Reforming Democracy: Institutional Engineering in Western Europe (Comparative Politics)

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Book Description

Comparative Politics is a series that examines modern governments and political systems. It is intended for political science professors and scholars, as well as college students studying the subject. The scope of this series is global, and the ebooks in it are distinguished by their emphasis on comparative analysis and their rigorous methodological approach. This publication is part of a series that is being put out in conjunction with the European Consortium for Political Research.

Why are democratic institutions transformed, when is it going to happen, and how will it happen? This is the overarching topic that this research seeks to answer; it is based on the current state of crises in representative democracies. The formal political norms that regulate the direct relationship between elites within the political system, parties, and citizens are an example of the core democratic rules. They are, as a result, the essential component that ensures the successful operation of every political system. This e-book is available in PDF format, and it examines the circumstances, the reasons, and the mechanisms that explain the prevalence of institutional engineering in established democracies in Europe between the years 1990 and 2015. The decision of political elites to employ, or not use, institutional engineering as a solution to the issues they encounter lies at the heart of it.

This study provides both a better empirical understanding of the world of democratic reforms in consolidated democracies as well as thanks to a new data-set covering six dimensions of reform in 18 European countries, this study provides a better empirical understanding of the world of democratic reforms in consolidated democracies. Second, the e-book presents facts about the connection between a lack of political support and democratic reforms, as well as the significance that electoral shifts have in fostering reforms. Thirdly, this study demonstrates, via case studies conducted in Italy, Ireland, and France, that the final result of any given reform is dependent on the sort of reform that is being debated as well as the procedure that was utilized throughout the phase of the reform in which it was being discussed.

In conclusion, the book demonstrates that, contrary to what has been generally assumed, reforms of the fundamental democratic rules are common and, in most cases, constitute a response of challenged political elites to the erosion of political support and electoral change. This is one of the main arguments that the book makes.

Emilie van Haute is a Professor of Political Science at the Universite libre de Bruxelles. Ferdinand Muller-Rommel is the Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at Leuphana University. Susan Scarrow is the Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston. Together, these three individuals are the editors of the series.