This book is about the mundane, local, every day practices that constitutes democracy. Focusing on France and Finland, the book defines politicization as the key process in understanding democracy in different cultural contexts and shows a nuanced picture of two opposite models of European politics.

This dynamic introduction to contemporary France analyzes the problems and possibilities of democracy in a globalizing world. France was present at the creation of modern democratic politics in the eighteenth century, yet democratic stability has often eluded the country. Now, as established and new democracies everywhere confront the challenges of globalization--cultural diversity, economic change, the erosion of state sovereignty--France's rich and varied experience contains valuable lessons about what works (democratically speaking) and what does not. Anne Sa'adah describes actors, beliefs, institutions, and policies; she also interprets democratic politics in France in general and explores why and with what political consequences so many people in France experience globalization as a harbinger of national decline. The author is especially attentive to the importance of historical legacies, especially of the centralizing logic of the Old Regime, the Revolution and the expansionary dynamic and internal instability it spawned, World War II, and decolonization. Pivotal chapters focus on France's often dysfunctional system of representation, state-society relations, group politics, social policy, and France's role in Europe and the world.

This is the first full-length study in English of the Popular Front, the left-wing coalition which emerged in France during the 1930s in response to the threat of fascism and which went on to win the elections of 1936, giving France her first socialist premier, Léon Blum. After a brief narrative history of the Popular Front the book is organised thematically around the main historiographical debates to which the Popular Front has given rise. Among the issues considered are the origins of the strikes of 1936, the reasons for the failure of the Popular Front economic policy, the relationship between culture and politics in France in the 1930s and the causes of France's policy of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. The book views the Popular Front at three levels - as a mass movement, political coalition and government - and argues that it must not be seen just as a narrowly political phenomenon but as a political, social and cultural explosion which attempted to break down the barriers between all areas of human activity in the highly compartmentalised society of France in the 1930s. Even if the Popular Front ultimately failed in this aim it has acquired legendary status in France, and the epilogue to the book briefly examines the 'myth' of the Popular Front from 1936 to the present day.

Monsieur Guizot's "Democracy in France" gives a thorough evaluation of the political scene and the evolution of democracy in France throughout the 19th century. As a famous French historian and politician, Guizot uses his firsthand information and intellectual acumen to study the demanding situations and successes of France's maturing democratic gadget. The book is probably to dig into historical context, examining the effect of most important activities, revolutions, and social adjustments at the French political system. Guizot's approach can also offer an extra comprehensive understanding of the reasons that fashioned French democracy, such as as tensions among monarchy and republicanism, the characteristic of political establishments, and the effect of societal adjustments. Readers have to anticipate a considerate analysis of democratic concepts and practices as they follow to the French context, stressing both the political device's accomplishments and weaknesses. Guizot's work is possibly to show his dedication to historic accuracy and highbrow rigor, making "Democracy in France" a useful aid for college kids studying French records, politics, and the evolution of democratic values.

This book reasserts the importance of the French Revolution to an understanding of the nature of modern European politics and social life. Livesey argues that the European model of democracy was created in the Revolution, a model with very specific commitments that differentiate it from Anglo-American liberal democracy.

According to received wisdom parties have played a mainly destructive role in French political development. Of questionable legitimacy, pursuing narrow sectarian goals, often corruptly, they have brought about division, weakness and the collapse of regimes. A proper reading of history suggests differently. By combining historical research and contemporary political science theory about party, the author shows that for over a century party has irrigated French democracy in often invisible ways, brokering working compromises between groups divided strongly along social, political and cultural lines. The key to this success is the party system, which allowed for a high degree of collusion and cooptation between political elites, rhetoric notwithstanding. This hidden logic has persisted to this day despite the advent of presidentialism and remains the key to the continuing prosperity of French democracy.