This book is available in Oxford Scholarship Online
| Description | | - Presents an innovative theory of representative democracy
- Draws on data from 21 post-war democracies
- Develops unique insights into the nature of policy making
|
This bold venture into political theory and comparative politics combines traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods. It asks how contemporary democracies work, an essential stage in asking how they can be justified. An answer to both questions is found in the idea of the median mandate. The voter in the middle - the voice of the majority - empowers the centre party in
parliament to translate his or her preferences into public policy. The median mandate provides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each qualified 'vision' with an integrated account of how representative institutions work. The unified theory is put to the test with comprehensive cross-national evidence covering 21 democracies
from 1950 through to 1995.
This exciting book will be of interest to specialists and general readers alike, representing as it does a reaffirmation of traditional democratic practice in an uncertain and threatening world.
Comparative Politics
is 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 Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.
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Readership: Scholars and students of politics, especially those with an interest in comparative politics, political behaviour, political parties, democracy studies, and electoral studies
| Contents |
Part 1: The Mandate Process
1.
Choosing Governments or Identifying Preferences? The Role of Elections in Democracy
2.
Mandate Theories: Government and Median
3.
Communicating Preferences: The Public Policy Space
4.
Research Questions for Comparative Investigation
Part 2: The Electoral Process
5.
Choices Parties Offer
6.
Mandates Without Obvious Majorities
7.
Representing the Meidan Voter
Part 3: The Governing Process
8.
Who Controls Short-Term Policy Making?
9.
From Declared to Actual Policy: Short-Term Influences on Government Policies
Part 4: The Democratic Process
10.
Long Term Policy Regimes: Incrementalism Put in Context
11.
Fluctuating Political Forces
12.
Politics and Policy Regimes: Setting a Long Term Equilibrium
13.
Unifying Theories of Democracy Through the Median Mandate
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| Authors, editors,
and contributors |
Michael D. McDonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Binghamton University and
Ian Budge, Professor of Government, University of Essex
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The specification in this catalogue, including without
limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations,
and month of publication, was as accurate as
possible at the time the catalogue was compiled.
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