Hans Keman 
Comparative Democratic Politics [EPUB ebook] 
A Guide to Contemporary Theory and Research

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.

Jadual kandungan

PART ONE: THE COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO DEMOCRACY

The Comparative Approach to Democracy – Hans Keman

The Development of the Study of Comparative Politics – Hans Daalder

Comparing Democracies – Hans Keman

Theories and Evidence

PART TWO: PARTIES AND GOVERNMENT IN DEMOCRACIES

Comparative Government and Democracy – Ian Budge et al

Voters, Elections and Ideology in European Democracies – Paul Pennings

In the Aggregate – Peter Mair

Mass Electoral Behaviour in Western Europe, 1950-2000

PART THREE: DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICAL ACTION

Interest Intermediation – Klaus Armingeon

The Cases of Consociational Democracy and Corporatism

The Impact of Political Parties, Constitutional Structures and Veto Players on Public Policy – Manfred G Schmidt

Comparative Politics and the Welfare State – Kees van Kersbergen and Uwe Becker

PART FOUR: THE POLITICAL PERFORMANCE OF DEMOCRACIES

Policy Performance in the Democratic State – Francis G Castles

An Emergent Field of Study

Democratic Performance – Jan-Erik Lane and Svante Ersson

Are There Institutional Effects?

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

Mengenai Pengarang

Hans Keman is Professor and Chair of Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
CONTRIBUTORS′ AFFILIATIONS:

Klaus Armingeon Institut fuer Politiekwissenschapft, Unitobler
Uwe Becker Universiteit van Amsterdam
Ian Budge University of Essex
Francis Castles The Australian National University, Canberra
Hans Daalder The Hague
Svante Errson Umea Universitet
Kees van Kersbergen Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen
Jan-Erik Lane Universite de Geneve
Peter Mair Universiteit van Leiden
Paul Pennings Vrije Universiteit
Manfred Schmidt