This chapter discusses the Basque government campaign that promoted a high-speed train (HST) project that linked Basque towns into European and Spanish transport networks. It first addresses several questions on regional influence in the EU, the importance of domestic interest aggregation, regional alliances with supranational authorities, and whether there is a multilevel process of interest aggregation within the EU. It studies the different Basque government campaigns that influence EU blueprints for high-speed train networks, while focusing on the alliance strategies used. This chapter also discusses the use of various channels for Basque participation in EU decisions, the territorial relations in routine EU policy processes, and the responses from state and supranational authorities.

This chapter examines England's extremity. It is a mistake to view Ireland's response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 in pro- or anti-British terms. With the enactment of Home Rule, John Dillon felt justified in talking of the ‘union of two democracies’ of Britain and Ireland in the coming struggle in Europe despite the postponement of the Home Rule Act for the duration of the war. Along with this, the continued regardless of political events in Ireland and the shifting direction of public opinion and his impassioned pleas for chaplains reflected a deep concern for their spiritual welfare. In his statements to the press, Logue painted a picture of Catholic souls either in imminent and mortal peril or a state of ‘spiritual destitution’. He did not pronounce on the morality of enlistment but was convinced that Catholic chaplains were performing a service of absolute good.

This introductory chapter discusses the European Union's (EU) impact on Basque Country politics. It identifies the theme of EU scholarship, which examines the relationship between the EU and regional governance. It then addresses two questions that reflect the rationales for Basque devolution and significant debates in EU scholarship on regional governance. This chapter also outlines the other chapters.

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this book, which is about the English question and the politics of Englishness. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which looks at traditional narratives of the English polity and considers them as legends of political Englishness. The second section focuses on the anxieties of Englishness and the recent debates about English political identity, while the final section re-examines the legends and anxieties of Englishness in terms of the actual and metaphorical ‘locations’ of Englishness that cut across the usual patterns of political partisanship.

This concluding chapter reviews the different ways of reading the political significance of the spectre during a time when a number of political issues were communicated and reconstituted into other—ghostly—forms. It shows how Dickens, Riddell and Collins explore the way consciousness within a money-based society was created as if it were like money. It then considers the narratives on national and colonial identities that were opened up by studies of the spectral, and shows how to read spectrality. This chapter also discusses fictional spectres and spirit messages.

The initial focus of official nationalism in the Irish Free State was on the activity of nation-building. The core purpose of nation-building was to unite the nation behind the new state. Consequently, the Irish official nationalism that developed emphasised the points of convergence between republican and constitutional nationalism. These included the roles of intellectual and political elites and a shared conception of the importance of the narrative and cultural identity of the nation. This chapter examines the way in which official nationalism developed from this basis, noting in particular the implications of the subsequent conception of the Irish nation-state for its relations with Northern Ireland, Britain, and the wider international community. It also identifies the processes of state-building that occurred after 1937, in which Northern Ireland and the international context, particularly Europe, again were of immense importance. The chapter concludes by analysing the approach and motivating assumptions of the Irish government towards Northern Ireland and European integration in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This chapter explores the degree of political control that was exercised over the justice system in Romania, and the degree to which this undermined meaningful prospects for reform. It demonstrates how the courts and prosecution service remained adjuncts of the Adrian Năstase government and its allies even as negotiations with the European Union (EU) were reaching their height. International financial institutions and the EU were slow to realise how important a compliant legal system was for autocratic rulers determined that the experiment with democracy would have definite limits. The tainted ethics of the justice system were no more sharply on display than during the Panait affair. Under Rodica Stănoiu, independent-minded prosecutors were hounded and purged. The EU seemed to feel that the partisan steps taken by Stănoiu and her aides were the dying gasps of the old politicised legal system.

This chapter presents a brief digression on the traditional pro-authoritarian tendencies of the Catholic Church, reporting a series of critiques of social, economic and political injustice that challenged authoritarianism. The practical measures aimed at supporting the development of ‘civil society’ are addressed. It is noted that while the voices for social justice and human rights were strong, both religious ‘radicals’ and ‘conservatives’ were sometimes quiet in their support for liberal democracy. The Catholic Church was the dominant voice in many countries, and others were active in defending human rights. The forefront in most ‘third wave’ countries was the Roman Catholic Church, which promoted a broader understanding of social justice and human rights. Religious institutions provide physical symbols and rituals that offer a focus for resistance to the oppressors but also allow religious consolation in the face of oppression and give some sense that the sacrifices are not in vain.

This chapter analyzes the impact of war on the individual and the community in ancient Greece. It suggests that for those who survived the personal brutality and trauma of combat, the social pressure could be intense but for those who succumbed to defeat, there was the real possibility of humiliation, enslavement or death. It suggests that war created and confirmed gender roles. It explains that though women may not usually have risked their lives on the battlefield, the consequences of the defeat of their men could fall upon them nonetheless.

Bolingbroke's role in disseminating republicanism and the commonwealth tradition ideas in France has never been fully explored. This chapter focuses on this neglected aspect of Bolingbroke's influence in France. In particular, it pays attention to Bolingbroke's associates at the Club de l'Entresol, many of whom were struggling with similar questions and coming up with similar solutions to his, and to two of his French acquaintances, Henri de Boulainvilliers and Montesquieu, both of whose ideas are such that they could even be described as proponents of a French version of the commonwealth tradition.

This chapter considers the role(s) that responsibility might play in egalitarian theory and politics. Luck egalitarianism has largely ignored the possibilities for theorising responsibility differently, against the grain of neoliberal discourse. This chapter explores the peculiarities and exclusions inherent in the neoliberal conception of responsibility and examines what a more critical theory of responsibility might look like. Any moralised account of responsibility is framed by the kind of ‘irresponsibility’ it seeks to discourage, and to a large extent the neoliberal and liberal luck egalitarian discourse on responsibility places an image of the work-shy, dependent, and non-autonomous citizen centre-stage. In opposition to this, the chapter employs the notion of ‘privileged irresponsibility’ that is more prevalent in feminist theory, and which relates to those who disconnect from, or deny, responsibilities to vulnerable others. As such, it examines three ways in which the notion of responsibility might operate differently in an account of egalitarian citizenship, which relate to economic life, ecological duties, and duties of care.