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Social pacts – policy agreements between governments, labor unions and sometimes employer organizations – began to emerge in many countries in the 1980s. The most common explanations for social pacts tend to focus on economic factors, influenced by industrial relations institutions such as highly coordinated collective bargaining. This book presents, and tests, an alternative and complementary explanation highlighting the electoral calculations made by political parties in choosing pacts.

Using a dataset covering 16 European countries for the years 1980-2006, as well as eight in-depth country case studies, the authors argue that governments’ choice of social pacts or legislation is less influenced by economic problems, but is strongly influenced by electoral competition. Social pacts will be attractive when party leaders perceive them to be helpful in reducing the potential electoral costs of economic adjustment and wage restraint policies. Alternatively, parties may forgo negotiations with social partners and seek to impose such policies unilaterally if they believe that approach will yield electoral gain or minimize electoral costs.

By combining the separate literatures on political economy and party politics, the book sheds new light on the dynamics of social pacts in Western Europe. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, economics, political economy, European Studies and comparative politics.

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This revised edition of the widely acclaimed Colonialism, Tradition and Reform outlines and evaluates Gandhi's efforts to regenerate the moral order of Indian society appropriate to the modern age. Bhikhu Parekh considers recent works, draws on his own deeper understanding of Gandhi today, and includes a new chapter on Gandhi and the bourgeoisie. The book locates Gandhi in the tradition of reformist discourse developed by his 19th century predecessors, and highlights the way he both continued and broke with it. ... Read more

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Based on interviews, field trips to factories and rural communes, this is an attempt to assess the political history of China and its future devleopment. Modern China has gone through stages of chaos and crisis. From the empire to a democratic republic, and to a Sovietized-Marxian dictatorship and finally to Dengist de-centraliziing reform, the nation tragically has paid a high toll in sacrifice. The reformers today are seen to operate without a new ideological stand. Until a new "idelogical fix" replaces its current void, the regime will not abandon its superficial adherence to Mao Zedong thought. Even Deng's "socialist democracy" and "socialism with Chinese characteristics" will have to wait for their future refined definitions and true contents. ... Read more

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"In Presidents Without Parties, Javier Corrales makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on the comparative political economy of state and market reform. . . . By weaving together arguments from the political science literature on parties and executives with analytical perspectives drawn from rational choice and public choice approaches, this book is ‘controversial’ in the best sense by challenging much of the conventional wisdom and scholarship on the politics of economic reform."—William C. Smith, University of Miami

Most studies about the politics of economic reform focus on the struggles between the state and interest groups or opposition political parties. In this book Javier Corrales argues instead that the key struggle is between the executive and the ruling party. Deep economic transformations require cooperation from the ruling party. This support allows the state to sustain societal support and simultaneously ward off the potentially paralyzing influence of interest groups. Without such cooperation, the executive loses credibility and the political fortitude necessary to neutralize the opposition from skeptical as well as cost-bearing sectors of society.

Presidents Without Parties puts this argument to the test by examining closely what happened in Argentina and Venezuela during the 1990s. Similarly situated when they embarked on economic reform in 1989, Argentina experienced success, with the reformers reelected in 1995, whereas Venezuela saw its reformersÂ’ efforts fail, leading to a prolonged crisis. Corrales shows precisely how the executiveÂ’s relationship with the ruling party shaped the different outcomes in the two countries. He then applies this argument to eight other cases of market reform in Latin American countries in the 1990s.

This book resuscitates and refines the ancient but often forgotten argument that political parties are indispensable for governability. In an era in which it is trendy to discount the usefulness of parties and to celebrate extrapartisan institutions, Corrales offers a reconsideration of the costs of trying to govern in the absence of competitive parties. ... Read more

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"A bold political analysis that should inspire public life."

—Kirkus Reviews




Seizing the quintessentially American idea that everything is possible, Unger and West argue that we can stimulate economic growth and guarantee opportunity and sufficient resources for all citizens. They propose specific reforms in business, taxation, so cial security, and education, and their program is an image of American political and civic life as a vital, evolving, and hopeful arena for solving our collective problems. Theirs is an all-inclusive, bipartisan, business-friendly vision.
"A thin volume packed with solutions to our nation's inequities."


—EbonyAmazon.com Review
The United States boasts one of the healthiest, most powerfuleconomies in the world--but is it ensuring a strong future for itself?In this thought-provoking collaboration, bestselling author andpreeminent public intellectual Cornel West and internationallyacclaimed social theorist Roberto Mangabeira Unger describe a nationsuffering from an educational and health-care meltdown and anever-growing gap between the rich and the poor. The U.S., theycontend, has become a meritocracy, one that is both firmly racist andclassist. Why, Unger and West ask, is America, which subscribes towhat they term "a religion of possibility" and has a long, richtradition of innovation, unable to apply its collective genius tosolve the vexing problem of our times and preempt the conflicts thatthreaten our future?

