Power,politics and business

The study of business and politics is attracting new interest, perhaps due to changing configurations of power in Western societies undergoing rapid but uneven structural and cultural change. Previous debates have demonstrated the inadequacy of the pressure group model, primarily because of its insensitivity to the socio‐economic foundations of power and the significance of the cultural context. This paper reviews the approach proposed by Charles E. Lindblom's Politics and Markets, examines some attempts to refine that approach and advances some criticisms of a general methodological nature. It is suggested that neo‐marxist perspectives are more likely than post‐pluralist ones to be able to comprehend the articulation of agency and context, or behaviour and structure. A concluding section points to the relative paucity of Australian work on business and politics, notes the contributions of Connell and Irving and Tsokhas, and suggests that the increasingly important and volatile field of banking and finance has been especially neglected.     

Student participation in tutorials

Abstract

Figures showing the participation pattern in geography tutorials (at one institution) are presented and the problem of poor student participation is identified. Four devices for increasing student participation are then outlined, followed by a brief discussion of the rationale underlying such devices.     

Federalism: Money and politics

J. S. H. Hunter, Revenue Sharing in the Federal Republic of Germany, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations, Research Monograph No. 2, ANU, 1973, pp. 116 + xi, $3.00.     

Urban politics: Theory and practice

Blair Badcock, Unfairly Structured Cities, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1984, pp. 395, $17.95 (paper).

John Halligan and Chris Paris (eds), Australian Urban Politics: critical perspectives, Melbourne, Longman Cheshire, 1984, pp. 247, $12.95 (paper).     

Italian politics: no improvement in sight

Abstract

The victory of the center left in the April 2006 elections was the product of a small numerical majority that has been translated into a slim parliamentary majority in the Senate. However, the difficulties of Prodi's government have deeper roots. This article explores the structural factors of Italy's never ending political and institutional transitions, both in the political and in the social sphere. Electoral and institutional reforms may help, but the crisis runs deeper because it also affects the authorities, their origin, their quality, their performance and the political community, its fragmentation and its anti-political beliefs.     

Doing Italian history: Pleasure and politics

This is the second part of a general historiographical review of recent studies on the formation of a modern Italian nation and national identities. The review is organized chronologically, and this second part covers literature on the development of the Italian state and society from Fascism to the birth of the Republic. Si tratta della seconda parte di una articolo dedicato al tema del proceso di 'nation and state building' e modernizzazione in Italia, con particolare attenzione per i temi della costruzione della macchina statale e dell'identità nazionale. La prima parte si era soffermata sul periodo risorgimentale e sull'Italia liberale fino alla prima guerra mondiale e all'avvento del regime fascista. L'articolo tenta di ricostruire in maniera critica i nuovi contributi interpretativi di un dibattito come quello sul processo di costruzione dello stato nazionale unitario, che di recente sembra essersi riacceso, collocandoli nel solco di una tradizione storiografica sul tema, oramai consolidata. Accanto a questa, infatti, sembra farsi strada una nuova stagione di studi, molto meno ancorata al peso che per lungo tempo hanno esercitato i differenti condizionamenti ideologici. In questa seconda parte vengono analizzate le interpretazioni storiografiche, basate su nuove ricerche recentemente condotte, sul ventennio fascista e sulla nascità e lo sviluppo dell'Italia Repubblicana.     

Islamisation and politics in Sudan

Sudan achieved an Islamic revolution recently without violence. Through a ‘creeping’ revolution that started in the 1970s, Islamic fundamentalists have consolidated their power through wealth and systematic control of the civil service, the economy, the judiciary and the armed forces. The fact that the major political parties in northern Sudan, except the Communist Party, have been affiliated to religious sects does not mean all Muslims support the Sharia. Fundamentalists comprise 20% of Sudan's Muslim population, but they are richer, better organised and more highly motivated. The implementation of the Sharia has been accompanied by the entrenchment of dictatorial rule, a weakening of institutions, the erosion of civil liberties, the aggravation of the civil war in southern Sudan and an ever‐worsening economic malaise. The revolution has also caused apprehension in Washington and some African and Arab states, but there is as yet no evidence that Sudan poses a direct threat to its neighbours.     

