How does representative democracy work in the modern age? Examining 21 post-war democracies, this strikingly innovative approach by two world-class scholars demonstrates how the voter in the middle--the median elector--empowers the centre party in parliament to translate political preferences into public policy.
Author(s): Michael D. McDonald, Ian Budge
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 272
Contents......Page 10
List of Figures......Page 11
List of Tables......Page 13
I: The Mandate Process......Page 16
1. Choosing Governments or Identifying Preferences? The Role of Elections in Democracy......Page 18
2. Mandate Theories: Government and Median......Page 34
3. Communicating Preferences: The Public Policy Space......Page 45
4. Research Questions for Comparative Investigation......Page 64
II: The Electoral Process......Page 74
5. Choices Parties Offer......Page 76
6. Mandates Without Obvious Majorities?......Page 106
7. Representing the Median Voter......Page 131
III: The Governing Process......Page 154
8. Who Controls Short-Term Policymaking?......Page 156
9. From Declared to Actual Policy: Short-Term Influences on Government Policies......Page 169
IV: The Democratic Process......Page 184
10. Long-Term Policy Regimes: Incrementalism Put in Context......Page 186
11. Fluctuating Political Forces......Page 196
12. Politics and Policy Regimes: Setting a Long-Term Equilibrium......Page 218
13. Unifying Theories of Democracy Through the Median Mandate......Page 242
Bibliography......Page 258
D......Page 268
I......Page 269
N......Page 270
S......Page 271
W......Page 272
