Münch and his colleagues examine how democracy works in the practice of political regulation. Based on empirical research on the politics of clean air in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States, they provide a comparative sociological perspective. Thus, they look at social change and social integration rather than issues of governance and administration in terms of effectiveness and democratic legitimation.The analysis looks at how different forms of democracy given in the four countries achieve more or less in the political regulation of clean air in terms of societal innovation, conflict settlement, and consensus formation. They concentrate on the network of actors involved, their professions included with their concepts of rationality, the institutional rules of policymaking, and the cultural ideas that are invoked in the legitimation of procedures and decisions. While each country has developed a peculiar form of democracy-representative democracy in the UK, etatist-republican democracy in France, consensus and rule of law democracy in Germany, and multilevel pluralist competitive democracy in the US-they conclude that challenges of the established regulatory style and political order are pushing each country towards a more open democracy. Scholars and students in comparative sociology and political science as well as environmentalists will find the study of particular interest.

Democracy at Work: A Comparative Sociology of Environmental Regulation in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States

Science & Math

Münch, Richard

Earth Sciences

Praeger

Academic Capitalism (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Business & Money

Industries

Routledge

Munch works towards an understanding and explanation of the rise and development of modern society, taking his lead from Durkheim and Weber.

Understanding Modernity: Towards New Perspective Going Beyond Durkheim and Weber (International Library of Sociology)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Routledge& Kegan Paul

This book contributes to the literature on the change of governance in the context of its European multilevel organization. The integration of Europe is a process of fundamental social change: a process of constructing a European society and of deconstructing the national societies. Münch demonstrates that there is a movement away from republican and representative features of a democracy and towards liberal and pluralistic features. The book illustrates this change in the nature of European political regulation, European jurisdiction and the intellectual debates in France, Germany and Britain on legitimising the emerging system of multilevel governance. He discusses how far the new European regime of liberal governmentality converges with the US-American type of constitutional liberalism. Following a sociological approach, the book focuses on identifying the causes, features and consequences of the fundamental social change taking place in the process of European integration. This book will be of interest to scholars and graduate students from political science, sociology, law and philosophy interested in political theory, comparative politics, international relations and political communication as well as practitioners of policy-making in governments, administration, parties, associations and the media.

European Governmentality: The Liberal Drift of Multilevel Governance (Routledge/UACES Contemporary European Studies)

Specialties

First Published in 1988, this volume works towards a new understanding and exploration of the rise and development of modern society, taking its lead from two classical theorists, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. The key concept of this approach is the 'interpenetration' of different spheres of action. Richard Münch begins with an exploration of the points of convergence and divergence in the works of Durkheim and Weber. He then builds, from Durkheim, a new theory of social order as a complex set of ordering, dynamizing, identity-producing and goal-setting factors. Münch also constructs a new theory of personality development, based on Durkheim's view of the duality of human nature. He concludes by assessing weber's contribution to our understanding of how modern social order emerged, showing that the unique features of modern society emerged from the 'interpenetration' of cultural, political, communal and economic spheres in action.

Understanding Modernity: Toward a new perspective going beyond Durkheim and Weber

Sociology

Theory of Action (Routledge Revivals): Towards a New Synthesis Going Beyond Parsons

Modern sociology owes its existence and the progress it has made to the integration of differing kinds of orientations. In this work, first published 1987, Professor Richard Münch sets out to reformulate the theory of action, a notion central to sociology and one to which all schools of thought within sociology have contributed. He gives an exposition of the voluntaristic theory of action as found in Talcott Parson's work, reconstructing and extending Parson's theory from the perspective of the present-day level of development. In this way he both integrates opposing orientations to action theory and presents the voluntaristic theory of action in a readable and teachable from.

First Published in 1988, this volume works towards a new understanding and exploration of the rise and development of modern society, taking its lead from two classical theorists, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. The key concept of this approach is the 'interpenetration' of different spheres of action. Richard Münch begins with an exploration of the points of convergence and divergence in the works of Durkheim and Weber. He then builds, from Durkheim, a new theory of social order as a complex set of ordering, dynamizing, identity-producing and goal-setting factors. Münch also constructs a new theory of personality development, based on Durkheim's view of the duality of human nature. He concludes by assessing weber's contribution to our understanding of how modern social order emerged, showing that the unique features of modern society emerged from the 'interpenetration' of cultural, political, communal and economic spheres in action.

Understanding Modernity

This book investigates the intensifying struggle for excellence between universities in a globalized academic field. The rise of the entrepreneurial university and academic capitalism are superimposing themselves on the competition of scientists for progress of knowledge and recognition by the scientific community. The result is a sharpening institutional stratification of the field. This stratification is produced and continuously reproduced by the intensified struggle for funds with the shrinking of block grants and the growing significance of competitive funding, as well as the increasing impact of international and national rankings on academic research and teaching. The increased allocation of funds on the basis of performance leads to overinvestment of resources at the small top and underinvestment for the broad mass of universities in the middle and lower ranks. There is a curvilinear inverted u-shaped relationship of investments and returns in terms of knowledge production. Paradoxically, the intrusion of the economic logic and measures of managerial controlling into the academic field imply increasing inefficiency in the allocation of resources to universities. The top institutions suffer from overinvestment, the rank-and-file institutions from underinvestment. The economic inefficiency is accompanied by a shrinking potential for renewal and open knowledge evolution.

Academic Capitalism: Universities in the Global Struggle for Excellence (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Professor Richard Munch sets out to reformulate the theory of action, a notion central to sociology and one to which all schools of thought within sociology have contributed. He includes an account of Parson's voluntaristic theory of action.

Theory of Action: Towards a New Synthesis Going Beyond Parsons (International Library of Sociology) (English and German Edition)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Münch, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Münch, Richard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Münch, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Democracy at Work: A Comparative Sociology of Environmental Regulation in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States

Academic Capitalism (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Understanding Modernity: Towards New Perspective Going Beyond Durkheim and Weber (International Library of Sociology)

European Governmentality: The Liberal Drift of Multilevel Governance (Routledge/UACES Contemporary European Studies)

Understanding Modernity: Toward a new perspective going beyond Durkheim and Weber

Theory of Action (Routledge Revivals): Towards a New Synthesis Going Beyond Parsons

Theory of Action (Routledge Revivals): Towards a New Synthesis Going Beyond Parsons

Understanding Modernity

Academic Capitalism: Universities in the Global Struggle for Excellence (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Theory of Action: Towards a New Synthesis Going Beyond Parsons (International Library of Sociology) (English and German Edition)