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Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders

Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders

Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders

Leader Assessments, Responses, and Consequences
Richard Ned Lebow, King's College London
Ludvig Norman, Stockholms Universitet
January 2024
Available
Paperback
9781009265072

    This volume focuses on the assessments political actors make of the relative fragility and robustness of political orders. The core argument developed and explored throughout its different chapters is that such assessments are subjective and informed by contextually specific historical experiences that have important implications for how leaders respond. Their responses, in turn, feed into processes by which political orders change. The volume's contributions span analyses of political orders at the state, regional and global levels. They demonstrate that assessments of fragility and robustness have important policy implications but that the accuracy of assessments can only be known with certainty ex post facto. The volume will appeal to scholars and advanced students of international relations and comparative politics working on national and international orders.

    • Recognizes the subjective nature of all assessments of fragility and robustness
    • Analyzes orders at multiple levels (state, regional, and international)
    • Features contributions from leading scholars

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘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

    See more reviews

    Product details

    January 2024
    Paperback
    9781009265072
    328 pages
    228 × 152 × 17 mm
    0.48kg
    1 b/w illus.
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. 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.
      Contributors
    • Richard Ned Lebow, Ludvig Norman, Peter Breiner, Paul Petzschmann, Andrew Lawrence, Archie Brown, Ariane Chebel d'Appollonia, Douglas Webber

    • Editors
    • Richard Ned Lebow , King's College London

      Richard Ned Lebow is the author of fifty books on international relations, comparative politics, political theory, history, classics, and philosophy of science. He has also recently published his first novel and a book of short stories. Lebow is a fellow of the British Academy and the recipient of many book awards and honorary degrees.

    • Ludvig Norman , Stockholms Universitet

      Ludvig Norman studies European politics, democratic theory, and social science methodology. He is the author of the book The Mechanisms of Institutional Conflict in the European Union (2016) and recent articles in Journal of Common Market Studies, Political Studies, European Journal of International Relations, European Journal of Social Theory, and Cooperation and Conflict.