand for specific parties or even parties in general, resulting from greater potential voter mobility; second, there had been change in the political supply provided by the parties; and third, the new electoral law impacted directly on the parties’ parliamentary delegations; some of these factors are arguably still effective, and the transformation of the Italian party system is far from complete. The introductory section of the chapter discusses this changing structure of the Italian party system; the next three sections of the chapter cover the same topics as the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength, and party functionality (in governance, political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political communication and education, and political participation).
France
Authors: Knapp Andrew
Published: October 2003

General Charles de Gaulle, founder of the Fifth French Republic in 1958, was a bitter opponent of the unchecked power of political parties, for which he blamed the failure of earlier Republics, but his vision of the future was as naïve as his diagnosis of the past was tendentious, for the problem of the Third and Fourth Republics was rather the weakness of parties. The main surprise of the Fifth Republic was the emergence, from 1962, of the secure parliamentary majorities that France had hitherto lacked; in addition, since 1965, when de Gaulle himself found that he needed party support to campaign for re‐election, the presidency itself has been a key stake in party competition. These two developments transformed the role of parties, and the party system of the Fifth Republic may now be described as one of bipolar multipartism. This contains two distinct and opposed sets of dynamics (pressures): bipolarity, (which is encouraged in important ways by France's political institutions), and forces in the party system pointing towards fragmentation and multipartism; these pressures exist in every party system, but the French case is unusual because they are so evenly balanced. The introduction discusses this situation; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength (finance and staffing, and activism, and parties in civil society), and party functionality (in political recruitment, governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication and education).
The Colour Purple
Authors: Deschouwer Kris
Published: October 2003

Belgium and the Netherlands are often taken and presented together as the ‘Low Countries’, and there are good reasons for treating the two countries as part of a single category, since both are textbook examples of divided societies, which display the subcultural vertical segmentation that has travelled conceptually as verzuiling (desegmentation or pillarization) and share the well‐known features of consociational democracy. Being neighbours, moreover, Belgium and the Netherlands share much common history, although the border separating the two countries is highly significant, and explains a number of important differences between them. In both countries, the major parties can be grouped into three party families: religious (Christian), liberal, and socialist, and in both there has been party change since the 1960s, in which the losers have been the Christian and Socialist parties, and the Liberals have gained support; however, specific patterns have been quite different. Most symptomatic of the passing of the old politics has been the formation of the so‐called ‘purple’ governments, which exclude Christian Democrats, but draw together the ‘red’ socialists and the ‘blue’ liberals. The introduction discusses these changes (including depillarization and the erosion of consociationalism), and the differences between the two countries; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (voter turnout, party membership, partisan identification, bridging the ‘gap’ between voters and office‐holders, and the Belgian legitimacy crisis), the strength of party organizations, and the systemic functionality of parties (in governance and recruitment, and linkage functions—participation, aggregation, and communication).
Spain
Authors: Holliday Ian
Published: October 2003

Spain has made a number of experiments with democracy, but only since the mid‐1970s has this been successful. At that time, strenuous efforts were made to ensure that political parties would come forward, and as a result the new democracy had two key aspects: the creation of synthetic parties (in the sense that they are supported more from above than below), and the building of a parties state. The introductory part of the chapter discusses these changes and also has a section looking at the institutional framework that had such a shaping effect on party politics; this discusses the electoral system, and the rules governing parliamentary group organization and party finance. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (party membership, electoral turnout and volatility, popular assessments, party–voter ties, and evaluating party legitimacy), party organizational strength (parliamentary party organization, mass party organization, party finance, ‘goods in kind’ received by parties, and evaluating party organizational strength), and the systemic functionality of parties (governance, political recruitment and patronage, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, political communication and education, and evaluating the systemic functionality of parties). The concluding section assesses the viability of Spain's parties state and gives a comparative analysis of its experience of democracy.
Parties at the European Level
Authors: Hix Simon
Published: October 2003

Since the 1970s, academic interest in ‘parties at the European level’ has gone full circle. The story began in the 1970s, in the wake of the decision to hold direct elections to the European Parliament (EP), with widespread expectation of the coming of transnational European parties, but in the 1980s, when it was apparent that European elections would not produce European parties, and that transnational party activity would be restricted to the ‘party groups’ in the EP, a period of scepticism towards transnational parties set in. Nevertheless, since the 1990s, with the ‘party article’ in the Treaty on European Union, the new role of ‘party leaders’ summits’ and the emergence of rival party‐political agendas for the single market, there is renewed discussion of the desirability and feasibility of Euro‐parties as a way of connecting voters’ preferences to the European Union (EU) policy process. The introduction discusses the roots of the contemporary European parties (which go back to 1972), and gives an outline of the new ‘Euro‐parties’ (Party of European Socialists (PES), European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP), European Liberal, Democratic, and Reform Party (ELDR), and European Free Alliance) and their common goals. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (legitimacy via the European Parliament, and via the European elections), party organizational strength (organizational and behavioural cohesion, finance, staffing, members, and the media), and the systemic functionality of parties (governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, political recruitment, and political communication and education).