Ebook: Patterns of democracy: government forms and performance in thirty-six countries

Introduction -- The Westminster model of democracy -- The consensus model of democracy -- Thirty-six democracies -- Party systems: two-party and multiparty patterns -- Cabinets: concentration versus sharing of executive power -- Executive-legislative relations: patterns of dominance and balance of power -- Electoral systems: majority and plurality methods versus proportional representation -- Interest groups: pluralism versus corporatism -- Division of power: the federal-unitary and centralized-decentralized contrasts -- Parliaments and congresses: concentration versus division of legislative power -- Constitutions: amendment procedures and judicial review -- Central banks: independence versus dependence -- The two-dimensional conceptual map of democracy -- Macro-economic management and the control of violence: does consensus democracy make a difference?. The quality of democracy and a "kinder, gentler" democracy: consensus democracy makes a difference -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Appendix A. Two dimensions and ten basic variables, 1945-96 and 1971-96. Appendix B. Alternative measure of multipartism, cabinet composition, and disproportionality, 1945-96 and 1971-96.;Review: "In this updated and expanded edition of his book Democracies, Arend Lijphart offers a broader and deeper analysis of worldwide democratic institutions than ever before. Examining thirty-six democracies during the half-century from 1945 to 1996, Lijphart arrives at important - and unexpected - conclusions about what type of democracy works best. Although conventional wisdom suggests that majoritarian democracies like those in the United States and Great Britain are superior to consensual systems like those in Switzerland and Israel, Lijphart shows this is not so. In fact, consensual systems stimulate economic growth, control inflation and unemployment, and limit budget deficits just as well as majoritarian democracies do. And consensus democracies clearly outperform majoritarian systems on measures of political equality, women's representation, citizen participation in elections, and proximity between government policies and voter preferences."--Jacket