| Preface | p. xiii |
| Part I Introduction |
| Chapter 1 The European Context | p. 1 |
| The Purpose and Organization of This Book | p. 2 |
| The Emergence of Today's Europe | p. 3 |
| European Integration | p. 7 |
| Describing Europe: Large and Small Countries | p. 7 |
| Describing Europe: Rich and Poor Countries | p. 9 |
| Democratic Policies and Welfare in Europe | p. 11 |
| Development, Modernization, and Democracy | p. 14 |
| Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Europe | p. 17 |
| Democracy and Democratization | p. 23 |
| Chapter 2 Democratic Political Culture and Political Action | p. 28 |
| The Cultural Foundations of Democracy | p. 29 |
| The Levels of a Political Culture | p. 32 |
| Participation and Democracy | p. 42 |
| The Role of Interest Groups | p. 47 |
| The Public and Democracy | p. 49 |
| Chapter 3 Democratic Government in Europe | p. 53 |
| Constitutional Organization: Rules for Making Rules | p. 54 |
| Constitutional Organization: Electoral Rules | p. 60 |
| Parties and Party Competition | p. 62 |
| Government Formation and Policymaking | p. 70 |
| Introducing and Sustaining Democracy | p. 76 |
| Part II The Established Democracies |
| Chapter 4 Politics in England | p. 85 |
| Current Policy Challenges | p. 86 |
| The Constraints of History | p. 87 |
| The Environment of Politics | p. 90 |
| The Structure of Government | p. 95 |
| Political Culture and Legitimacy | p. 106 |
| Political Socialization | p. 110 |
| Political Participation and Recruitment | p. 113 |
| Organizing Group Interests | p. 116 |
| Party System and Electoral Choice | p. 120 |
| Making and Delivering Government Policies | p. 125 |
| Policy Outcomes and Changes in Society | p. 133 |
| Chapter 5 Politics in France | p. 139 |
| Current Policy Challenges | p. 140 |
| A Historical Perspective | p. 140 |
| Economy and Society | p. 141 |
| Constitution and Governmental Structure | p. 143 |
| Political Culture | p. 146 |
| Political Socialization | p. 151 |
| Mass and Elite Recruitment | p. 155 |
| Interest Groups | p. 162 |
| Political Parties | p. 167 |
| Policy Processes | p. 177 |
| The State and Territorial Relations | p. 184 |
| Performance and Prospects | p. 187 |
| Chapter 6 Politics in Germany | p. 197 |
| Current Policy Challenges | p. 198 |
| The Historical Legacy | p. 199 |
| Following Two Paths | p. 201 |
| Social Forces | p. 205 |
| The Institutions and Structure of Government | p. 208 |
| Remaking Political Cultures | p. 212 |
| Political Learning and Political Communication | p. 217 |
| Citizen Participation | p. 220 |
| Politics at the Elite Level | p. 223 |
| Interest Groups | p. 224 |
| The Party System | p. 227 |
| The Electoral System | p. 233 |
| The Policy Process | p. 236 |
| Policy Performance | p. 240 |
| The Policy Challenges of Unification | p. 245 |
| After the Revolution | p. 248 |
| Part III Democratic Transitions |
| Chapter 7 Politics in Spain | p. 253 |
| Policy Challenges | p. 253 |
| The Historical Legacy | p. 254 |
| Democracy and Spain's Historical Cleavages | p. 256 |
| Resolving the Center-Periphery Cleavage | p. 257 |
| Structure and Process of the Political System | p. 259 |
| Political Culture and Political Socialization | p. 269 |
| Interest Groups | p. 273 |
| Electoral Competition in Spain | p. 278 |
| Policy Performance and Outcomes | p. 291 |
| The Peaceful Disappearance of the Two Spains | p. 301 |
| Chapter 8 Politics in Russia | p. 307 |
| Rebuilding Russia | p. 307 |
| Changing Political Institutions | p. 308 |
| Russian Political Culture in the Post-Soviet Period | p. 320 |
| Political Participation and Social Capital | p. 322 |
| Interest Articulation: From Statism to Pluralism | p. 325 |
| The Politics of Economic Reform | p. 338 |
| Rule Adjudication: Toward a Constitutional Order | p. 343 |
| Is Russia a Democracy? | p. 347 |
| Chronology of Major Political Events: Russia, 1989-2000 | p. 348 |
| Chapter 9 Politics in Poland | p. 357 |
| Current Policy Challenges | p. 358 |
| The Making of Modern Poland | p. 358 |
| Structure of the Political System | p. 368 |
| Political Culture | p. 374 |
| Political Socialization | p. 378 |
| Political Participation | p. 381 |
| Leadership Recruitment | p. 382 |
| Interest Groups | p. 384 |
| Political Parties | p. 389 |
| The Policymaking Process | p. 397 |
| Policy Outcomes | p. 399 |
| Conclusion | p. 404 |
| Chapter 10 Politics in Hungary | p. 409 |
| Current Policy Challenges | p. 410 |
| Historical Development and Political Experience in Hungary | p. 411 |
| Social Forces in Transition | p. 418 |
| The New Democratic Structures | p. 421 |
| A Democratic Political Culture in the Making? | p. 427 |
| Elite Level Politics | p. 433 |
| Interest Groups in Transition | p. 434 |
| New Politics Groups | p. 437 |
| Democratic Elections and the Emerging Party System | p. 438 |
| Policy Process and Performance | p. 448 |
| A Decade After the Revolution | p. 450 |
| Part IV The International Dimension |
| Chapter 11 Politics in the European Union | p. 455 |
| Why "Europe"? | p. 456 |
| Historical Origins | p. 457 |
| The Institutions | p. 469 |
| National Governments as Actors | p. 477 |
| Political Parties | p. 477 |
| Interest Groups | p. 481 |
| Public Opinion--Does It Matter? | p. 482 |
| The Policymaking Process | p. 485 |
| External Relations | p. 491 |
| Entanglement of the "National" and the "European" | p. 491 |
| Policy Performance | p. 492 |
| Policy Challenges | p. 495 |
| Appendix A Guide to Comparing Nations | p. 503 |
| Index | p. 505 |