"The years since the financial crisis have been marked by a remarkable stability in national government which hides the impact of a new kind of issue based politics which has arisen with parties such as Podemos in Spain, Srizia in Greece, The National Front in France and UKiP in the UK, all of whom have had a significant influence in shaping the political agenda in their own countries even if they have not actually secured formal power. This is the first book to present a rigorous yet accessible analysis of this phenomenon, grounded in the theories and methods of quantitative political science but drawing on empirical insights and theory from political psychology and sociology as well to try to understand the similarities and differences in the circumstances that have lead to these parties springing up and shaping political discourse and even policy to an extent that has challenged the very existence of the traditional party system"--
This book demonstrates how political entrepreneurs – entrepreneurially minded citizens who launch innovative political start-ups – can drive political change. Building on unique insights, rich examples and personal stories of centrist political entrepreneurs distilled from 40 in-depth interviews, the author guides readers through key stages of political entrepreneurship, and shows how to master them. By equally highlighting successes and failures, the book reveals how political entrepreneurs actually go about producing transformative political change. In light of the populist challenge and the decline of traditional political parties, the book also offers an entertaining backstage view and first-hand insights into the successes of En Marche in France, Ciudadanos in Spain, NEOS in Austria and other centrist political startups. It provides practical advice on how to learn from and replicate their successes. Political practitioners and other politically interested readers will find a useful theory of Political Entrepreneurship – what it is, how it works, and what its role is in 21st century democracies. Most of all, they will find essential, reproducible tools and methods. “You have read a lot about startups in business, but if you want to know how Silicon Valley style startups look in politics, read this. Its author is not only writing about political entrepreneurs, he is one of them.” Ivan Krastev (Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, and permanent Fellow at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna) “No one understands better what it takes to take a political start up from ideation to the parliament than Josef Lentsch. In ‘Political Entrepreneurship’ he combines first-hand experience with a thoughtful review of what we know about entrepreneurship in the interest of society.” Johanna Mair (Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership at the Hertie School of Governance, and Co-Director Global Innovation for Impact Lab at Stanford University) “Josef Lentsch has produced a fascinating, commanding guide to the new, insurgent players shaking up traditional party systems and reinvigorating liberal politics. Political Entrepreneurship is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand today's fragmented and disrupted European politics - and the European politics of the future.” Jeremy Cliffe (Charlemagne columnist, The Economist) "The rarest of events has occurred - a new political species has appeared in the European eco-system, the centrist political start up. From Macron's En Marche in France to Spain's Ciudadanos, a new type of political actor has emerged. Few are better positioned to tell this Europe-wide story than Josef Lentsch who has had a front-seat view on this important political transformation that is shaking Europe. A dramatic and important account." Daniel Ziblatt (Eaton Professor of Government, Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die)
Political Entrepreneurship explores the role of political entrepreneurs in regional growth and entrepreneurial diversity. The authors define a political entrepreneur as a politician, bureaucrat or officer within the publicly funded sector who encourages entrepreneurship for growth and employment using innovative approaches. This book aims to enrich the established research on entrepreneurship with in-depth knowledge of the conditions conducive for political entrepreneurship in Sweden.
Addressing the current dearth of available literature on this topic, the editors use a range of international case studies to explore street vending and informal economies which continue to be, especially in developing countries, a vital economic driver. This volume collects essays from authors around the world about the markets and vendors they know best, including studies of USA, China, Mexico, Turkey. The contributors speak of the struggles that vendors have faced to legitimize their activity, the role that they play in helping societies adapt to and survive catastrophes as well as the practical roles that they play in both the local and global social and economic system. As well as highlighting the importance of street markets as a phenomenon of interest in itself to a growing body of scholarship, this study demonstrates how an analysis of street vending can provide insights not only into economic anthropology, but also urban studies, post modernism, spatial geography, political sociology and globalization theory.
Based on six years of research, including interviews with leading Mexican entrepreneurial and political leaders and the assessment of hitherto unavailable materials, this work focuses on the complex political relationship between the Mexican state and leading businessmen from the 1920s to the present. Analyzing nearly 3000 biographies to compare Mexico's two leading competitors for political power, the author uses a humanistic approach to test a number of assumptions about the relationship between the business community and the state and provides new insights into the existence of a power elite, the exchange between economic and political leaders, the self-image of Mexican entrepreneurs, the position of family-controlled firms, and the influence of capitalists on the decision-making process. Camp also provides detailed information on the ownership of Mexico's top 200 firms, including names of stockholders, board members, and managers.
This book provides a systematic exploration of party system change. By applying the concept of political entrepreneurship and using a detailed case study of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, it demonstrates how party leaders can exercise their agency and drive party system change. Recent developments in Tamil politics are taken into account in the light of the literature on party systems, achieving a classification of the party system and revealing patterns of change. The author explains the process of the change by comparing the careers of successful and failed party leaders, thus identifying the factors that enabled some political entrepreneurs to successfully found political parties and contribute to the process of party system change. Examining issues such as regional parties, political entrepreneurship, social change, caste and religious nationalism, the book illustrates the key forces shaping contemporary Indian politics, and presents an example of how the trend toward identity politics and the rising influence of regional political parties are fashioning a new Indian polity. With a broad cross-disciplinary appeal, the book will be of interest to students of South Asian politics, comparative politics, sociology and anthropology.
Ethnic Entrepreneurs examines how diverse groups, including indigenous communities in Latin America and Latino communities in the United States, have become visible and valuable as agents of economic development in Latin America in recent years.
This book presents a theoretical framework based on the empirical context of the Israeli political system to evaluate under what conditions and in what ways can fundamental institutional changes occur in a democratic political system.
By 2009, reverberations of economic crisis spread from the United States around the globe. As corporations across the United States folded, however, small businesses on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) continued to thrive. In this rich ethnographic study, Courtney Lewis reveals the critical roles small businesses such as these play for Indigenous nations. The EBCI has an especially long history of incorporated, citizen-owned businesses located on their lands. When many people think of Indigenous-owned businesses, they stop with prominent casino gaming operations or natural-resource intensive enterprises. But on the Qualla Boundary today, Indigenous entrepreneurship and economic independence extends to art galleries, restaurants, a bookstore, a funeral parlor, and more. Lewis's fieldwork followed these businesses through the Great Recession and against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding EBCI-owned casino. Lewis's keen observations reveal how Eastern Band small business owners have contributed to an economic sovereignty that empowers and sustains their nation both culturally and politically.
