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Power Diffusion and Democracy
Departing from the established literature connecting the political-institutional patterns of democracy with the quality of democracy, this book acknowledges that democracies, if they can be described as such, come in a wide range of formats. At the conceptual and theoretical level, the authors make an argument based on deliberation, redrawing power diffusion in terms of the four dimensions of proportionality, decentralisation, presidentialism and direct democracy, and considering the potential interactions between these aspects. Empirically, they assemble data on sixty-one democracies between 1990 and 2015 to assess the performance and legitimacy of democracy. Their findings demonstrate that while, for example, proportional power diffusion is associated with lower income inequality, there is no simple institutional solution to all societal problems. This book explains contemporary levels of power diffusion, their potential convergence and their manifestation at the subnational level in democracies including the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
The Swiss Labyrinth
It can be argued that Switzerland has a peculiar set of political institutions, for example decentralized federalism, active referendum democracy, and La formule magique (grand coalition). This volume focuses upon the political and social outcomes of these institutions in the 1990s.
Power Diffusion and Democracy
Presents a theoretically and methodologically sophisticated remapping and analysis of political-institutional power diffusion in democracies.
Swiss Federalism
The political and economic crisis of EU integration has made it increasingly apparent how challenging it is to bring together different sovereign cultures, languages and regions into a single political system. Switzerland – being one of the three classic federations in the world – can provide insights, particularly in relation to the accommodation of cultural, linguistic, religious and regional diversity, which can help tackle contemporary challenges. This book describes and analyses the characteristics, institutions, and processes of Swiss federalism, along with its combination of stability and change. It presents a comprehensive study of the federal system of Switzerland, where it comes from, how it operates, and the way it has changed of late. This will allow readers to appreciate the specific and current answers the Swiss case offers to the main questions raised by wider federal research. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students in federalism and territorial politics, political institutions, local and regional government studies, multi-level governance and more broadly to European and comparative politics.
Conscience in Politics
First published in 1996.What Jurg Steiner has done with this book takes more than a pinch of professional courage. He is asking us to consider seriously the possibility that politicians make choices of conscience daily and that such choices frequently override considerations of partisanship and personal advantage.
Elections and Democracy
Elections and Democracy addresses the contrast between two different views on representative democracy. According to the first view elections are a mechanism to hold government accountable. In the second view elections are primarily a means to ensure that citizens' views and interests are properly represented in the democratic process. The majoritarian and consensus models of democracy are the embodiment in institutional structures of these two different views of democracy. In the majoritarian view the single most important function of an election is the selection of a government. The concentration of power in the hands of an elected majority government makes it accountable to the people. In...
Campaign Strategy in Direct Democracy
In the first study of comparative direct-democracy, Laurent Bernhard explores the nature of direct-democratic campaigning in Switzerland. The author examines four policy areas: immigration, healthcare, welfare and economic liberalism focussing on interviews with campaign managers to provide a comprehensive analysis of direct-democratic campaigning.
The Clientelistic Turn in Welfare State Policy-Making
Using a mix of quantitative methods and case study research, The Clientelistic Turn in Welfare State Policy-Making critically assesses the impact of party governments in different institutional settings on welfare state generosity and labour market reforms. Its key findings contradict earlier established views on the impact of leftist governments on welfare state policies. Specifically, left-wing governments are pursuing clientelistic policies when facing high institutional constraints and austerity and turn out to cater towards the core workforce rather than designing policies for the full range of labour market participants.
Comparative Federalism
Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry, Second Edition is a uniquely comprehensive, analytic, and genuinely comparative introduction to the principles and practices, as well as the institutional compromises, of federalism. Hueglin and Fenna draw from their diverse research on federal systems to focus on four main models—America, Canada, Germany, and the European Union—but also to range widely over other cases. At the heart of the book is careful analysis of the relationship between constitutional design and amendment, fiscal relations, institutional structures, intergovernmental relations, and judicial review. Such analysis serves the dual role of helping the reader understand federalism and providing a comparative framework from which to assess the record of federal systems. The second edition has been extensively revised and updated, taking into account new developments in federal systems and incorporating insights from the growing body of literature in the field. It includes two new chapters, "Fiscal Federalism" and "The Limits of Federalism."
Approaching the EUropean Federation?
The European project has, within only 52 years, achieved a surprising momentum, and the European Union is now approaching full statehood. The Convention on the Future of Europe has finished its work and handed over a proposal for a constitutional treaty to the Heads of State and Government of the EU. It is therefore the ideal time to present an integrated analysis of what appears to be the emerging European State. This key volume therefore discusses the central questions and concepts within the field of European studies, which include federalism, the relationship between statehood and constitution, integration and constitution, the regions in the 'new' Europe and the EU as an international actor. These discussions are then developed and analyzed in relation to the draft constitution. Timely and insightful, the volume is suitable for courses on European integration, federalism and international politics.
