Growing Apart?

By Sven Steinmo

Book Overview

Many thought the 21st century would witness political, economic and even ideological convergence amongst the countries of the West. This has not happened. Today we see America 'growing apart' from her democratic allies and neighbors. Growing Apart shows how the social, political, and economic forces shaping advanced democratic states are pushing America in different directions from the rest of the democratic world and argues that these changes are not the product of any particular president or government. This volume brings together a set of leading scholars who each examine the evolution of different social, political, and economic forces shaping Europe and America. It is the first book to unite the international relations scholarship on transatlantic relations with the comparative politics literature on the varieties of capitalism. Taken together, the essays in this volume address whether the 'West' will continue to remain a coherent entity in the 21st century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 052170491X
• ISBN13: 9780521704915
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful and interesting

This book tackles on a hugely important topics with a set of tremendously interesting essay. The central question the book addresses is: Is the US and Europe 'Growing Apart', or are the current problems in the TransAtlantic relationship simply the results of the ill-considered presidency of George Bush? The basic argument of the book seems to be that the forces pushing the allies away from each other are deeper than the politics or policies of any particular president. Substantively the book is divided into chapters that address a set of important topics including: Why are Americans so much more religious than European - and how does this effect politics? How does the media shape public opinion on each side of the Atlantic? and How is immigration being dealt with (or not) by European and American policy? Each of the chapters is excellent. I particularly liked the chapters by Pfaff, Blyth and Hansen. Because the book is a collection of essays by different authors it does not conclude with a single (simplistic) answer. The answers and more subtle and in my opinion, more interesting. There are trends pushing Americans and Europeans in similar directions, yet the basic value structures and political institutions in these countries will continue to elicit quite different responses. Perhaps the most interesting argument along these lines is offered by the introductory essay by Steinmo and Kopstein in which they suggest that both Europe and America may be 'falling apart.' Sometimes edited volumes are a collection of essays that have little or nothing to do with one another. This book is far better. Instead it is a coherent treatment of an important set of highly inter-related questions.