The Attrition of the Liberal Regime in Italy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Maier
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mass Communications ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Benito Mussolini ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines the attrition of the liberal regime in Italy. The inability to reestablish a stable centrist majority in Italy brought not only a shift to the right, but also destruction of the parliamentary regime. Struggles for hegemony put an enormous strain on liberal institutions. The Fascists imposed an unofficial terrorism, followed by a legal but coercive regimentation upon the political arena, mass communications, and the labor market. These developments emerged from the inner decay of liberalism as much as from any conquest from outside. The chapter first considers the political ecology of fascism in Italy before discussing the liberals' search for order from the time of Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti to Benito Mussolini.

Reshaping the Political Order in Israel, 1965–1967

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Yechiam Weitz
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Six Day War ◽  
The Right

This article examines the major changes in the Israeli political arena, on both the left and right, in the two years before the 1967 War. The shift was marked by the establishment in 1965 of the right-wing Gahal (the Herut-Liberal bloc) and of the Labor Alignment, the semi-merger of Israel’s two main left-wing parties, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvodah. Some dissatisfied Mapai members broke away from the Alignment and formed a new party, Rafi, under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion. They did not gain nearly enough Knesset seats to take power in the November 1965 election, but Rafi did become part of the emergency national unity government that was formed in June 1967, due largely to the weak position of Levi Eshkol as prime minister. This enabled Rafi’s Moshe Dayan to assume the minister of defense position on the eve of the Six-Day War, which began on 5 June 1967.

Japan's Post-Fukushima Energy Politics

2015 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Tai Wei LIM
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Liberal Democratic Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Energy Politics ◽  
Gubernatorial Election

A 2011 earthquake damaged the Fukushima nuclear reactor and provided a galvanising point for anti-nuclear resistance groups in Japan. Their public cause slowly faded from the political arena after the Democratic Party of Japan fell out of power and anti-nuclear politicians lost the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election. The current Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister Abe holds a pro-nuclear position and urges the reactivation of Japan's nuclear reactors after all safeguards have been satisfied.

Romania

2019 ◽  
pp. 388-434
Author(s):  
Laurențiu Ștefan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Party System ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Coalition Governments ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Right

In Romania, a highly segmented and extremely volatile party system has contributed to a predominance of coalition governments. Alternation in power by coalitions led by either left-wing or right-wing parties used to be a major feature of Romanian governments. Thus, until a short-lived grand coalition in 2009, ideologically homogeneous coalitions were the general practice. Since then, parties from the right and left of the political spectrum have learned to work together in government. Given the semi-presidential nature of the political regime and the exclusive power to nominate the prime minister, the Romanian president plays an important role in coalition formation. The president also plays a pivotal role by shadowing the prime minister and therefore influencing the governance of coalitions. She has the power to veto ministerial appointments and therefore she can also shape the cabinet line-up. Pre-election coalitions are a common feature, more than two-thirds of Romanian coalition governments have been predicated on such agreements. Coalition agreements dealt with both policy issues and coalition decision-making bodies and the governance mechanisms that have been in most cases enforced and complied with—until the break-up of the coalition and the downfall of the respective government. One very common decision-making body is the Coalition Committee, which has been backed on the operational level by an inner cabinet made up of the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers, which usually are the heads of the junior coalition parties.

scholarly journals First minister (prime minister) of the Fifth French Republic: Between the significant constitutional position and the prevailing practice in the shadow of the head of state

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-252
Author(s):  
Milan Rapajić
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

One of the characteristics of the system of government in the Fifth French Republic is the strengthened position of the head of state, but also the existence of the first minister as a constitutional category with a significant role. The constitution provides the political responsibility of the government with the Prime Minister and ministers before parliament. Certain French writers have opinion that the Prime Minister appears as the central figure of the constitutional structure. The Prime Minister shall direct the actions of the Government. This is 21 of Constitution. Also, there are specific powers that put the Prime Minister in the position of its real head of government. Among the prime minister's most important powers is his right to elect members of the government. It is the right to propose to the President of the Republic the appointment but also the dismissal of members of the government. The Prime Minister is authorized to re-sign certain acts of the President of the Republic. In case of temporary impediment of the head of state, the Prime Minister chairs the councils and committees for national defense, as well as the Council of Ministers. The paper analyzes the constitutional provisions that lead to the conclusion that the position of the Prime Minister is institutionally constructed as strong. Political practice, with the exception of periods of cohabitation, has indicated that most prime ministers have been overshadowed by mostly powerful heads of state. For that reason, it is necessary to analyze the political practice of all eight presidential governments. A review of the already long political life that has lasted since 1958. points to the conclusion that in its longest period, presidents of the Republic dominated the public political scene. The Prime Minister has a more pronounced role in the executive branch during cohabitation periods. However, nine years in three cohabitations cannot change the central conclusion of this paper that the dominant political practice of the Fifth Republic has led to the Prime Minister being essentially in the shadow of the head of state.

Latin America: Results of Electoral Cycle

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
E. Dabagyan
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Primary Interest ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Latin American Countries

The article examines a range of forces represented in the political arena of the Latin American countries that recently held general election (Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador). A primary interest is paid to the left radicals, the left centrists, the centrists and the right centrists. While assessing the outcome of the elections the author underlines the trend towards convergence of left and right centrists. This is creating opportunities for their cooperation. Simultaneously, there is a compression of space for the interaction of these political forces with the left radicals.

The constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom

Res Publica ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Vernon Bogdanor
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Right ◽  
Constitutional Monarchy ◽  
Main Influence ◽  
Selection Of

In a constitutional monarchy, the Sovereign acts according to constitutional rules, rather than arbitrarily. That is so even in a country such as Britain which has no codified constitution. Today the rules of constitutional monarchy whose purpose it is to preserve the political neutrality of the Sovereign, serve to protect her from political involvement. Her powers remain essentially residual - selection of a Prime Minister and refusal of a dissolution under very rare circumstances.The main influence of the Sovereign, however, comes through her exercise of the three rights identified by Bagehot - the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to wam; and through her role as Head of the Commonwealth.The enormous popularity of the monarchy in Britain today arises because it has come to be divorced from partisan politics, and so can act as a focus of national unity.

A Land Fit for Tories to Live In: The Political Ecology of the British Conservative Party, 1944–94

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Turner
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The Political ◽  
British Politics ◽  
World War ◽  
Mass Politics ◽  
The Right ◽  
Second World

Although the industrialised West has seen since the 1970s a very marked leaning to the right both in government and in popular politics, the experience of the British Conservative Party has been unique. The party can trace a continuous existence to the reconstruction of the King's government by William Pitt the Younger in 1784, and is probably the oldest political organisation in the world: far older, indeed, than most sovereign states. In two centuries of life it has transformed itself from the party of monarchy, aristocracy and the Established Church into a highly successful practitioner of mass politics. It has been in government, either as the sole party of government or as the dominant partner in coalition, for seventy years in the last hundred, and thirty-two years in the last fifty. This remarkable political achievement can be explained at many levels; the purpose of this article is to explore just one of them. By bringing together the explanatory insights of political scientists working on electoral sociology with the records of the party in government and opposition, it is possible to discern how the Conservatives used the opportunities of government to cultivate the society which tended, and increasingly tends, to give them victory at the ballot box. This cultivation of the political environment was not exactly social engineering – a project which contemporary Conservatives emphatically reject – but in tune with the biological metaphor of the title of this paper it could be called ‘social gardening’. The first part of the article examines very briefly how political scientists have come to understand the functioning of the British electoral process since the Second World War. The second part explores the process of adaptation which has enabled the Conservative Party to dominate British politics since the war.

Kuwait’s parliament could quash economic reforms

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Credit Rating ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
International Credit ◽  
The Right ◽  
Spending Cuts

Significance The November 26 legislative elections returned the Islamist opposition to the political field. Opposition and like-minded parliamentarians now occupy almost half of the seats, enabling them to form a strong alliance within the National Assembly. However, the emir has the right to appoint the prime minister and cabinet. Impacts The emir could well replace the prime minister, possibly with the former interior minister, Mohammad al-Khalid Al Sabah. The inability to implement budget spending cuts could negatively affect Kuwait’s international credit rating. More early elections would probably pave the way for the return of a wider range of emboldened opposition activists. The presence of a vocal Sunni Islamist opposition in the National Assembly may exacerbate Sunni-Shia tensions and anti-Iran sentiment.

Mehr Mut zur Zuwanderung. Der arbeitsmarktpolitische Teil des geplanten Zuwanderungsgesetzes verfehlt sein eigenes Ziel

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lüder Gerken ◽  
Volker Rieble ◽  
Thomas Straubhaar ◽  
Mitwirkung von Guido Raddatz
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
German Government ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Liberal Approach ◽  
Draft Bill ◽  
The Right

AbstractRecently, the political discussion concerning a new national immigration policy in Germany has been highly controversial, although all political forces agree that the existing legal provisions have significant deficits. In the fall of 2001, the German government presented its draft bill for a new immigration law, intending it to form the cornerstone of a broad-based political consensus. However, since then the political controversy has intensified.This paper analyzes those provisions of the bill which are relevant for labor-market-oriented immigration. It is argued that although the bill moves in the right direction, many of its rules are still much too restrictive and are characterized by protectionist attitudes. The rigidities of the German labor market are preserved. In addition, many of the new rules leave room for unnecessary and arbitrary bureaucratic intervention or do not take the cartel-like structure of the German labor market into account. Economic necessities demand a more liberal approach to immigration into Germany, if this immigration is to benefit the labor market.

Notes on the Dialogue

Worldview ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Thomas Molnar
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Peaceful Coexistence ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Term

The French saying, Pas d'ennemi à gauche, can be paraphrased today: No dialogue with the right. For indeed, the “dialogue,” the most popular term of the sixties, is a companion-word of peaceful coexistence with communism and of apertura a sinistra, even of ecumenism whose noble objectives have been corrupted by the scramble of many, so-called ecumenists for the atheist's smile.Primarily, then, “dialogue” is a political term, masking a strategy designed to appease and validate the ideological Left. Since this Left has its representatives within die Christian churches as well as in the political arena, it is hard to separate church matters from more generally political matters in discussing the dialogue. To a large extent, indeed, they overlap, as is shown by the identity of expressions that advocates of political or religious dialogue use in their parallel approach to the problem.

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