Description
Book SynopsisA comparative, interdisciplinary volume on the robustness and fragility of political orders that focuses on leader understandings and their consequences. It includes studies of failed orders, like the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union, current orders, like the United States, regional orders, such as the European Union, and international orders.
Trade Review'This timely volume examines the political robustness and fragility of political orders, which has become a pressing issue today. By focusing on the role of leaders at the domestic, regional, and international levels of analysis, this book provides a wealth of historical insights for understanding our present situation.' Brian C. Schmidt, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
'Eight specialists consider the future of democratic governance, providing rich case studies of the conditions under which choices made by political actors have undermined or strengthened the stability of their political orders. A stimulating and suggestive read that generates novel insights.' George Breslauer, University of California, Berkeley
Table of Contents1. Introduction Richard Ned Lebow and Ludvig Norman; 2. Robustness and fragility of political orders Richard Ned Lebow; 3. End of democracy or recurrent conflict: minimalist democracy, legitimacy crisis, and political equality Peter Breiner; 4. Politics and the administrative state: perceptions of stability and fragility in Weimar Germany Paul Petzschmann; 5. Roots in common: the fragility-robustness of democratic and ecological regimes Andrew Lawrence; 6. The end of communist rule in Europe: a comparative perspective on the fragility and robustness of regimes Archie Brown; 7. Democracy's fragility and the European political order: functionalism, militant democracy, and crisis Ludvig Norman; 8. The American Fragility-Robustness Nexus Ariane Chebel d'Appollonia; 9. The perils of choice: structure and agency in EU crisis management Douglas Webber; 10. Conclusion Richard Ned Lebow and Ludvig Norman.