Unger and West offer a solution that promises to "mark a path ratherthan to define a blueprint." They want to return the United States tothe deepest goal of democracy: to realize the greatest potential ofall citizens. They blast the myth that the nation comprises threemajor social classes (upper, middle, and lower), and instead suggestthat it is divided into four: the high-power professionals andbig-business executives, the small-business class, the working class,which includes both blue- and white-collar workers, and the raciallystigmatized underclass.Their solution tackles the "poisonousmixture" of racism and classism head-on as they propose health carefor all children; an educational system that "equips the child withthe means to think and to stand on his own feet" with schools that"recognize in the child the future worker and citizen, a littleprophet"; and broad-based taxation of consumption that will benefitboth the rich and the poor, assure savings for all citizens of thiscountry, and close the gap between the classes.

Drawing on progressive political and economic theories in their effortto return the U.S. to its philosophical foundation and ensure a solidfuture that every citizen can look forward to, Unger and West may havefound an answer that is as practical as it is provocative.--KeraBolonik ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dishonest
What the two authors don't tell you is that for a true Stalinist Revolution to take place - the entire middle class would have to be destroyed or is that what their actually calling for.

To learn about the vermin also known as progressives, statists and liberals buy American Progressivism or The Forgotten Man.

Conflicts and Recommendations for Creating a Progressive Soc
Unger and West are two dynamic intellectuals whose passion and commitment to democracy are manifest in the broad strokes with which they paint their vision of the future. They discuss the enduring power of hierarchies ofrace, class, and gender which keep us locked into our current patterns insociety. Then provide seven recommendations for creating a progressivesociety. This book is an excellent supplement for nearly any ethics orpoly sci course.

Necessarily complex, an inspired challenge for US society.
Unger and West carefully, methodicallycharacterize current American socio-economic circumstances to build their case for a new era of American progressivism which is based on the "religion of possibility." It is an inspired attempt to encourage all Americans to begin thinkingdifferently, imaginatively, about the situations that keep the nation frombeing truly democratic.Extremely thorough, this book is a challenge to usall to seek out alternatives to the status quo.It is a challenge toleaders to serve the best interests of the nation as opposed to the specialinterest groups who line their pockets.I only wish Cornel West would runfor president.I don't know who else would stand up for what is morally,politically, and socially correct.I'd drop everything to campaign forhim.... ... Read more

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Brazilian democracy is in dire straits. This, at least, is the opinion of many observers focusing on Brazil's re-democratisation process. Whereas the emotionally charged transition period culminating in the re-installation of a civilian government in 1985 stirred the hopes of many observers that a renewed civil society would be able to lead Brazil into an era liberal democracy (Sader 1988; Alvarez 1997; Abers 2000; and, Dagnino 2002), these hopes were soon disappointed. Recent contributions to the field talk about the survival of 'traditional' political elements that weaken Brazil's democracy and argue that populism, personalism, patronage, and clientelism remain common features in post-authoritarian Brazil (O'Donnell 1988; Mainwaring 1990; Roniger 1990; Mettenheim von 1995; Hagopian 1996; Weyland 1996; Power 1997; Gay 1998; Banck 1998; Conniff 1999; Mainwaring 1999; Kingstone and Power 2000; Power 2000; and, Weyland 2000).Moreover, similar 'traditional' political practices have been detected within the new civic infrastructure that has been constructed since the return to democracy in 1985 (Baierle 2002; Chaves Teixera 2002; Dagnino 2002; Tatagiba 2002; Torres Ribeiro and Grazia 2003; and, Ottmann 2004). And, more recently still, many observers have been shocked that even Brazil's socialist Workers' Party (PT), celebrated by some as one of the last bastions of democratic socialism in Latin America, draws on patronage and elements of clientalism to strengthen its electoral support (Petras 2004 and Avelar 2005). Whatever happened to the effervescent civil society that during the 1980s seemed to carry Brazilian politics into a more democratic era (Weffort 1984 and Sader 1988). Perplexed by this mysterious disappearance of pro-democracy forces, this book examines the democratisation process in three Brazilian municipalities - Itabuna (BA), Sao Paulo (SP), and Porto Alegre (RS) - administered by Brazil's reformist Workers' Party, the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores).The book maintains that the main protagonists of Brazil's democratic consolidation are the pro-democracy movements within civil society or, in short, the civic movements, most of which have roots in the protest movements against the military regime during the 1970s and 1980s. ... Read more

