While globalization affects the sovereignty of every nation-state, European countries face special challenges due to the emergence of the European Union. The State of Europe explores the transformation of ideas of statehood in light of the EU's continued development, including rapidly changing notions of democracy, representation, and citizenship alongside major shifts in economic regulation. This book will be an essential guide for students and teachers of economics, political science, and international relations, as well as anyone interested in the expanding role of the EU worldwide.

Examines the democratic legitimacy of international organisations from a republican perspective, diagnoses the EU as suffering from a democratic disconnect and offers 'demoicracy' as the cure.

E-government and democratic politics / by Mike Margolis -- E-government and the European Union / by Paul Nixon -- E-government under construction : challenging traditional conceptions of citizenship / by Miriam Lips -- Danger mouse? : the growing threat of cyberterrorism / by Rajash Rawal -- E-government and the United Kingdom / by Nicholas Pleace -- The digital republic : re-newing the French state via e-government / by Fabienne Greffet -- E-government in Germany / by Tina Siegfried -- Re-organizing government using it : the Danish model / by Kim Viborg Andersen, Helle Zinne Henriksen & Eva Born Rasmussen -- E-government in the Netherlands / by Martin van Rossum and Desire Dreessen -- The reform and modernization of Greek public administration via e-government / by Vassiliki N. Koutrakou -- ALT-TAB : from ICTS to organizational innovation in Portugal / by Gustavo Cardoso and Tiago Lapa -- Estonia : the short road to e-government and e-democracy / by Marc Ernsdorff and Adriana Berbec -- This revolution will be digitized! : e-government in Hungary / by Katalin Szalki and Paul Nixon -- E-government and Slovenia's multiple transitions / by Darren Purcell.

In this volume an international team of scholars builds up a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal history of Europe over six centuries. It forms a fundamental starting-point for an understanding of the distinctiveness of the emerging European states, and highlights the issue of fiscal power as an essential prerequisite for the development of the modern state. The study underlines the importance of technical developments by the state, its capacity to innovate, and, however imperfect the techniques, the greater detail and sophistication of accounting practice towards the end of the period. New taxes had been developed, new wealth had been tapped, new mechanisms of enforcement had been established. In general, these developments were made in western Europe; the lack of progress in some fiscal systems, especially those in eastern Europe, is an issue of historical importance in its own right and lends particular significance to the chapters on Poland and Russia. By the eighteenth century `mountains of debt' and high debt-revenue ratios had become the norm in western Europe, yet in the east only Russia was able to adapt to the western model by 1815. The capacity of governments to borrow, and the interaction of the constraints on borrowing and the power to tax had become the real test of the fiscal powers of the `modern state' by 1800-15.

"This unique book examines the history, culture, and inner workings of the seven smallest independent countries in Europe. These are among the oldest states on the continent and, despite their diversity, they have much in common. Most have relatively high per capita incomes and life expectancies, and relatively low unemployment. This narrative presents the unique issues that confront small countries, including maintaining their independence, economic viability, preserving their native languages, and sustaining their governments. The second part of the book describes each microstate in turn, showing how each one has met these challenges and adapted over time. These concise and engaging chapters contain cultural information on subjects including the arts, gastronomy, and popular tourist sites."--Provided by publisher.

In the heart of Europe's current crisis, one of the continent's foremost statesmen issues a clarion call to radically remake the European Union in the mold of the United States' own federal government Europe is caught in its greatest crisis since the Second World War. The catalog of ills seems endless: an economic crisis spread through most of Europe's Mediterranean tier that has crippled Greece and driven a wedge between northern and southern Europe; terrorist attacks in Paris, Cologne, Brussels, and Nice; growing aggression from Russia in Ukraine and the Baltic states; and refugees escaping war-torn neighbors. The European Union's inability to handle any of these disasters was a driving factor in Great Britain voting to leave, and others may soon follow. The result won't just be a continent in turmoil, but also a serious threat to American and British security-the Atlantic, let alone the Channel, simply isn't big enough to keep European troubles in Europe. For everyone's sake, Europe must survive. The question is how. In Europe's Last Chance, Guy Verhofstadt-former prime minister of Belgium and current leader of the liberal faction in the European Parliament-provides the essential framework for understanding Europe today, laying bare the absurdity of a system in which each member state can veto legislation, opt in or out of the Euro, or close borders on a whim. But Verhofstadt does not just indict the European Union, he also offers a powerful vision for how the continent can change for the better. The key, argues Verhofstadt, is to reform the European Union along the lines of America's federal government: a United States of Europe strong enough to stand with the United States of America in making a better, safer world. A visionary book from one of today's luminaries of European leadership, Europe's Last Chance is a clarion call to save the European Union, one of the world's greatest chances for peace and prosperity.

Europe, the State and Globalisation explores the interplay between the state and state sovereignty, nationalism, European integration and globalisation. It provides essential foundations in all these areas, while using stimulating arguments to prompt discussion and provoke interest in the relationships between these processes. Throughout, Europe, the State and Globalisation addresses various issues of historical and theoretical importance, including the institutions of the European Union, integration theory, regional policy, multilevel governance and EU enlargement, International Relations theory, the nature and impact of globalisation, the challenges of transnational government and the changing nature of the state The text is ideal for undergraduate courses in European Politics.

This volume is the definite statement on the current state of political science as a discipline in Western Europe. Detailfour chapters portray European developments. To know about the historical development, the organization of teaching and research, professional communication, and the chances of students of political science in the job market is of essential importance to political scientists, university administrators, and policy makers national, European, and global. This is particularly true after the Bologna Declaration when universities across Europe were asked to adopt (1) a system of easily readable and comparable degrees, (2) a system based on two cycles, (3) the establishment of a common system of credits, (4) to increase student and teacher mobility, (5) to assure quality standards, and (6) to improve the European dimension in teaching. The book informs on these general issues and reports country specific developments.

The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia marked the emergence of the nation-state as the dominant political entity in Europe. This book traces the development of the nation-state from its infancy as a virtual dynastic possession, through its incarnation as the embodiment of the sovereign popular will. Three sections chronicle the critical epochs of this transformation, beginning with the belief in the "divine right" of monarchical rule and ending with the concept that the people, not their leaders, are the heart of a nation--an enduring political ideal that remains the basis of the modern nation-state.

This book is a groundbreaking study of the historical reasons for the divergence in public health policies adopted in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, and the spectrum of responses to the threat of contagious diseases such as cholera, smallpox and syphilis. In particular the book examines the link between politics and prevention. Did the varying political regimes influence the styles of precaution adopted? Or was it, as Peter Baldwin argues, a matter of more basic differences between nations, above all their geographic placement in the epidemiological trajectory of contagion, that helped shape their responses and their basic assumptions about the respective claims of the sick and of society, and fundamental political decisions for and against different styles of statutory intervention? Thus the book seeks to use medical history to illuminate broader questions of the development of statutory intervention and the comparative and divergent evolution of the modern state in Europe.