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| List of Illustrative Material | |
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| List of Abbreviations and Acronyms | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Why European politics? | |
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| Why this book? | |
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| Keeping it real - and up to date | |
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| Where is it going? | |
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| Getting started | |
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| Europe-A Continent in the Making | |
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| People into empires | |
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| Empires into nations | |
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| Nations into states | |
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| States into blocs | |
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| The new Europe | |
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| Europe's economy - rich in variation | |
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| Regions | |
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| 'Postindustrialism'? | |
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| Transition | |
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| Globalization and/or Europeanization? | |
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| National and patterned variation | |
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| Whatever happened to 'the classless society'? | |
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| Women - working but not yet winning? | |
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| In theory if not in practice � religion in Europe | |
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| Composition and identity - multiethnic, multinational - and European? | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| The End of the Nation State? | |
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| Stateless nations | |
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| Belgium - federal solution or slippery slope? | |
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| 'Asymmetrical' federalism - Spain | |
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| The UK - another hybrid | |
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| France - no longer quite so indivisible | |
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| The EU and the end of sovereignty? | |
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| Origins, enlargement and institutions | |
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| Integration via economics and law | |
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| Tidying-up exercise or step towards a super-state? The Lisbon Treaty | |
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| The end of the nation state? | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| From Government to Governance - Running the State, Making Policy and Policing the Constitution | |
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| Passing power downwards - decentralization | |
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| 'More control over less' � central government reform | |
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| Policy making - sectors and styles | |
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| The booming third branch of government - the judicialization of politics | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Governments and Parliaments - A Long Way from Equality | |
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| The head of state | |
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| Prime minister, cabinet and parliamentary government | |
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| Permutations of parliamentary government in multiparty systems | |
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| Minimal (connected) winning coalitions | |
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| Minority governments | |
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| Oversized or surplus majority coalitions | |
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| Government duration and stability | |
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| Dividing the spoils - 'portfolio allocation' | |
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| Governing | |
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| Parliaments - one house or two? | |
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| Parliaments - hiring and firing | |
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| Parliaments - the production of law | |
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| Parliaments - scrutiny and oversight | |
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| Parliament and government � the European level | |
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| Parliament, power and parties | |
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| Europe's unrepresentative representatives | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Parties-How the Past Affects the Present, and an Uncertain Future | |
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| What are parties, and what are they for? | |
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| Organization | |
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| Party systems and party families | |
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| The bases of party systems � social and institutional, luck and skill | |
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| Party system change? | |
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| Are parties in decline? | |
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| The Europeanization of parties and party systems? | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Elections, Voting and Referendums-Systems, Turnout, Preferences and Unpredictability | |
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| Europe's myriad electoral systems | |
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| Electoral systems and party systems | |
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| Turnout - decline and variation | |
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| Volatile voting | |
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| Preferences - what makes people vote the way they do? | |
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| EP elections | |
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| Direct democracy - useful tool or dangerous panacea? | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| The Media-Player and Recorder | |
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| Variations in usage and style | |
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| Structure and regulation | |
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| State and public service broadcasting | |
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| The connection between media systems and political systems | |
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| The changing coverage of politics | |
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| Bias and its effects | |
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| Pressure groups and populists | |
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| A brave new digital world? | |
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| 'Overseas' news | |
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| The media and 'Europe' | |
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| Women and the media in Europe | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Participation and Pressure Politics - Civil Society, Organized Interests and Social Movements | |
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| Participation - the expanding but not necessarily alternative repertoire | |
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| Pressure groups - different types, different opportunities | |
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| Pluralism, corporatism and policy networks | |
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| Farming - a real world example of power under pressure | |
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| There is (still) power in a union | |
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| Taking care of business | |
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| Rebels with a cause? NGOs and (new) social movements | |
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| 'Venue shopping' and the Europeanization of pressure politics | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| On the web | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Politics over Markets: Does Politics - and Left and Right-Still Matter? | |
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| Has politics ever really mattered? | |
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| Drifting to the right? The centre-left in Europe | |
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| Party positions on the welfare state - words and deeds | |
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| Privatization | |
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| Flexible labour markets? | |
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| The EU to the rescue? | |
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| The end of the welfare and regulatory state? Separating the facts from the hype | |
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| Beyond welfare - and left and right | |
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| Why it still makes sense to be different | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Not Wanted but Needed-Migrants and Minorities | |
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| Migration into Europe - then and now | |
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| Europe's immigrants - grim realities and perceptions | |
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| Illegal Immigration | |
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| Asylum-seeking | |
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| Intra-EU migration since enlargement | |
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| The new stereotype - migrants and minorities as terrorists | |
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| Political responses - populism, priming and 'Catch-22s' | |
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| Integrating and protecting migrants and minorities | |
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| Policy responses - towards 'Fortress Europe'? | |
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| The Roma - Europe's oldest ethnic minority | |
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| No use wishing it away | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| Protecting and Promoting-Europe's International Politics | |
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| Security and defence � the background | |
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| 'Old' and 'New' Europe | |
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| Still 'the German Question' | |
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| Russia - Eurasia's (ex-?) superpower | |
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| Europe's Mediterranean 'neighbours' | |
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| Towards a European army? | |
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| Foreign policy | |
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| Europe in the developing countries | |
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| Europe and the global environment | |
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| Europe as a global trader | |
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| Lest we forget - the enlargement and domestication of international politics | |
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| Learning resources | |
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| Discussion questions | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |