POLI 212 - MARCH 19.docx

MARCH 19, 2012:  How post war settlements changed in the 1970s and 1980s is a function of how post war settlements emerged initially after 1945.  France and Italy: labour exclusion  Moderation of the left comes later in both France and Italy. Moderation of the left comes after an episode of labour militancy in both cases. In France this is “May-June ’68,” and there is an episode of widespread labour unrest in French politics in 1968 th that quickly mutates into a more wide ranging attack on the institutions of the 5 republic. There is a similar episode in Italian politics in early 1970, known as the “hot autumn.” First, there is mobilization of the left (parties, trade unions) and this mutates into a wider attack on Italian institutions. In both of these episodes, the communist parties are important actors (PCF and PCR).  In both cases, there are powerful communist parties and powerful communist trade unions. In both cases, parties of the left are excluded from political power. The one exception is the irregular appearance of the socialist party and the coalitions that government France in the 4 republic. In general, parties on the left do not have political power.  Although they are both patterns of labour exclusions, there are differences in terms of the presence and importance of the state. State planning is not important in Italy and is much more important in France. The state much more involved in France in setting targets for specific industries. The Italian state is weaker than the French state.  In Italy, the legislature dominates politics, not the political executive. State bureaucracy is a much more important player in France than in Italy. In France, there is a kind of modernizing political coalition that links business and state.  There is institutional continuity in Italy, and there is institutional discontinuity in st France (Italy is still under the 1 republic and is stable as a constitution in regime, whereas France moved from the 4 to the 5 .) th  In Italy, one party dominates well into the 1980s (the Christian Democratic Party), and this party is embedded in and connected to a catholic network and can draw on its linkages to the church and affiliated organizations. It is also able to bridge the division between North and South in Italy. This party is also able to use patronage politics to mobilize support, especially in the South of Italy.  Regional divisions were more important in Italy (ie. Between North and South) than in France. The divisions were never resolved in the formation of the Italian state, and this division becomes a reason for a new regional party to form in the North in Italy.  Other problems: Germany had too much consensus, Britain had the question of who governs (trade unions?), and France and Italy were labour exclusion.  European politics begins to change as a consequence of generational change in the 1960s and 1970s. This generation is become politically active and were not exposed to the World Wars or the period of economic reconstruction. The stage of economic and political reconstruction is coming to an end as they are maturing politically. An important actor, aside from labour, was the student.  “Old Politics” is the politics of class. The consolidation of liberal democracy depended on class compromise and the political settlement of the class question. Post war settlements are different kind of class compromises. Keohane calls this “embedded liberalism.”  In between the old and new politics is a period of change during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Koehane argues that post war settlements are more than domestic political bargains. He is interested in the way in which the international political economy in changes in this economy have consequences for embedded liberalism. He argues post war settlements are stable because they emerge in a particular economic conjuncture. He introduces an international dimension into post-war settlements.  Esping-Anderson connects post-war settlement to the politics of the old left, post war capitalism. He explores how changes to industrial capitalism have affected the politicization of c