The Conditions of Democracy in Europe 1919-39 : Systematic Case Studies

List of Figures 1.1 Simplified system model 1.2 A 'conceptual map' of 16th-18th century Western Europe 2 1.3 Class structure according to Theodor Geiger (1932) 1.4 Components of political culture in a system framework 2.1 Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-39 Austria: From Compromise to Authoritarianism*....Pages 40-58 Belgium: Crisis and Compromise....Pages 59-84 Czechoslovakia: External Crisis and Internal Compromise....Pages 85-105 Estonia: Crisis and ‘Pre-Emptive’ Authoritarianism....Pages 106-128 Finland: From Conflict to Compromise....Pages 129-156 France: An Ambiguous Survival....Pages 157-183 Germany: From Double Crisis to National Socialism....Pages 184-212 Greece: Political Crisis and Authoritarian Takeover....Pages 213-241 Hungary: Crisis and Pseudo-Democratic Compromise....Pages 242-262 Ireland: Democratic Stability without Compromise....Pages 263-293 Italy: Early Crisis and Fascist Takeover....Pages 294-320 The Netherlands: Early Compromise and Democratic Stability....Pages 321-334 Poland: From Post-War Crisis to Authoritarianism....Pages 335-353 Portugal: Crisis and Early Authoritarian Takeover....Pages 354-380 Romania: Crisis without Compromise....Pages 381-395 Spain: The Double Breakdown....Pages 396-425 Sweden: The Durable Compromise....Pages 426-448 United Kingdom: Stability and Compromise....Pages 449-463 Conclusions and Perspectives....Pages 464-465 Back Matter....Pages 466-503 Between 1918 and 1945 there were many changes in European politics - old empires disappeared and new independent political systems emerged. Over the same period most countries faced similar problems - the world economic crisis and the rise of new ideologies and new political movements. But the political effects of these varied, and this study looks at the following key questions: why did democracy survive in some countries but not in others? How were some political institutions able to contain or manage the crises they faced but others collapsed or underwent radical transformation? This book outlines a new approach to this problem through the systematic analysis of eighteen polities within a common analytical framework. What is innovative is the weight given to economic, social and cultural factors in explaining the survival of democracy and the origins of fascism as well as the systematic incorporation of a range of political factors "A comprehensive study of the parliamentary regimes since 1789, the book covers the road to the parliamentarization of former constitutional monarchies and the creation of parliamentary regimes by exercising the constitution-making power of the people. What has been called democratization in most of the 'transitology' literature was, until 1918, mostly only 'parliamentarization'. Democratization of the regimes frequently caused a certain destabilization of the parliamentary regimes by new parties and extremist movement entering the political arena."--Jacket Why did democracy survive in some European countries between the wars while fascism or authoritarianism emerged elsewhere? This innovative study approaches this question through the comparative analysis of the inter-war experience of eighteen countries within a common comprehensive analytical framework. It combines (social and economic) structure- and (political) actor-related aspects to provide detailed historical accounts of each case which serve as background information for the systematic testing of major theories of fascism and democracy. Why did democracy survive in some European countries between the wars, while fascism or authoritarianism emerged elsewhere? This study approaches the question through the comparative analysis of the inter-war experience of 18 countries