Contention And Democracy In Europe 1650 2000

Contention and Democracy in Europe, 1650-2000 is an analysis of the relationship between democratization and contentious politics that builds upon the model set forth in the pathbreaking book, Dynamics of Contention. Using a sustained comparison of French and British histories since 1650 or so as a springboard for more general comparison within Europe Contention and Democracy goes on to demonstrate that democratization occurred as result of struggles during which (as in 19th century Britain and France) few, if any, of the participants were self-consciously trying to create democratic institutions. Consequently, circumstances for democratization vary from era to era, region to region as functions of previous history, international environments, available models of political organization, and predominant patterns of social relations.

Democracy identifies the general processes causing democratization and de-democratization at a national level across the world over the last few hundred years. It singles out integration of trust networks into public politics, insulation of public politics from categorical inequality, and suppression of autonomous coercive power centres as crucial processes. Through analytic narratives and comparisons of multiple regimes, mostly since World War II, this book makes the case for recasting current theories of democracy, democratization and de-democratization.

How can we get inside popular collective struggles and explain how they work? Contentious Performances presents a distinctive approach to analyzing such struggles, drawing especially on incomparably rich evidence from Great Britain between 1758 and 1834. The book accomplishes three main things. First, it presents a logic and method for describing contentious events, occasions on which people publicly make consequential claims on each other. Second, it shows how that logic yields superior explanations of the dynamics in such events, both individually and in the aggregate. Third, it illustrates its methods and arguments by means of detailed analyses of contentious events in Great Britain from 1758 to 1834.

The means by which people protest—that is, their repertoires of contention—vary radically from one political regime to the next. Highly capable undemocratic regimes such as China's show no visible signs of popular social movements, yet produce many citizen protests against arbitrary, predatory government. Less effective and undemocratic governments like the Sudan’s, meanwhile, often experience regional insurgencies and even civil wars. In Regimes and Repertoires, Charles Tilly offers a fascinating and wide-ranging case-by-case study of various types of government and the equally various styles of protests they foster. Using examples drawn from many areas—G8 summit and anti-globalization protests, Hindu activism in 1980s India, nineteenth-century English Chartists organizing on behalf of workers' rights, the revolutions of 1848, and civil wars in Angola, Chechnya, and Kosovo—Tilly masterfully shows that such episodes of contentious politics unfold like loosely scripted theater. Along the way, Tilly also brings forth powerful tools to sort out the reasons why certain political regimes vary and change, how the people living under them make claims on their government, and what connections can be drawn between regime change and the character of contentious politics.

An award-winning sociologist, Charles Tilly has been equally influential in explaining politics, history, and how societies change. Tilly’s newest book tackles fundamental questions about the nature of personal, political, and national identities and their linkage to big events—revolutions, social movements, democratization, and other processes of political and social change. Tilly focuses in this book on the role of stories, as means of creating personal identity, but also as explanations, true or false, of political tensions and realities. He uses well-known examples from around the world—the Zapatista rebellion, Hindu-Muslim conflicts, and other examples in which nationalism and other forms of group identity are politically pivotal. Tilly writes with the immediacy of a journalist, but the profound insight of a great theorist.

A bold re-interpretation of democracy's historical rise in Europe, Ziblatt highlights the surprising role of conservative political parties with sweeping implications for democracy today.

The promotion of political reform, participation, human rights and democracy on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean was a key objective for the European Union as it prepared the Barcelona conference in 1995. Today it is clear that these policies have failed to prompt an end to authoritarian rule. The authors of Democracy Building and Democracy Erosion analyse why EU policies have not produced major political impact, while remaining sensitive to changes that may translate into greater participation and respect for civil liberties. The question at the heart of this volume is whether the erosion of democracy in the north, compounded by the effects of 9/11, has affected the promotion of democracy in the south. The failure of democracy in the south may well be linked to authoritarian trends on a global scale. Contributors include Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, Gilles Massardier, Eric Gobe, Oliver Schlumberger, Isabel Schäfer, Robert Springborg, Holger Albrecht, Virginie Collombier, Marc Lazar and Mohamed Mouaquit.

European Politics expertly and accessibly surveys the history, institutions, and issues that are essential for understanding contemporary European politics. Exploring a central question—"what is Europe?"—this text's thematic approach helps students compare politics in individual countries and see the political big picture in the region. European Politics examines not only countries which are (or were) in the European Union but also those eligible to join, to give students the most comprehensive picture of Europe's evolution in a globalized world. Key changes for the new edition include: coverage of hot topics such as Brexit, Covid-19, rise of nationalist-populists, authoritarian developments in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey, separatism in Catalonia, refugees/migrants, environmentalism, Ukraine, Russia, US-European relations, recent elections, and security threats emanating within Europe and beyond; a consolidated presentation on the European Union; fully updated data and examples; and a new concluding chapter recapping the main ideas and suggesting scenarios for the European project moving forward. This timely, in-depth text will be essential reading for anyone interested in European politics.