Race and politics in Milwaukee

Peter Eisenger. Poverty, Race, and the Politics of Integration. New York: Academic Press.     

Rumour and politics

This article contends that rumour—the circulation of unverified information —is an important form of political communication which deserves more attention from political scientists. To illustrate this claim a study is made of the part played by rumour in the ‘destabilisation’ of Malcolm Fraser's position as leader of the Liberal Party in August to October 1981. Health is a natural subject of rumour, and rumours about Mr. Fraser's health were used as the basis for speculation about a possible leadership challenge by Mr. Andrew Peacock. The collective character of parliamentary party politics, the artificial nature of media ‘facts’ and the predominance of certain types of news value in the media all encourage such rumours to flourish. The rumours had the effect of destabilising Mr. Fraser's position by creating and then enlarging a climate of uncertainty and anxiety within the Liberal Party and the electorate. Mr. Peacock was thereby enabled to test the strength of his potential support without being obliged to risk an open challenge. The author concludes that the most apt model of rumour to this case is that of ‘milling’, on the analogy of a ‘milling crowd’.     

Intellectuals and politics

ABSTRACT. By imagining their audiences, intellectuals invented and constructed the collective identities of nations and transnational communities like Europe or humankind. Four ideal types of intellectuals are outlined by describing them in their relation to politics: the intellectual as cosmopolitan ascetic; the intellectual as enlightened legislator; the intellectual as revolutionary; and the intellectual as the voice of a traumatic memory. These ideal types change over time in response to their focus of attention and their mode of communication. Because of changes in their media (from handwritten to printed books) and changes in their written language (from Latin to French and Italian, and further to vernacular languages), intellectuals were able to change views on past, present and future times. Today, they are involved in (civic) resistance but rarely in politics per se. By renewing the tension of the sacred and profane – the so‐called axial‐age revolution – contemporary intellectuals in Eastern Europe are decoupled from direct political power.     

Language and politics in Italy: from Moro to Berlusconi

The article posits the existence of a nexus between some language dimensions on the one hand, and the type of party system and degree of electoral volatility on the other. The first part dissects the old language of Italian politics, these days contemptuously referred to as politichese , and argues that its cryptic character can be properly understood only if seen against both the functional requirements and systemic constraints of the Italian post-war political regime in general, and the functioning of its party system in particular. The second part examines the new language that emerged in the early 1990s, the so-called gentese , and argues that its populist characteristics are linked to the disintegration of old parties which meant that a sizeable portion of the electorate was up for grabs. Other important factors were the emergence of political actors who wished to differentiate themselves from those of the past and their perception that the Italian party system was changing. Il saggio esplora alcuni dei nessi esistenti tra varie dimensioni del linguaggio politico (lessico, complessitÀ sintattica, tono) da un lato, e dimensioni politiche (tipo di sistema di partiti e grado di mobilitÀ elettorale) dall'altro. La prima parte esamina il vecchio linguaggio della politica italiana, oggi sprezzantemente definito politichese , e sostiene che il suo carattere ermetico e complesso è da collegarsi ad alcune caratteristiche del sistema politico della Prima Repubblica e al suo sistema partitico in particolare. La seconda parte esamina il nuovo linguaggio politico italiano (il cosiddetto gentese ) e sostiene che le sue caratteristiche populiste vanno collegate all'aumento della mobilitÀ elettorale registrata all'inizio degli anni 90 (dovuta anche alla disintegrazione dei partiti tradizionali) e alla percezione, largamente errata, dei nuovi attori politici che la riforma della legge elettorale avrebbe condotto necessariamente a un sistema partitico bipolare.