Land of Paradoxes

Interest Politics in Israel

By Yael Yishai

Subjects: Israel Studies
Series: SUNY series in Israeli Studies
Paperback : 9780791407264, 414 pages, September 1991
Hardcover : 9780791407257, 414 pages, September 1991

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Table of contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Preface

Introduction: Israeli Interest Group Politics in a Theoretical Perspective

1. The Israeli Polity: Party, State, and Society

2. The Universe of Interest Groups

3. Interest Groups and Political Parties: Patrons, Partners, or Rivals?

4. State and Groups: Defending the Public Interest

5. The Organization of Interest Groups: The Institutional Framework

6. Interest Groups and State: Opportunities for Influence

7. Strategies of Influence: Bargaining, Coordination, or Integration

8. Interest Groups in the Policy Process

9. Determining Outcomes: Who Gets What and Why?

10. Israeli Interest Groups between Party and State

Appendixes

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Description

This book examines the structure of Israeli interest groups, their strategies, their effectiveness, and their relations with state organizations and political parties. It addresses such important questions as the following. What are the links between political parties and interest groups? What are the attitudes of senior state officials toward interest groups? Why do interest groups influence public policy and to what extent? Are some groups more influential than others? Is Israel moving toward a post-materialist era?

Land of Paradoxes reflects the realities of contemporary Israeli politics. Using a framework of universal interest-group configurations, the book shows how Israel deviates from these patterns and places it in a historical and comparative perspective.

Yael Yishai is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Haifa University. She is the author of Land and Peace: Whither Israel; The Power of Expertise: Israel Medical Association, and she is co-author of Israel: The Peaceful Belligerent.