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Explores and presents the influence of contextual factors on the choice of electoral systems for parliamentary elections in both democracies and non-democracies around the world. This book provides the frequency of the adoption of electoral formulas and systems in the postwar era, followed by a theoretical elaboration of electoral system choice.

Intends to explain the divergent political pathways of twenty six post-communist states, following the breakdown and eventual collapse of communism in 1989-1991. Considering the trajectories of individual states between 1990-2007, this book challenges two central bodies of theory relating to democratization and regime change.

Deals with the reasons and consequences of the so called 'democratic deficit' in a systematic way that enables the reader to develop a well-rounded sense of the area and its main debates. This book is suitable for students of political science, sociology, cultural studies, and comparative politics.

Compares and explores how social democratic governments had to adapt to globalization, European integration, and social change; and whether they successfully managed to uphold old social democratic goals and values in light of the devaluation of traditional policy instruments.

Consociational power-sharing is increasingly gaining ground, as a means for resolving political conflict in divided societies. This book presents a debate about the merits of the theory by focusing on one of the leading cases under the global spotlight: the Northern Ireland conflict. It is suitable for those interested in conflict resolution.

Analyzing the influence of business in democratic politics, this book outlines a theoretical model of the role of information and its asymmetric supply for business actors' ability to influence policy. It identifies the institutional and behavioural factors affecting business' informational power.

This global study uses statistical analysis to relate the popularity of the death penalty to physical, cultural, social, economical, institutional, actor oriented and historical factors.

Explores the kind of non-democratic regimes that are particularly vulnerable to democratic revolutions. This book examines why and how democrats rebel and what the results of democratic revolutions have been. It attempts to democratize theories of revolution, and includes studies of East Germany, China, Serbia and the Philippines.

This book focuses specifically on the question of interest aggregation: do parties today perform that function? If so, how and if not, in what different ways do they seek to show themselves responsive to the electorate?

This edited volume offers a critical discussion of the trade-offs between transparency and secrecy in the actual political practice of democratic states in Europe. As such, it answers to a growing need to systematically analyse the problem of secrecy in governance in this political and geographical context.

Since the global financial crisis of 2008, advanced economies have been making various efforts to overcome the economic impasse. While the contrast between the countries that have escaped from the crisis relatively quickly and those still suffering from serious problems is becoming clearer, a new economic crisis stemming from newly emerging economies has again impacted advanced economies. In retrospect, both leftist and rightist governments in advanced economies pursued expansive macroeconomic and welfare policies from the post-WWII period to the oil shocks of the 1970s. While we recognise that the particular policy regime in this ''Golden Decades'' during which the left and the right implemented similar policies cross-nationally, were characterised by outstanding economic growth in each country, the specific growth patterns varied across countries. Different social coalitions underpinned different growth models. This book is premised on tentative conclusions that Magara and her research collaborators have reached as a result of three years of study related to our previous project on economic crises and policy regimes. Recognising the need to analyse fluid and unstable situations, we have set up a new research design in which we emphasise political variables-whether political leaders and citizens can overcome the various weaknesses inherent in democracy and escape from an economic crisis by establishing an effective social coalition. A new policy regime can be stable only if it is supported by a sufficiently large coalition of social groups whose most important policy demands are satisfied within the new policy regime.

This book explores the problems associated with regulating the funding of political parties and election campaigns in a timely assessment of a topic of great political controversy.

An examination of rewards of high public office in seven Asian political systems including case studies focusing on Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore.

This book brings together research from the Global North and the Global South to illuminate how contemporary motherhood is being changed by the processes of globalization.

This book examines the development of party politics in the region of Western Balkans, describing party politics and analyzing inter-ethnic or inter-party cooperation and competition.

Examines the impact of the EU on the quality of democracy in eight post-communist countries: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, Ukraine and Armenia. Considering both the political and legal aspects, the authors focus on inter-institutional accountability.

Since the global financial crisis, government debt has soared globally by 40% and now exceeds an astonishing $100 trillion. Not all countries, though, have fared the same. Indeed, even prior to the financial crisis, the fiscal fates of countries have been diverging, despite predictions that pressures from economic globalization push countries toward more convergent fiscally conservative policies. Featuring the work of an international interdisciplinary team of scholars, this volume explains patterns of fiscal performance (persistent patterns of budget deficits and government debt) from the 1970s to the present across seven countries ¿ France, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and the United States. Employing a comparative case study approach, seldom employed in studies of fiscal performance, contributions illuminate the complex causal factors often overlooked by quantitative studies and advances our theoretical understanding of fiscal performance.

This volume brings together leading authorities in the field of democratic citizenship and participation to address pertinent questions concerning the quality of the democratic political process at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Analysing causes and consequences of recent developments in democratic governance and citizenship it contributes new and original research to the ongoing debate on the crisis of representative democracy. The contributors deal with a broad range of issues including aspects of democratic citizenship and citizens' perceptions of system performance, political inequality and the democratic impact of participatory innovations.

Informed by the latest research and trends, this book examines the way in which domestic and global institutions shape and reflect gender interests and the extent to which feminists can challenge gender norms through political institutions.

This book examines, from a policy regime perspective, how developed countries attempt to achieve such a breakthrough at critical junctures triggered by economic crises. It initially assesses the nature of the present crisis and identifies the actors involved. Thereafter, it provides an analytical definition of a crisis, stressing that most crises contain within them the potential to be turned into an opportunity. Finally, it presents a new analytical design in which we can incorporate today¿s more globalized and fluid context.

This book examines the political and social transformation of post-communist states. With a focus on minority integration, the author evaluates the interaction between state and society, illustrating how successful dialogue between the two can result in successful state-building.

This book examines the role of civil society organizations in several advanced European democracies: Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Specifically the book focuses on how voluntary organizations contribute to civic and democratic health and assesses the impact of different organizational types on social capital.

This book is premised on tentative conclusions that Magara and her research collaborators have reached as a result of three years of study related to our previous project on economic crises and policy regimes. Recognising the need to analyse fluid and unstable situations, we have set up a new research design in which we emphasise political variables¿whether political leaders and citizens can overcome the various weaknesses inherent in democracy and escape from an economic crisis by establishing an effective social coalition.

This book studies the development of think tanks and contemporary consequences in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and at the EU-level. On the basis of a typology of think tanks, quantitative data and interviews with think tank practitioners, the interplay between state and market dynamics and the development of different types of think tanks is analysed. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of political communication, public policy, European politics and comparative politics.

It is widely believed that the state in developing countries is weak. The public sector, in particular, is often regarded as corrupt and dysfunctional. This book provides an urgently needed corrective to such overgeneralized notions of bad governance in the developing world. It examines the variation in state capacity by looking at a particularly paradoxical and frequently overlooked phenomenon: effective public organizations or `pockets of effectiveness¿ in developing countries.