There is no single factor which accounts for the distancing of Britain's system of local government from that of France or the United States. Each country had developed large sub-national territorial units. In Britain these were the counties; in America the states, which, in turn, were subdivided into counties; and in France a variety of institutions such as the généralités and intendances, which were, after the 1789 revolution, transformed into the departments. Despite the similarities, there were some significant differences between Britain, France and the United States. The interplay between monarchy, bourgeoisie and peasantry that explains the differing patterns of democracy which emerged in the three countries had important implications for inter-governmental relationships. Although, in Britain, concessions by landowners to capitalists did not promote strong moves towards centralisation, there were forces at work that were slowly undermining the dual polity. This chapter explores centralisation and the politics of redistribution, as well as the restructuring of local government in Britain.

Research shows that the existence of social capital in a society — or, in the context of the study described in this book, more specifically generalised trust — could be decisive not only in the prevention of crime, but also for economic development and an effective democracy. Although generalised trust and cooperation are highly desirable for any society — and many societies are indeed marked by high levels of trust and cooperation — societies may fall into a negative cycle of distrust and non-cooperation, which is difficult to break. This book explores institutional explanations and more recent political efforts to break the heritage of the past, that is, to turn the vicious circle of non-cooperation into a virtuous circle based on trust and cooperation, and to change citizens' perceptions of society. It looks at Palermo, a city in Italy where school policy represented a cultural warfare, where the dominant role model offered by the Mafia was challenged. The book focuses on a top-down action to change a predominating political culture of distrust, that is, by civic education at a grass-roots level.

This chapter approaches the open class of words in Canadian English from historical, historiographical, structural, regional and social points of view. It seeks to give concise accounts of existing and ongoing work and identifies desiderata of research. Vocabulary in Canadian English has benefited from philological and lexicographical interest in the early phase of linguistics in Canada, and it is refreshing to see that open-class lexis is today garnering considerable attention again. This account aims to link the philological tradition around dictionary making and dialect geography with current sociolinguistic, lexicographical and New Media work on Canadian English words.

This chapter discusses Anglo-German relations in the context of the negotiations leading to the agreement reached between the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain, and ultimately by Germany, on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The negotiations were complex, in that they spilled over into other issues of concern to members of the Atlantic Alliance. Principally, these included the MLF/ANF project and whether moves within the Alliance to create opportunities for greater nuclear weapons sharing would prove acceptable to the Soviet Union. Multilateral negotiations were influenced by the changes of government in Bonn in 1966 and 1969, and the Soviet-inspired invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. They also occurred at a time when the British government was anxious to strengthen relations with Germany in support for Britain's commitment to Europe.

Dialectologists working in the mid twentieth century established a tripartite division of US regional dialects into North, Midland and South. This work documented the retention of traditional usages and focused on lexical variation. Despite the grounding of these dialect divisions in centuries-old settlement and migration patterns, they remain relevant to regional variation in American English today. This is especially true for the boundary separating the Midland from the North. This chapter examines the history of this remarkably stable boundary in American dialectology. The discussion reviews the evidence produced by early linguistic atlas researchers to establish the dialect boundary along the Atlantic Coast and to trace its extension westward. The current status of the Midland–North divide is explored in the light of sociolinguistic research suggesting that dialect differences on either side have been reinforced over the twentieth century.

With legendary regionalisms like ‘r-dropping’, fronted palm vowels, ‘broad-a BATH vowels, and other features, New England has played a key role in the historical development of English in North America. Historically, the six small states of New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont) have had an outsized influence on American English. Their modern sociolinguistic and geographic boundaries still reflect colonial-era settlement patterns from centuries past. Many prior studies on New England English have focused on phonological patterns and changes, but scholars have also examined regional grammatical patterns, lexical variation and change, and also the continuing influence of local Native American words on English. In fact, modern linguists have access to ninety years of detailed fieldwork reports on regional New England dialect features, dating as far back as the 1930s and continuing to the present era. Using this wealth of intergenerational data, the present chapter takes a historical perspective that traces the roots and development of New England English into the present time.

Although most of the defining research on African American English (AAE) was conducted in the urban North (Labov 1968; Wolfram 1968; Fasold 1972), AAE has been a rural Southern variety for most of its history. In the early 1900s, most African Americans lived in the rural South, and although the Great Migration caused a dramatic demographic shift to the urban North (Bailey and Maynor 1987; Farrington, this volume), numerous African Americans remain in the rural South today. This chapter explores the history of rural AAE both as the variety from which urban AAE developed and one that more recently has undergone linguistic innovation over the course of the twentieth century (Cukor-Avila and Bailey 2015; Bailey et al. 2022). It does so by examining linguistic features in the context of historical, sociocultural and demographic events that fostered its emergence, shaped its development and created contexts for its continued vitality.

Although Bildt's government was short-lived, the impact of Swedish politics and society was not insignificant. When the Social Democrats returned to power, they steered Sweden into the EU. This presented a particular challenge to neutrality for a European Union that had ambitions to develop a common security policy.

This chapter first explores the relationship between openness and what it is meant to foster, political judgement. Then it examines the limits of openness: whether all information relevant to the formation of political judgement should always be made available, or whether there are situations in which limitations are called for. Next, it explores the institutional requirements that must be met if the mechanism of openness is to be effective; reference is made to the presumption of openness and the establishment of exceptions, as well as to provisions for transparency. Finally, the EU system of governance is examined from the point of view of openness and transparency.

This chapter illustrates Mike Leigh's feature film Vera Drake, which was his second cinematic venture into period drama, and was set within living memory for a substantial proportion of a 2004 audience; and dealing with a subject about which it is virtually impossible to remain neutral. The film deals with the subject of the clash between an abortionist's views and the mores of 1950s Britain. This chapter exclaims that anyone who saw the television presentation of that year's BAFTAs would remember Leigh's genuine, open-mouthed astonishment when his name was announced. It was an endearing moment, as well as a heartening one. BAFTA named Leigh as the year's best director for this film. So with great critical acclaim, good distribution and audience reaction, and awards at home and abroad, Vera Drake could fairly be described not only as a major work, dealing humanely and powerfully with a difficult and highly inflammatory issue, but also as a breakthrough with which Leigh shows every sign of entering a glorious late period of artistry and power.

A few pages later, you will find a scene that, I have come to realise, could be used as a key to understand this book as a whole. In 2016, Yorgos Zois, a young Greek director, gave an interview to ARTE, the French/German art TV channel in 2016: ‘The new Wave of Greek Cinema produces films that are as absurd as the financial crisis that has hit the country’, begins the journalist. ‘Welcome to Athens, the capital of Greece, the supposed weakest link of Europe’. As Zois's work came to international attention for its relationship to the socio-political situation that in recent years has come to be known as the ‘Greek Crisis’ all over the world, he is asked to speak about a controversial scene that he has directed, in which a young man is seen throwing a Molotov cocktail in an almost choreographed manner. While they were shooting, so Zois says, ‘there was a real demonstration happening in the background’,

So much in this scene – including the absurdity of the question ‘you used a real Molotov cocktail?’ – speaks to the questions that serve as a starting point for this book. What did an international and national audience expect from Greek Cinema during this recent turbulent period? How did it deliver? How can you make films with such expectations, but also in that socio-political context? How real should you be? How realist? And also, how strange, how weird is it to be thrown into a predefined role and then to try, like the Greek director in this interview, to both stay on script, but also to showcase the levels of absurdity that that script has already reached?