Page 130 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

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(b. 1942), who was elected in the previous year with a Contemporary Europe
convincing individual majority (56 percent as com- The European Union (EU) had grown from a French
pared with Likud’s Binyamin Netanyahu’s 44 percent) vision in 1950, and a humble start in which Britain did
but with a weak party following (the one Israel bloc he not partake, in the 1957 Treaties of Rome.The EU has
led garnered merely 26 of 120 seats) lost most of his become a continental powerhouse with complex in-
coalition partners, thus the plurality in the Knesset. stitutions and a hybrid of structures. The EU is gather-
Nevertheless, because there was no absolute majority to ing more political momentum, adding new members,
topple him, Barak was only forced to call personal elec- incorporating territory in southern and Eastern Europe,
tions in December 2000 for February 2001. He consolidating its laws, and proclaiming constitutional
remained as a prime minister one more month, even powers. The EU is increasingly independent from the
after his resounding defeat (38 percent to 62 percent) to countries that compose its rapidly expanding ranks. Par-
Likud’s Ariel Sharon (b. 1928). liamentarianism may become its guiding principle on the
road to securing popular support for strong federalism.
Canada The formation of the European Parliament as a body
Canada is a former British colony. It gradually became whose members, since 1979, are directly elected and
independent from 1867 to 1948. It is a leading member often represent ideological agendas and continental—
of the British Commonwealth, has adopted parliamen- rather than national—interests also balances the influ-
tarianism, and the British monarch is the titular head of ence of local politicians and state governments. While
state. Canadian federalism allows a strong degree of competition for authority will continue, real power
autonomy to provinces. The federal parliament repre- seems to increasingly to be vested in an institution whose
sents, almost proportionately (some preference to the structure and procedures may resemble the traditional
Atlantic region that has a smaller population), the Cana- role of the British House of Commons, although the vast
dian people.There is also an unelected Senate, to which majority of EU members do not have a tradition of
the Prime Minister appoints by patronage, obviously a parliamentarianism.
duplication of the British House of Lords. There were
Itai Nartzizenfield Sneh
plans (like the 1992 Charlottetown Accord) to reform
the system, but to no avail. See also Democracy, Constitutional
A particularly intriguing example of the workings of
parlimentarianism can be found in the short tenure
of Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark Further Reading
(b. 1940). Clark led a minority government, after defeat- Barton, H.A. (2003). Sweden and visions of Norway: Politics and culture,
1814–1905. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
ing in 1979 the former Liberal prime minister, Pierre
Black, J. (2000). New history of England. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK:
Elliot Trudeau (1919–2000), who had served as PM for Sutton.
eleven years. Clark was supported by several indepen- Bumsted, J. M. (1998). History of the Canadian peoples.Toronto and New
York: Oxford University Press.
dent right-wing members of Parliament from western Flynn, M. K. (2000). Ideology, mobilization, and the nation: The rise of
Canada. In February 1980, after only eight months in Irish, Basque, and Carlist nationalist movements in the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
office, Clark failed to secure sufficient support for his first
Lacey, D. R. (1969). Dissent and Parliamentary politics in England, 1661–
annual budget. He was compelled to ask Canada’s 1689: A study in the perpetuation and tempering of parliamentarian-
governor-general (the vice regal representative appointed ism. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Lazin, F.A., & Mahler, G. S. (Eds.). (1996). Israel in the nineties: Develop-
by the British monarch) to dissolve the federal parlia- ment and conflict. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
ment. Clark lost in the ballots cast the following month, Manin, B. (1997). Principles of representative government. Cambridge, UK,
and New York: Cambridge University Press.
and Trudeau became, again, the prime minister, after
Nordstorm, B. J (2002). The history of Sweden:The Greenwood histories
only nine short months in the opposition. of the modern nations. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.