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Comparative Democratic Politics
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Comparative Democratic Politics
A Guide to Contemporary Theory and Research

First Edition
Edited by:
  • Hans Keman - Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands


March 2002 | 326 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Democracy is the most widely used way of organizing politics in the contemporary world. Comparative Democratic Politics brings together a team of renowned international scholars to provide a comprehensive review of theory and research in this essential area of comparative study.

A key aim to the book is to introduce and understand representative democracy as a political process and contemporary system of governance in need of constant attention and scrutiny.

Four important themes include:

· the contribution of comparative politics as a distinct field within political science to our understanding of democracy, democratic politics and democratic theory

· what we can learn from a comparative analysis of the role, functioning and behaviour of the principal actors (electorate, parties and institutions) across nations

· the relationship between politics and public policy formation and processes of democratic decision-making and corresponding policy-making capacity

· how we measure contemporary democracy or democratic performance in both a procedural and material sense.

Comparative Democratic Politics will afford new and important insights to the contemporary study of representative democracy. It will be essential reading for all students and academics of political science and public policy seeking a deeper understanding of both the world's so called established and emerging democracies.

 
PART ONE: THE COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO DEMOCRACY
Hans Keman
The Comparative Approach to Democracy
Hans Daalder
The Development of the Study of Comparative Politics
Hans Keman
Comparing Democracies
Theories and Evidence

 
 
PART TWO: PARTIES AND GOVERNMENT IN DEMOCRACIES
Ian Budge et al
Comparative Government and Democracy
Paul Pennings
Voters, Elections and Ideology in European Democracies
Peter Mair
In the Aggregate
Mass Electoral Behaviour in Western Europe, 1950-2000

 
 
PART THREE: DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICAL ACTION
Klaus Armingeon
Interest Intermediation
The Cases of Consociational Democracy and Corporatism

 
Manfred G Schmidt
The Impact of Political Parties, Constitutional Structures and Veto Players on Public Policy
Kees van Kersbergen and Uwe Becker
Comparative Politics and the Welfare State
 
PART FOUR: THE POLITICAL PERFORMANCE OF DEMOCRACIES
Francis G Castles
Policy Performance in the Democratic State
An Emergent Field of Study

 
Jan-Erik Lane and Svante Ersson
Democratic Performance
Are There Institutional Effects?

 
Hans Keman with Malika A[um]it Mallouk
Democratic Institutions, Governance and Political Performance

"Well balanced in coverage . . . recommended for graduate students, researchers, and professionals."

CHOICE

Hans Keman

As I had set out in my application my activities would be twofold: one, participating in and sharing the burden of the work-in-progress of the research activities of the theme group; secondly, I aimed at developing a fresh approach to 'political institutionalism', by elaborating 'rational choice' as a fundamental part of this, both theoretically and empirically.This has resulted in an edited book (with two chapters by me), another chapter in a book, and two articles published in international journals. In addition I presented my ideas in a lecture at NIAS on 21 March 1996 and shall present a paper in which the rational institutionalist... More About Author

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ISBN: 9780761954774
£57.00

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