Overzicht van belangenorganisaties die binnen de Europese gemeenschap de belangen van hun (vak)gebied behartigen, waaronder organisaties op het gebied van landbouw, industrie dienstverlening etc., bevat ook adressen van advocaten- en consultantsbureaus
The establishment of the European Economic Community in 1958 was one of the most remarkable developments in the history of the post-World War II era. It aimed for nothing less than a complete economic union so that goods, people, and capital would be able to pass over national boundaries of member countries as freely as they move within any one country. As the Community's target date of 1992 for economic integration draws closer, the need for information, both current and historical, becomes more urgent. The aim of this annotated bibliography is to create a critical and descriptive list of books published mainly in English for businessmen and analysts, combining older publications with new. The literature on the EC is vast and issues The Community itself nearly 3000 publications a year. The range of material covered in this volume is distinguished by its great scope. Historical sections provide listings on the postwar years of economic recovery, the development of the EC, and biographies of the leading personalities involved. Policy-oriented sections encompass such subjects as labor, transportation, environment, energy, and education. The political ramifications of economic union, financial and fiscal affairs, relations between the EC and the Third World, and foreign relations in general are dealt with in separate sections. The volume concludes with a listing of major European Community publications. The sheer bulk of published material on the EC, much of it duplication, has made keeping up with its developments difficult for small and medium in Europe and elsewhere. This invaluable sourcebook will provide the business community and the political establishments with better access to EC information as they grapple with the implications of 1992.
Pressure Groups are an increasingly important feature of the political landscape and they are active on many levels, local, national or European. They reflect a diverse compass of interests from the well-known (the National Farmers' Union) to the less familiar (the Zip Fastener Association) and interact with a wide range of political players in different parts of the political system: parties, the media, government and parliament. They are involved at every stage of the political process, from raising issues and agenda setting to policy implementation and monitoring.
Unique in bringing together contributions from academics and practitioners on the theme of strategic, intelligent modern lobbying this book provides a thorough and accessible discussion on key ideas pertinent to the pursuance of public affairs in the European Union. Combining innovative academic research with first-hand professional experience it offers the reader a combination of practical recommendations, case studies and academic theory to add new insights to interest group research and lobbying strategies. While focusing on the European Union the contributors acknowledge the multi-level dimension of EU decision-making and incorporate research on multi-level governance as well as lobbying by sub-national authorities. Through this they present a fuller picture of a subject that should appeal to students, academics and practitioners alike.
Seeking to understand the role of interest groups in the policy process from agenda-setting to implementation in the EU, this book contains details of processes of institutional and actor learning, professionalisation of lobbying, and the possible emergence of a distinct EU public policy style.
Collective Action in the European Union addresses fundamental questions surrounding the European political economy. The impressive array of contributors ask how and why collective action is formed at the European level. They also consider whether collective action at the transnational level is driven by rational, utility maximising behaviour, or whether explanations couched in social terms are more convincing. Many of the chapters introduce fresh empirical studies, in the domains of business, the professions, consumers and environmental interests.
The world's multinational enterprises face a spell of rough weather, political economist Ray Vernon argues, not only from the host countries in which they have established their subsidiaries, but also from their home countries. Such enterprises--a few thousand in number, including Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, Siemens, Samsung, and others--now generate about half of the world's industrial output and half of the world's foreign trade; so any change in the relatively benign climate in which they have operated over the past decade will create serious tensions in international economic relations. The warnings of such a change are already here. In the United States, interests such as labor are increasingly hostile to what they see as the costs and uncertainties of an open economy. In Europe, those who want to preserve the social safety net and those who feel that the net must be dismantled are increasingly at odds. In Japan, the talk of hollowing out takes on a new urgency as the country's lifetime employment practices are threatened and as public and private institutions are subjected to unaccustomed stress. The tendency of multinationals in different countries to find common cause in open markets, strong patents and trademarks, and international technical standards has been viewed as a loss of national sovereignty and a weakening of the nation-state system, producing hostile reactions in home countries. The challenge for policy makers, Vernon argues, is to bridge the quite different regimes of the multinational enterprise and the nation-state. Both have a major role to play, and yet must make basic changes in their practices and policies to accommodate each other.
This student-friendly introduction to the key theories and concepts of comparative politics now provides even broader coverage of the world's democracies, with examples drawn from across the globe. Foundations of Comparative Politics contains a wealth of information, clearly structured and easy to read, with clear definition of Key Terms. It covers all the important themes in the field, including constitutional design and institutions; mass and elite politics; policy-making and implementation; and the future of the state and democracy in a globalising world. A new chapter on studying comparative politics, and new 'What Have We Learned?' and 'Lessons of Comparison' summary sections help students pull together the lessons of each chapter. Combining facts and theory throughout, debate is stimulated through the use of Controversy boxes, and Fact Files and Briefings give students interesting data that illustrates the key issues in the text. Online resources, including MCQs and Powerpoint slides, complete the package.
The European Union today stands on the brink of radical institutional and constitutional change. The most recent enlargement and proposed legal reforms reflect a commitment to democracy: stabilizing political life for citizens governed by new regimes, and constructing a European Union more accountable to civil society. Despite the perceived novelty of these reforms, this book explains (through quantitative data and qualitative case analyses) how the European Court of Justice has developed and sustained a vibrant tradition of democratic constitutionalism since the 1960s. The book documents the dramatic consequences of this institutional change for civil society and public policy reform throughout Europe. Cichowski offers detailed empirical and historical studies of gender equality and environmental protection law across fifteen countries and over thirty years, revealing important linkages between civil society, courts and the construction of governance. The findings bring into question dominant understandings of legal integration.