Israeli Democracy Under Stress

This work examines the crisis of Israeli politics in the 1990s, exploring the increasing ungovernability of the Jewish state, its obsolete electoral system and cynical coalition politics, its overburdened judiciary, its stagnant economy, and related issues. The authors - while highly critical - present a comprehensive effort to provide a scholarly foundation for political reform in Israel.

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Literary Strategies: Jewish Texts and Contexts collects essays on Jewish literature which deal with "the manifold ways that literary texts reveal their authors' attitudes toward their own Jewish identity and toward diverse aspects of the 'Jewish question.'" Essays in this volume explore the tension between Israeli and Diaspora identities, and between those who write in Hebrew or Yiddish and those who write in other "non-Jewish" languages. The essays also explore the question of how Jewish writers remember history in their "search for a useable past." From essays on Jabotinsky's virtually unknown plays to Philip Roth's novels, this book provides a strong overview of contemporary themes in Jewish literary studies.

This volume of fifteen original essays examines the role of political institutions in establishing democratic stability around the globe. Leading scholars survey well-established democracies, such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and France; relatively established democracies, such as Germany, Italy, India, and Israel; and newly established democracies, such as Turkey, Poland, and Spain. The final chapter explores how political institutions may be connected to democracy for best performance of the political system.

The book concludes with a hopeful view of the prospects for a fourth wave of global democratization.

Since its founding in 1948 Israel has faced many political, social and psychological challenges, unfamiliar to other nations on the western democratic political model and peculiar to the Jewish state. This work covers the role of politics in Israel since 1948.

Fashioning a working political structure in Israel that will bring together all aspects of society, from Jews to Arabs, ultra-Orthodox to assertively secular, has never been easy. However, two developments have intensified this challenge: demographic changes have sharpened the differences between the groups; and open challenges of legitimacy have undermined the previous de facto acceptance of pluralism. There has been no strong civic framework of Israeliness to replace Zionism as a shared identity that would override more parochial identities and interests. Added to these pressures are the collapse of the peace process in late 2000 and the influence of global developments on the Arab-Israel conflict and on Israeli domestic society. In this volume, twelve noted scholars of Israel present authoritative and analytic overviews of these important issues. The ability of the Israeli political system to bridge differences through a Jewish tradition of power-sharing has, in the past, managed to overcome enormous divisions, at least within the Jewish sector. Economic progress and globalization have brought Israel closer to other developed societies in many respects, while exposing Israel to pressures associated with these trends. Closer analysis of these critical issues reveals that there are also positive forces at work as the nation seeks a broader synthesis of its Jewish legacy and universal liberal values.

The State of Israel is an unlikely powerhouse in a troubled region. This book provides a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary analysis of the external and internal threats, opportunities and issues facing contemporary Israel. The book comprises sixteen chapters written by recognized authorities in the field of Israeli Studies.