Elites in French Society

Elites in French Society PDF Author: Ezra N. Suleiman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400871301
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Why do some elites survive while others do not? How do certain institutions manage to preserve their importance in the face of crises, instability, and change? How does a democratic society legitimize elitist institutions? Combining the use of important social theories—particularly those of Mosca, Schumpeter, Tocqueville, and Pareto—with empirical analysis, Ezra Suleiman tries to answer these questions in his examination of the dominance and stability of France's governing elites. The author draws on original survey data, historical evidence, and specialized documentary sources. His three part discussion deals, first, with the state institutions that nurture the French elite; second, with the organization, legitimization, and adaptation of the elite and its institutions; and third, with some of the policy and political implications of France's elitist system. In the final section of his book, he closely examines the relationship between elites in the public and private sectors. In his investigation of France's "state-created" elites, Professor Suleiman shows the great importance of the grandes écoles in training and promoting the elites, and the grand corps in providing a base from which the elites launch themselves into extra-governmental careers. He also finds that the elites' capacity to adapt to an evolving social, political, and economic environment is a major factor in their ability to survive. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Elites in French Society

Elites in French Society PDF Author: Ezra N. Suleiman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400871301
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why do some elites survive while others do not? How do certain institutions manage to preserve their importance in the face of crises, instability, and change? How does a democratic society legitimize elitist institutions? Combining the use of important social theories—particularly those of Mosca, Schumpeter, Tocqueville, and Pareto—with empirical analysis, Ezra Suleiman tries to answer these questions in his examination of the dominance and stability of France's governing elites. The author draws on original survey data, historical evidence, and specialized documentary sources. His three part discussion deals, first, with the state institutions that nurture the French elite; second, with the organization, legitimization, and adaptation of the elite and its institutions; and third, with some of the policy and political implications of France's elitist system. In the final section of his book, he closely examines the relationship between elites in the public and private sectors. In his investigation of France's "state-created" elites, Professor Suleiman shows the great importance of the grandes écoles in training and promoting the elites, and the grand corps in providing a base from which the elites launch themselves into extra-governmental careers. He also finds that the elites' capacity to adapt to an evolving social, political, and economic environment is a major factor in their ability to survive. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In the Shadow of the Rising Sun

In the Shadow of the Rising Sun PDF Author: William S. Dietrich
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271028130
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Why is the United States unable to compete effectively with Japan? What explains the inability of American political leaders to devise an industrial policy capable of focusing the energies of American business on the task of meeting the Japanese challenge? How can America emerge from the shadow of the Rising Sun? This book addresses these questions and proposes a controversial decision. To get at the political roots of American economic decline, businessman-scholar William Dietrich puts the disciplined thinking of political philosophy, comparative politics, and international political economy to effective use in analyzing the source and nature of American institutional weakness. Unlike many who have written on U.S.-Japanese relations, Dietrich does not seek a solution a particular new policy or institutional innovation, such as an American counterpart to Japan's MITI. Rather, he emphasizes the systemic nature of America's problems. The failures of management, finance, and politics are interlocking and reinforcing, he shows, and thus a change in the others that spell doom for any partial approach. Most fundamental, however, are the political weaknesses of the system. It is in the basic political inheritance of America, reflected in the very design of the Constitution and the long dominance of Jeffersonian individualism over Hamiltonian statism, that we must locate the roots of American impotence in the face of Japan's challenge. As the problem is systemic, so must the solution be equally wide-ranging. Nothing short of &"fundamental institutional reform,&" Dietrich argues, will succeed in reversing America's downward course. Boasts about the victory of free-market capitalism in the wake of the collapse of the Communist state-directed system are premature and distract attention form the necessary recognition that it is the Japanese combination of the free market with a strong central state and a highly skilled professional bureaucracy that has really proved triumphant in our modern age of advanced technology. Only if we fully understand the reasons for Japanese success and American decline can we begin the arduous but crucial task of reconstructing the American polity to give it the power required to formulate and implement a national industrial policy that can regain for the United States its preeminent place among the world's industrial powers. The alternative, Dietrich describes in a chilling scenario, is a &"Pax Nipponica&" that will find America playing second fiddle to Japan with economic, cultural, and political consequences that will make Britain's eclipse by the United States earlier in this century seem mild by comparison.

States in the Global Economy

States in the Global Economy PDF Author: Linda Weiss
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521525381
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
The growing interconnectedness of national economies and an expanding awareness of global interdependence in the 1990s have generated lively debate over the future of national governance. In a world of mobile capital, are states vital to the social and economic wellbeing of their citizens? A number of changes in the state's domestic and international environment - ranging from regulatory reforms and welfare state restructuring to the proliferation of intergovernmental agreements - have promoted the view that globalisation has a negative impact, compromising state capacities to govern domestically. This book challenges the 'constraints thesis'. Covering vital areas of state activity (welfare, taxation, industrial strategy, and regulatory reform), the contributors focus on a range of issues (finance, trade, technology) faced by both developed and developing countries. The contributors argue that globalisation can enable as well as constrain, and they seek to specify the institutional conditions which sharpen or neutralise the pressures of interdependence.

Government and Politics of France

Government and Politics of France PDF Author: Anne Stevens
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349221023
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Provides an introduction to the working of the major political institutions in France: the presidency, parliament, the government and administrative machinery, local government, political parties and pressure groups. The book is illustrated with documents, tables, figures and exhibits.

