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441. Jospin, Political Cohabitation And Left Governance

Author:
John P. Willerton and Martin Carrier
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
This article illuminates the record of the Gauche Plurielle (GP) and Jospin-led coalition government-built upon a diverse parliamentary majority opposed by a sitting president-to construct a coherent political program and realize unanticipated policy-making achievements. Contrary to past cohabitation regimes and most Fifth Republic presidential-prime ministerial teams composed of officials from the same political party, the 1997-2002 Gauche Plurielle government retained power for its entire five-year elected mandate while advancing an aggressive domestic socio-economic agenda. The GP program, which Lionel Jospin termed a "réalisme de gauche," would combine Socialist Party (PS) commitments to social justice with economic growth and Communist Party (PCF) concerns over a heightened minimum wage and serious youth employment efforts. The allied Greens and other Left factions would be provided the opportunity to win seats in the National Assembly (in the Greens' case, for the first time) with an ability to influence policy making in their areas of special interest. Overall, the early years of the Left-Greens coalition would see the construction of major initiatives upon which all partners generally agreed, with pressures on the coalition becoming more evident in subsequent years as hard policy choices-reflective of the dominant PS-increasingly troubled the smaller partners.
Topic:
Government, Politics, and Governance

442. From Mondavi To Depardieu: The Global/Local Politics Of Wine

Author:
Diane Barthel-Bouchier and Lauretta Clough
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
This article examines this crisis in wine production through the prism of one Languedocien village faced with a decision of utmost economic and social significance. In 2000-2001, the California winemaker Robert Mondavi tried to buy land in the village of Aniane in order to build a winery that would produce wine of exceptional quality. The Mondavi company was already installed nearby in Montpellier as a purchaser of wines to be incorporated into its own blend under the label of Vichon Méditerranée. Its representative, David Pearson, was well acquainted with the local political scene. What Pearson and Mondavi appear to have underestimated, however, was the symbolic significance that would be attached to their attempt to purchase land in Aniane. For the land they wanted to buy was not private but communal, and they weren't ordinary winemakers but representatives of an American-owned multinational corporation.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
America and California

443. Anti-Americanisms In France

Author:
Sophie Meunier
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
Why do the French appear as incorrigible anti-Americans? Why is France singled out as a bastion of systematic opposition to US policies? Anti-Americanism can be defined as an unfavorable predisposition towards the United States, which leads individuals to interpret American actions through pre-existing views and negative stereotypes, irrespectively of the facts.8 It is based on a belief that there is something fundamentally wrong at the essence of what is America. This unfavorable predisposition manifests itself in beliefs, attitudes and rhetoric, which may or may not affect political behavior. Is France, according to this definition, anti-American? It is difficult in practice to distinguish between genuine anti-Americanism (disposition) and genuine criticism of the United States (opinion). It is partly because of this definitional ambiguity that France appears more anti-American than its European partners. While it is not clear that the French have a stronger negative predisposition against the US, they do have stronger opinions about America for at least three main reasons: the deep reservoir of anti-American arguments accumulated over the centuries; the simultaneous coexistence of a variety of types of anti-Americanism; and the costless ways in which anti-Americanism has been used for political benefit. This article explores each of these three features in turn, before discussing briefly the consequences of French anti-Americanism on world politics.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
United States, America, and France

444. Symptomatic Politics: The Banning of Islamic Head Scarves in French Public Schools

Author:
Joan W. Scott
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
The controversies in 1989, 1994, and 2003 over the wearing of head scarves were in part a response to international and domestic political developments (including, most importantly, surprising showings of political strength at the polls by the Front National). But they were also symptomatic of a much larger problem, one that seems unresolvable within the context of republican universalism. That is the problem of reconciling the fact of the growing diversity of the French population (most of the Muslims in question in these affaires are French citizens) with a theory of citizenship and representation that defines the recognition of difference as antithetical to the unity of the nation. French republicans consider it a dangerous practice to grant political standing to groups. Representatives of concrete, social concerns do not belong in the public (legislative) arena, they argue, because it must be maintained as a realm of abstraction where decisions are made on behalf of the whole people, a people whose presumed commonality means that any elected representative represents them all. The head scarf is a tangible sign of intolerable difference and of failed integration. It defies the long- standing requirement that only when immigrants assimilate (practicing their beliefs in private) do they become fully "French." It stands for everything that is thought to be wrong with Islam: porous boundaries between public and private and between politics and religion; the supposed degradation of female sexuality and subordination of women. The head scarf in the public, secular school is a synecdoche for Islam in the body of the French nation-state.
Topic:
Islam and Politics
Political Geography:
France