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This study examines the social and political upheavals of the 1930s in the USA as viewed from the perspective of the minority party. The author introduces primary source material on the internal affairs of the Republican Party in the 1930s: data on campaign contributions, the affairs of the Republican National Committee, and the behaviour and attitudes of the GOP congressional delegation. He sheds new light on the Roosevelt landslide of 1936, explaining the Republican nomination of Landon and why the Republican party so badly miscalculated its prospects. He argues that the behaviour of the minority party is an essential component of the broader process of partisan reform, and that the behaviour of the Republican Party during this period contradicts the dominant view that political parties act rationally to maximize vote-gathering capability. By demonstrating how Republican miscalculations in the 1930s played into the hands of the emerging Democratic majority, this text points to the continuing importance of party elites - minority as well as majority - in the dynamics of political change. ... Read more

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Based on party documents, Vietnamese-language newspaper accounts and the views of officials, diplomats and scholars, this work examines the Muoi years as they led up to the 8th Congress, the Congress itself, and its impact. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A provocative study of Democrats in the Progressive Era
American politics during the first two decades of the 20th century are typically presented in the context of two major themes: the Progressive reform movement and the national dominance of the Republican Party, with Republican politicians such as Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette typically seen as the dominant political force behind Progressivism on the national stage.In this book, David Sarasohn challenges the assumptions of the second theme in describing the role of the Democratic Party in the first, arguing that it was in fact the Democrats who were the main party promoting Progressive reforms in national politics in this period.

The main figure behind the party's focus on these reforms, Sarasohn argues, was William Jennings Bryan.Though thrice defeated in his bids for the presidency, as the dominant force in Democratic party politics during this period Bryan was able to commit the national party to a range of antitrust measures and social reforms.Such support, he posits, was essential to the passage of Theodore Roosevelt's legislative agenda and promoted William Howard Taft to pursue a vigorous antitrust effort as president.It was this support that made the Democrats the beneficiaries of the Progressive surge in the 1912 election, which Sarasohn asserts would have been won by Woodrow Wilson even without the Republican Party's split that year.Sarasohn goes on to credit the Democratic majorities in Congress with many of the major Progressive achievements of Wilson's first term in office, even going so far as to claim that the president's successful reelection in 1916 was more the consequence of this effort than the Wilson's own achievements.

Sarasohn's book is a provocative challenge to much of the traditional historical interpretation of politics during the Progressive Era.While some of his arguments are less well supported than others, they force the reader to reconsider the motive forces behind reform on the national political scene.Nobody interested in the Progressive movement, or in the politics of the period, can afford to pass on reading this lively and challenging study, which sheds light on some often overlooked political dynamics of the era. ... Read more

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`I read Frank Bönker's book with interest. The book is well documented, balanced, and interesting. The book is overall quite informative and detailed. The comparative approach is convincing and the author demonstrates a deep and detailed knowledge of the three countries and the subject. He also convincingly demonstrates that the topic has an importance that goes beyond the cases analyzed.'- Bruno Dallago, President, European Association for Comparative Economic Studies and University of Trento, Italy

`This is a very well organised and clearly written book with convincingarguments and analysis throughout. Its largely jargon-free style makesit accessible to the non-specialist and provides for a thorough andeasily read piece of work. As well as being of interest to researchersspecialising in this topic, the book should be usable by undergraduateas well as postgraduate students.'- Martin Dangerfield, University of Wolverhampton, UK

This insightful book examines the necessary conditions for the successful initiation and consolidation of unpopular economic reforms. Drawing on the burgeoning literature in the area of policy reform, it features a comparative analysis of fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic at different stages of the post-communist transformation. This analysis demonstrates that a significant number of the national differences in fiscal reform can be attributed to differences in political constraints. It also reveals that these very constraints change in the course of transformation and have become increasingly similar to the `standard' restrictions which exist in the traditional EU and OECD countries.

This in-depth analysis of the changing role of political determinants in post-communist fiscal reform will strongly appeal to economists and political scientists interested in the political economy of policy reform, post-communist economic transformation and the role of international organizations (IMF, EU) in shaping domestic policy-making. Policy analysts interested in fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will also find much to interest them in this book. ... Read more

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This book offers a comprehensive critique of the historical debate on the referendum and electoral reform in British politics from the nineteenth century to 1981. The book falls into two parts. First, the role of the referendum in political debate since the beginning of the century is discussed and a detailed analysis of the referendums of the 1970s is presented. Vernon Bogdanor then clarifies both the benefits and the difficulties involved in the wider use of the referendum. In the second part of the book, he examines proposals for electoral reform since 1830 and considers the attitudes of the parties towards it today. The different forms of proportional representation are discussed and the consequences of adopting them in Britain assessed. The People and the Party System is written in clear, non-technical language and is intended for the general reader. It makes an important contribution to a vital debate and will be of interest to all those concerned with British politics. ... Read more

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Mayer argues that Democrats have greater difficulty maintaining party unity than do Republicans. ... Read more