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This volume focuses upon the political and social outcomes of Switzerland's peculiar set of political institutions, for example decentralized federalism, active referendum democracy, and La formule magique (grand coalition)in the 1990s.
Taking a multi-dimensional and multi-spatial approach, this book examines the consensus democracies of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland over the past 40 years. It examines how these democracies have been transformed by Europeanization and globalization yet are able to maintain political stability.
With a strong comparative framework, this book examines fourteen countries with parliamentary or semi-presidential systems of government to provide a detailed investigation into the mechanisms by which governments determine the agendas of their parliaments.
An updated third edition of this authoriative analysis of Swiss democracy, the institutions of federalism, and consensus democracy through political power sharing. Linder analyses the scope and limits of citizen's participation in direct democracy, which distinguishes Switzerland from most parliamentary systems.
This book describes the history of the initiative process and the major issues that have arisen during its increasing use in recent years. By elucidating the problems that have arisen and their possible solutions, the authors seek both to inform the debate about the wisdom of the initiative and to offer suggestions for improvement to jurisdictions that choose to use the process. With the aid of more than 40 charts and tables, the authors compare the major features of the initiative in the American jurisdictions that have adopted the procedure-24 states and the District of Columbia. They draw particularly on the experience in California, the most frequent U.S. user of the initiative and a major battleground in the development of ideas about the process. The book also discusses the use of the initiative in other countries, particularly Switzerland, where the process originated and the only other major country in the world that makes extensive use of the initiative today.
While local government is found in all federal countries, its place and role in the governance of these countries varies considerably. In some countries, local government is considered an essential part of the federal nature of the state and recognized in the constitution as such, whereas in others it is simply a creature of the subnational states/provinces. When referring to local government it is more correct to refer to local governments (plural), as these institutions come in all shapes and sizes, performing widely divergent functions. They range from metropolitan municipalities of mega-cities to counties, small town councils, and villages. Their focus is either multi-purpose in the case...
First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Arend Lijphart is one of the world's leading and most influential political scientists whose work has had a profound impact on the study of democracy and comparative politics. Thinking about Democracy draws on a lifetime's experience of research and publication in this area and collects together for the first time his most significant and influential work. The book also contains an entirely new introduction and conclusion where Professor Lijphart assesses the development of his thought and the practical impact it has had on emerging democracies. This volume will be of enormous interest to all students and scholars of democracy and comparative politics, and politics and international relations in general.
Direct Democratic Choice sets out to understand how the citizens actually decide in direct-democratic votes. Author Hanspeter Kriesi has analyzed nearly twenty years of post-election surveys in Switzerland (1981-1999), which he has contextualized according to the various political issues and the relevant arguments provided by the political elites. This book's core argument is that the citizens who participate in direct-democratic votes make competent choices. Kriesi provides strong support for an optimistic view of direct-democratic decision-making but also indicates that this process, wherever it occurs, can be improved by proper institutional design and by appropriate strategies enacted by the political elite.