The Performance of Democracies: Political Institutions and Public Policy

Author:   Edeltraud Roller (Professor of Political Science, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany) ,  John Bendix
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780199286423


Pages:   344
Publication Date:   29 September 2005
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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The Performance of Democracies: Political Institutions and Public Policy


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Overview

Is the performance of western democracies in decline? Which countries show the best performance? Do institutions matter for political performance? This book offers a comprehensive analysis of twenty-one OECD countries by systematically examining all major domestic policy areas - domestic security policy, economic policy, social policy, and environmental policy - and using outcome indicators. The quality of democracy is assessed both at the level of the four policy areas and at a general level encompassing all policy areas. The question of trade-offs between policy areas is studied in an unprecedented way and, for the first time, national types of policy patterns are identified.The findings of this book confront widely-held assumptions about the performance of democracies. Western democracies as a whole did not converge at a lower level of performance, and trade-offs between different policy areas did not increase. The question 'do institutions matter?' can only partially be answered in the affirmative. Political institutions do matter, but formal and informal institutions cause different effects and both matter only sometimes and to a limited degree. The Performance of Democracies is a book with significant theoretical implications. It stresses that the effect of institutions is more complicated than most of the neo-institutionalist approaches assume. No clear predictions can be made on the basis of institutional factors. Consequently, it does not support the established assertion that fundamental political problems can simply be resolved through institutional reforms of liberal democracies.Comparative Politics os a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science, International University Bremen, Germany; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparitive Politics, University of Southampton. The series is produced in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

Full Product Details

Author:   Edeltraud Roller (Professor of Political Science, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany) ,  John Bendix
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.30cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 24.20cm
Weight:   0.683kg
ISBN:  

9780199286423


ISBN 10:   0199286426
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   29 September 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. A Model for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Liberal Democracies; 3. A Model for Explaining the Performance of Liberal Democracies; 4. Level, Development, and Structure of the Effectiveness of Western Democracies; 5. The Influence of Political Institutions on the Effectiveness of Western Democracies; 6. Conclusions; Appendix: Performance Indicators - Distribution of the Original Variables; References

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