17.9.10

The Liberal Democrats have languished in the political shadows for a generation. With the advent of the 2010 television debates, they have returned once more to the spotlight. Cleggmania, 'I Agree With Nick' and talk of the 'Kingmaker' dominated coverage of the General Election of 2010.

In March 2008, Bertie Ahern announced his resignation as Taoiseach, prompted by ongoing evidence in a planning inquiry that uncovered he had received large sums of money when minister for finance. Yet, even in defeat, he remained the most popular politician of his generation, one for whom the defining 'Teflon Taoiseach' tag had not entirely slid away. However, what made Bertie Ahern unique was not his enormous popularity or the revelations about his personal finances, but his dependence on a power base largely separate to Fianna Fail: 'the Drumcondra Mafia', a largely unknown, fiercely loyal, close-knit group of friends.

16/4/07

This timely and important book will provide much food for thought for all interested in the fundamental problems facing the world in the twenty-first century.

31.12.09

This book contributes to emerging debates in political science and sociology on institutional change. Its introductory essay proposes a new framework for analyzing incremental change that is grounded in a power-distributional view of institutions and that emphasizes ongoing struggles within but also over prevailing institutional arrangements. Five empirical essays then bring the general theory to life by evaluating its causal propositions in the context of sustained analyses of specific instances of incremental change.