European Politics

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  Reform in the House of Commons: The Select Committee System

  One of the most significant changes in the British House of Commons has been the development in 1979 of a system of select committees charged with monitoring government ministries. Unlike previous experiments in parliamentary reform, these committees are staffed exclusively with backbench MPs, who regularly review executive policies and offer recommendations. Michael Jogerst reappraises the relationship between the executive and legislative branches in light of these new circumstances, which are likely to affect the entire governmental structure of the United Kingdom.

  Michael Jogerst is assistant professor at the University of Iowa.

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  Back from Westminster: British Members of Parliament and Their Constituents

  The British House of Commons has entered a period of substantial change, moving from a state of party cohesion and party leadership toward a more individualistic and active policy-making role. In the dynamic look at the British Parliament and its members, Philip Norton and David M. Wood highlight that change to more intensive constituency response and service on the part of individual members.

  Like members of the U.S. Congress, British Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent geographical districts. The relationship between the MP and the constituency in Britain has become more important in recent years, but the major ...Read More

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  Politics and Nuclear Power: Energy Policy in Western Europe

  With the dramatic changes OPEC precipitated in the structure of world energy markets during the 1970s, energy became a central concern to policymakers throughout the industrialized West. This book examines the responses of public officials in three leading European nations—the Federal Republic of Germany, France, and the Netherlands—to the energy crisis. As the study shows, the proposed energy programs in the three countries shared remarkable similarities; yet the policy outcomes were very different. To explain why, Michael T. Hatch goes beyond the specific content of government energy policy to include an analysis of the policymaking process itself.

  At the heart ...Read More

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  The Austro-Marxists 1890–1918: A Psychobiographical Study

  In the brilliant world of Vienna at the turn of the century four men—Karl Renner, Otto Bauer, Max Adler, and Friedrich Adler—sought to develop political and economic resolutions to the racial and cultural tensions that were beginning to strain the bonds of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this highly original study of these Austro-Marxists, Mark E. Blum uses the insights of depth psychology to trace the roots of their political philosophy in their family and social backgrounds. The Austro-Marxists 1890–1918 is the first book to offer a systematic examination of the thought and milieu of these four thinkers. The only major ...Read More