Comparative European Politics
The Story of a Profession
Published on 1. December 1999
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-85567-399-1 (ISBN)
Description
A generation of scholars in America and Europe revisited and re-analyzed the experience of democratic government in Western Europe since 1945. In a process of rapid internationalization, they went beyond the single-country perspectives of some of the larger European states, which traditionally had dominated the study of comparative government. Developing new theories and typologies, using new research techniques and data, they laid the foundations for comparative European politics as a thriving area in modern political science. This text presents a portrait of a profession, through four intellectual biographies of leading scholars in the field. It shows how particular experiences turned them towards the study of politics. It describes the "personal" and "academic" milieus in which they developed as scholars, singling out important sources of intellectual inspiration and special political experiences. The work also describes the scholarly infrastructure for genuinely international research, and offers stories of academic careers, of achievements and of doubts, of lessons learned or imparted.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 24 mm
Width: 169 mm
Weight
790 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85567-399-1 (9781855673991)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
A founding father of comparative politics - Carl Joachim Friedrich, Klaus von Beyme; comparative government - the case of S.E. Finer, Dennis Kavanagh; Europe's comparatist from the Norwegian periphery - Stein Rokkan, Hans Daalder; Rudolf Wildenmann - German scholar, institution builder, democrat, Max Kasse; a voice from the Chicago School, Gabriel A. Almond; a brief intelectual autobiography, Robert A. Dahl; from comparative political systems to the analysis of civilizations - the civilizational framework of European politics, S.N. Eisenstadt; chance, luck and stubbornness, Giovanni Sartori; between nations and disciplines - personal experiences and intellectual understanding of societies and political regimes, Juan J. Linz; amateurs into professionals, Jean Blondel; the art of writing about politics, Richard Rose; between France and universality - from implicit to explicit comparison, Jack Hayward; seeking to understand European politics, Gordon Smith; the path to hesitant comparison, Vincent Wright; encounter with power, Pierre Birnbaum; providing against uncertainties - the discreet charms of political comparison, Guy Hermet; exploring concensus democracy, Gerhardt Lehmbruch; walking on two legs - comparative politics in East and West, Klaus von Beyme; four levels of comparison - an Austrian's tale, Peter Gerlich; a smaller European's opening frontiers, Hans Daalder; about peripheries, centres and other autobiographical reflections, Arend Lijphart; present at the creation, Mogens N. Pedersen; political sociology and comparative politics, Erik Allardt; "the civic culture" and beyond - citizens, subjects and survey research in comparative perspective, Sidney Verba; autobiographical reflections on how to live with a conceptual albatross around one's neck, Philippe C. Schmitter; conflict and political order, Tewd R. Gurr; a journey through the social sciences, Harold L. Wilensky.