Interpreting American Democracy in France

Interpreting American Democracy in France PDF Author: Walter Dennis Gray
Publisher: Associated University Presse
ISBN: 9780874134612
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
"Interpreting American Democracy in France is a study of the French savant, liberal, politician, and Americanist Edouard Laboulaye. Laboulaye, who was a professor at the College de France, is perhaps best known in America today as president of the Union Franco-Americaine, which raised funds in France for the Statute of Liberty. He was also well known to Americans in the nineteenth century, particularly for his staunch support of the Union in the American Civil War. He and his circle influenced French public opinion and were instrumental in preventing the government of Napoleon III from recognizing the Confederacy." "After the Revolutions of 1848, the aftermath of which disillusioned him, a dominant theme in Laboulaye's writings was that America provided France with a model constitution that guaranteed individual liberties and a stable political system; it was his great hope that his country would follow this example. As France's leading Americanist, Laboulaye's energies were devoted to lectures on American history and politics and work on behalf of the North during the Civil War. He was also a translator of the works of those Americans for whom he had a special devotion: Franklin, Channing, and Mann. As a founding father of the Third Republic, Laboulaye drew great satisfaction from the fact that some principles drawn from the American political tradition were embodied in its constitutional laws. Additionally, Laboulaye was the first Frenchman to give a course on American history at a French university, and he later published a three-volume history of the United States, which stands as his masterpiece. He was a member of the liberal opposition to Napoleon III and after 1870 became active in the Third Republic, serving as deputy and later senator for life." "In France Laboulaye is primarily known as a professor at the respected College de France, a position he maintained throughout his entire career, and as a member of the Institut de France. He was also president of the French Anti-Slavery Society. Laboulaye was, in fact, a savant of almost universal interests who held a place at the center of French intellectual life during the Second Empire and the early Third Republic. His bibliography, comprised of books, pamphlets, essays, children's stories, and articles, totals over two hundred entries. His final years as a senator for life were devoted in large part to a successful fundraising campaign for the Statute of Liberty, which he did not live to see erected in New York Harbor, and to carrying on the fight for political liberty as he envisioned it." "This book is based on extensive research into the unpublished papers of Laboulaye, which are still in his family's possession, and manuscripts in other depositories in France and the United States."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Fifth Republic at Twenty

The Fifth Republic at Twenty PDF Author: William G. Andrews
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791494950
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
The first twenty years of the Fifth Republic encompass four presidential elections, alternating political control of the National Assembly, and years of rapid economic growth and contraction. Thus a variety of events now allow an evaluation of the efficacy of the Fifth Republic. The chapters of this book examine: the governmental framework and various political groups that have vied for control of it; industrial development and modernization; education and culture; and foreign policy. Containing both favorable and critical assessments, the book provides a comprehensive balance sheet on the Fifth Republic and the influence of Charles de Gaulle. Its 25 essays were written by such well-known scholars as Crozier, Gagnon, Gourévitch, Ross, Suleiman, and others, as well as some of the younger generation of French specialists, with concluding synthesis by Stanley Hoffmann. The book features an essay of historical importance on the Constitution of the Fifth Republic by the Constitution's own "father," the former Prime Minister of France, Michel Debré. Looking into the areas of government, politics, economy, society, culture, and foreign policy, this volume gives the reader an understanding of the considerable impact of Charles de Gaulle's administration on contemporary France.

From State to Market?

From State to Market? PDF Author: Vivien A. Schmidt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521555531
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
In examining the changing role of the French state in the economy between 1981 and 1995 and its impact on business, this text details the governmental policies of nationalization, privatization, deregulation, and European integration.

Policymaking Under Adversity

Policymaking Under Adversity PDF Author: Yehezkel Dror
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351499300
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
This groundbreaking study systematically treats recent policymaking trends, starting with a reconsideration of salient theoretical issues of policymaking and its study and culminating with a survey of current policy-related predicaments in various countries. Dror proposes that the task for social science research is to uncover underlying causes of policymaking inadequacies. Standard research methods, Dror states, have been unable to uncover the realities of important decisions made inside governments. In order to gain an understanding of pressing predicaments, he believes that policymakers need to examine the foundations of contemporary practices of present assumptions, and that they need a multiplicity of approaches to policymaking.After prescribing a set of requirements that policymaking must satisfy in order to adequately respond to challenges, Dror posits several improvements needed in education and in policy decision making. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography, including numerous important German works not found in other English-language studies. This book supplements the earlier basic theory and models propounded in Dror's Public Policymaking Reexamined by dealing with current trends. As a guide to public policy literature and related works, it will be invaluable to students and practitioners.

Big Business

Big Business PDF Author: Youssef Cassis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198296061
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
The manner in which Britain, Germany and France have conducted business this century is analysed in this comparative study. It focuses on key companies and business elites and their performance at critical times.

The Sources of Social Power: Volume 2, The Rise of Classes and Nation-States, 1760-1914

The Sources of Social Power: Volume 2, The Rise of Classes and Nation-States, 1760-1914 PDF Author: Michael Mann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107031184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 845

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Book Description
This second volume deals with power relations between the Industrial Revolution and the First World War.