445. Turkey and the European Union: The Domestic Politics of Negotiating Pre-Accession

Author:
Kemal Kirisçi
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Turkey is facing massive challenges as a function of its aspiration to join the EU. In November 2000, the EU adopted the Accession Partnership Document, which listed the re-forms that Turkey was expected to adopt to be able to meet the Copenhagen political criteria. In the midst of these challenges, slowly but surely the EU and Turkey are moving closer to-gether. How can one explain the political process that has brought Turkey, after four decades of membership aspirations, to the very gates of EU membership? This essay will argue that the process was primarily driven by a long and bitter process of "negotiation" between advocates and opponents of membership within Turkey, on the one hand, and between a range of Turkish "negotiators or players" and their EU counterparts, on the other.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey

446. The Long Cycle of Global Politics and the Nation-State

Author:
George Modelski
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
In modern times a succession of world powers shaped the global system. The active focus for global organization has always been a world power and that the identity, values and resources of that power have shaped modern world experience. We observe that, since 1500 four states have in turn played a dominant role in the management of global interdependence and therefore fit the description of a world power: Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain and the US. In a fairly regular pattern each world power has been succeeded by another in a process that recalls, though it is not to be confused with the long-term succession of political regimes in a political system lacking regularized elections. One long cycle corresponds to each global power, except in the case of Britain, who has experienced two such cycles.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Britain, United States, and Netherlands

447. Caucasian Diaspora in Turkey and Its Impact on Turkish Foreign Policy

Author:
Mitat Çelikpala
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The concept of diaspora, which was incorporated into the literature on politics in the 1960s, has become a significant notion in current international politics. This study aims to present a theoretical assessment of the diaspora concept, followed by the organisation and the evolution of the Caucasian diaspora(s) in Turkey, which include Armenians, Azeris, Georgians and other North Caucasian peoples. It discusses their transformations from emigrants to diaspora, their views regarding each other as well as the changes that took place within these groups after the collapse of the Soviet Union which had a dramatic impact on their relations with their homelands. The second part of this study shifts the emphasis to the recent developments in Abkhazia and Chechnya, and to the activities and increasing influence of the diaspora over Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the political leaders in Turkey.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Migration, and Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Chechnya, Armenia, Georgia, and Abkhazia

448. Future of the European Union: Problems of Legitimacy, Constitutionalisation, and the Ultimate Goal of European Integration

Author:
Sanem Baykal
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
One of the pivotal issues the European Union is trying to solve right now is the link between identity, legitimacy and political order in Europe. This study argues that the Union will have to strike a balance between democracy and efficiency while reshaping its institutional structure, as it can only secure the allegiances of European peoples if it is deemed to be useful and successful by its citizens, while accomplishments would only be regarded as satisfactory when the process is legitimate and democratic. This study illustrates that the Draft Constitution adopts the option of maintaining the essence of the status quo as regards the institutional structure. The democratic and political deficits of the Union need to be bridged by innovative approaches which are compatible with the unique qualities of the Community method. The European Union constitutes a novel type of polity which necessitates original approaches to issues such as democracy, legitimacy and politics.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

449. Classical Geopolitical Theories in International Relations and Their Contemporary Interpretations

Author:
Ismail Hakki Iscan
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Geopolitics, which is the science of politics on geography, has throughout the history focused on geographical areas to be controlled or on geographical reasons for expansion of states. Those who aim to rule the world by controlling certain geographical areas have especially searched for ways of controlling Eurasia. In the core of geopolitical approaches that this paper deals with, is the aim of controlling the World through control of Eurasia first.
Topic:
International Relations, Energy Policy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Eurasia, and Asia

450. Antiracism Without Races: Politics and Policy in a "Color-Blind" State

Author:
Erik Bleich
Publication Date:
09-2000
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
Since the end of the Second World War, millions of immigrants have arrived on French shores. Although such an influx of foreigners has not been unusual in French history, the origin of the postwar migrants was of a different character than that of previous eras. Prior to World War II, the vast majority of immigrants to France came from within Europe. Since 1945, however, an important percentage of migrants have come from non- European sources. Whether from former colonies in North Africa, Southeast Asia, or sub- Saharan Africa, from overseas departments and territories, or from countries such as Turkey or Sri Lanka, recent immigration has created a new ethnic and cultural pluralism in France. At the end of the 1990s, the visibly nonwhite population of France totals approximately five percent of all French residents. With millions of ethnic-minority citizens and denizens, the new France wears a substantially different face from that of the prewar era.
Topic:
Politics and History
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Turkey, France, Sri Lanka, North Africa, and Southeast Asia