Irish democracy is a deviant case in the context of interwar Europe. A small, peripheral 'island behind an island'(Jean Blanchard), Ireland emerged into statehood in 1921 after a long period of British rule. The country's... more
Irish democracy is a deviant case in the context of interwar Europe. A small, peripheral 'island behind an island'(Jean Blanchard), Ireland emerged into statehood in 1921 after a long period of British rule. The country's path to independence was by no means smooth, ...
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Greece, situated historically and geographically on the borderline between the ‘West’ and the ‘East’, is in many ways a marginal case within the context of Europe. Certain underlying structures and processes of Greek politics appear to... more
Greece, situated historically and geographically on the borderline between the ‘West’ and the ‘East’, is in many ways a marginal case within the context of Europe. Certain underlying structures and processes of Greek politics appear to differ significantly from those in Western and Central European polities. Thus, while on the surface the Greek Republic of 1924 was a parliamentary democracy with a multi-party system, important deviations from ‘classical’ democratic patterns can be detected on a more basic level. The role and function of the state and military apparati, the character of the country’s intermediary associations and essential aspects of Greek political culture all exhibit unmistakably ‘(semi) peripheral’ characteristics which set them apart from their ‘metropolitan’ European counterparts. Even with regard to a distinctly ‘Southern European’ pattern discernible in Italy, Spain and Portugal, interwar Greece was a ‘deviant’ case: there was not a ‘strong landed upper class … confronted with a relatively weak state organization’ nor had ‘the rural proletariat … [been] organized by a socialist party which led to the establishment of an authoritarian … or Fascist … regime’ (Berg-Schlosser 1990: 20). All these particularities suggest the need for closer consideration of the socioeconomic and political-cultural dimensions of Greek political development.
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This macrofactorial analysis compares the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Cyprus with particular reference to their historical background and regional context. The two cases are shown to possess common structural features which cannot... more
This macrofactorial analysis compares the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Cyprus with particular reference to their historical background and regional context. The two cases are shown to possess common structural features which cannot be explained in terms of ethnoreligious antagonisms per se. These characteristics distinguish them from other types of ethnic conflict and identify them as outcomes of conditions characteristic
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The object of this study is to outline a basic approach and develop some empirically substantiated hypotheses with regard to the role of intermediary structures (excluding political parties) in the survival or collapse of European... more
The object of this study is to outline a basic approach and develop some empirically substantiated hypotheses with regard to the role of intermediary structures (excluding political parties) in the survival or collapse of European democracies during the interwar ...
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Irish democracy is a deviant case in the context of interwar Europe. A small, peripheral 'island behind an island'(Jean Blanchard), Ireland emerged into statehood in 1921 after a long period of British rule. The country's... more
Irish democracy is a deviant case in the context of interwar Europe. A small, peripheral 'island behind an island'(Jean Blanchard), Ireland emerged into statehood in 1921 after a long period of British rule. The country's path to independence was by no means smooth, ...
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... 1932–1933 Venizelos''National Coalition' 1933–1935 Tsaldaris government (two attempted Venizelist coups) 5 Constitutional Monarchy (1935–1936) 1935 Kondylis dictatorship and restoration of the Monarchy under... more
... 1932–1933 Venizelos''National Coalition' 1933–1935 Tsaldaris government (two attempted Venizelist coups) 5 Constitutional Monarchy (1935–1936) 1935 Kondylis dictatorship and restoration of the Monarchy under King George II 1935–1936 Demertzis government 1936 ...
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This macrofactorial analysis compares the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Cyprus with particular reference to their historical background and regional context. The two cases are shown to possess common structural features which cannot... more
This macrofactorial analysis compares the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Cyprus with particular reference to their historical background and regional context. The two cases are shown to possess common structural features which cannot be explained in terms of ethnoreligious antagonisms per se. These characteristics distinguish them from other types of ethnic conflict and identify them as outcomes of conditions characteristic of the European periphery. The process of European integration constitutes a “metafactor” which appears beneficial for resolving conflicts of this type.
Structural analyses of ethnic conflict have been criticised for underrating the importance of factors such as culture and religion, and for being unable to explain why certain conflicts provoke an ‘ethnic’ or ‘national(ist)’ rather than,... more
Structural analyses of ethnic conflict have been criticised for underrating the importance of factors such as culture and religion, and for being unable to explain why certain conflicts provoke an ‘ethnic’ or ‘national(ist)’ rather than, for example, a class-based reaction. This suggests the need to develop analytical categories which can link structural concepts such as ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ with those of a more contingent, socio-historical nature. Though the notion of specific regional peripheries has not yet been developed in the literature, such composite categories should help identify and typologise the structural characteristics common to various groups of ethnic conflicts while making their complex interrelationship with non-structural factors more accessible to comparative analysis. The European periphery is conceived here as part of a regional sub-system within the larger, world-wide network of hierarchically structured core-periphery relationships. ‘Periphery’ refers to the structural asymmetry of power relations inherent to the world system and comprises those areas which are in a position of sustained economic and political dependency with regard to the core. The ‘European’ element designates the temporal and spatial (geopolitical) framework within which these asymmetrical relations interact with local factors to generate and perpetuate individual ethnic conflicts. As a ‘proximal periphery’, the European periphery differs from other peripheral areas through its long-term geographical proximity to a major core zone. This has not only exposed it to both the regional and global interests of the European powers, but also allowed for its partial incorporation within the global core itself.
