This comprehensive survey aims to provide an overview of all aspects of politics in western Europe. Aspects of the EU and the Europeanization of institutions are discussed, along with the welfare state, economic issues and the condition of democracy across the region.

Foreword ; Introduction: Grappling with Untidy Reality ; 1. Institutions and the Evolution of European Democracy ; 2. National Courts and the Community Law ; THE CORE EXECUTIVE ; 3. On Studying Governments ; 4. What is New about Governance and Why does it Matter ; 5. Executives in Comparative Context ; 6. The Political System of the European Union ; PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ; 7. Dismantling and Rebuilding the Weberian State ; 8. The Age of Administrative Reforms ; 9. The European Administration: Between Europeanization and Domostication ; 10. Europeanization and the Persistence of Administrative Systems ; PARTIES AND ORGANIZED INTEREST ; 11. The Decline of Party ; 12. Comparing Economic Interest Organizations ; 13. Interest Groups and the Brussels Bureaucracy ; DEMOCRACY AND POPULAR PARTICIPATION ; 14. Contentious Politics in Western Europe and the United States ; 15. From Popular Dissatisfaction to Populism: Democracy, Constitutionalism and Corruption ; 16. Democratizations in the European Periphery ; PUBLIC POLICY ; 17. The Politics of Regulation and European Regulatory Institutions ; 18. From Industrial Policy to a Regulatory State: constrasting institutional change in Britain and France ; 19. Monetary Policy and the Euro ; 20. Recasting European Welfare States ; THE STATE ; 21. The Changing European State ; 22. The European State ; 23. International Relations, International Institutions and the European State ; Conclusion: Governing Europe ; Bibliography

This edited collection presents a superb survey of Western European politics, featuring an all-star cast of contributors The 23 substantive chapters are short, pithy, and usually right on the mark. Highly recommended.