The apparent resurgence of ethno-religious strife on a global scale during the past decade has given rise to a discourse which has often obscured rather than illuminated the complex interplay of factors underlying this phenomenon.... more
The apparent resurgence of ethno-religious strife on a global scale during the past decade has given rise to a discourse which has often obscured rather than illuminated the complex interplay of factors underlying this phenomenon. Although habitually subsumed under the single heading of "ethnic", "sectarian" or "inter-communal" conflict, such confrontations have, through comparative analysis, in fact been shown to exhibit considerable variations both in the nature of the issues under contention and the degree of similarity between individual cases. From this perspective, the long-standing conflicts in Northern Ireland and Cyprus can be seen to possess a number of common "structural" features which, despite important differences, not only distinguish them from other types of ethnic discord, but also identify them as outcomes of processes particularly characteristic of the peripheral areas of Europe.
This paper presents an initial, theoretically informed, macro-factorial assessment of the Northern Ireland and Cyprus conflicts against the background of their historical evolution and regional context. While recognising the importance of micro-level factors and the more immediate questions of conflict management and resolution, its primary purpose is to show that, typologically, the two cases are expressions of more generally definable conditions rooted in the historical experience of the European periphery. As such, they belong to a class of conflicts possessing a set of common characteristics which cannot be explained in terms of ethno-religious antagonisms per se. The paper concludes by considering the process of European integration as a kind of "meta-factor" which might prove beneficial to the resolution of conflicts of this type.
This paper presents an initial, theoretically informed, macro-factorial assessment of the Northern Ireland and Cyprus conflicts against the background of their historical evolution and regional context. While recognising the importance of micro-level factors and the more immediate questions of conflict management and resolution, its primary purpose is to show that, typologically, the two cases are expressions of more generally definable conditions rooted in the historical experience of the European periphery. As such, they belong to a class of conflicts possessing a set of common characteristics which cannot be explained in terms of ethno-religious antagonisms per se. The paper concludes by considering the process of European integration as a kind of "meta-factor" which might prove beneficial to the resolution of conflicts of this type.
Since the mid-1990s, Greek politics have been undergoing changes which point to a significant transformation, and possibly even the beginning dissolution, of the traditional symbiosis of clientelism and parliamentarism: a crisis-prone... more
Since the mid-1990s, Greek politics have been undergoing changes which point to a significant transformation, and possibly even the beginning dissolution, of the traditional symbiosis of clientelism and parliamentarism: a crisis-prone arrangement which, in varying forms, has characterised the country's political system for the past century and a half. These developments relate most visibly to Greece's accelerated integration into both the European Union and the Balkan region within the framework of the post-1989 international order. However, they also reflect endogenic transformations in the form and functioning of Greek clientelism itself, both within the main political parties and with regard to the state.
After outlining some fundamental contributions to the study of Greek political clientelism in its historical and contemporary dimensions, the paper asks whether recent developments can be seen as indications of an immanent functional dissociation of clientelism and parliamentarism, or merely as signs of a renewed mutation of the existing systemic symbiosis. It concludes that, under present conditions, Greek democracy will no longer be able to function as it used to, and that the imperatives of Greece's European and regional integration will most likely lead to the increasing dysfunctionality of clientelism as a mode of political inclusion within the context of the parliamentary system.
After outlining some fundamental contributions to the study of Greek political clientelism in its historical and contemporary dimensions, the paper asks whether recent developments can be seen as indications of an immanent functional dissociation of clientelism and parliamentarism, or merely as signs of a renewed mutation of the existing systemic symbiosis. It concludes that, under present conditions, Greek democracy will no longer be able to function as it used to, and that the imperatives of Greece's European and regional integration will most likely lead to the increasing dysfunctionality of clientelism as a mode of political inclusion within the context of the parliamentary system.
This paper will attempt to evaluate indications of fundamental change in certain aspects Greek political culture, especially those relating to established patterns of interest intermediation and policy formation, under the general impact... more
This paper will attempt to evaluate indications of fundamental change in certain aspects Greek political culture, especially those relating to established patterns of interest intermediation and policy formation, under the general impact of liberalisation and globalisation. Greece being a traditionally dependent country on the periphery of Europe with a heritage of clientelism and patronage politics, the pressures exerted by these factors appear to be less direct than mediated. Among the avenues through which such mediation occurs are the European Union's economic and monetary convergence programme and Greece's economic and political re-integration into the Balkan region. These processes promise to have substantial repercussions on both the ideological (re-)alignment of political forces within the main political parties and the traditional role of the state as a power base and reservoir of clientelist spoils.
This paper is a contribution to a larger, collaborative research project currently being undertaken by the international research group "Crisis, Compromise, Collapse. Conditions of Authoritarianism, Fascism and Democracy in Inter-War... more
This paper is a contribution to a larger, collaborative research project currently being undertaken by the international research group "Crisis, Compromise, Collapse. Conditions of Authoritarianism, Fascism and Democracy in Inter-War Europe." The project's overall purpose is to investigate the political causes of the crisis that affected the majority of European democracies during the period between the First and Second World Wars. In so doing, it hopes not only to gain insights into the specific dynamics of the 16 inter-war European polities considered, but also to formulate some more general conclusions regarding the political resolution of crisis situations and the corresponding chances of democratic survival. The project is essentially comparative in nature and consists of a series of closely linked studies carried out within a common conceptual and methodological framework. These studies are of two basic types, comprising both basic system (country case) studies and more general cross-system analyses. For the analytical studies, to which the present paper belongs, a large amount of both quantitative-statistical and qualitatative data has been compiled and evaluated. The data to which specific reference is made below is a collection of 76 "essential" Boolean variables which were developed on the basis of the qualitative material supplied by the authors of the individual case studies.