Perfecting parliament : constitutional reform, liberalism, and the rise of Western democracy / Roger D. Congleton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Congleton, Roger D., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democratization--Western countries--History--19th century.

Democratization.

Democracy--Western countries--History--19th century.

Democracy.

Constitutional history--Western countries.

Constitutional history.

Liberalism--Western countries--History--19th century.

Liberalism.

Rational choice theory--Political aspects.

Rational choice theory.

Western countries--Politics and government--19th century.

Western countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 658 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book explains why contemporary liberal democracies are based on historical templates rather than revolutionary reforms; why the transition in Europe occurred during a relatively short period in the nineteenth century; why politically and economically powerful men and women voluntarily supported such reforms; how interests, ideas, and pre-existing institutions affected the reforms adopted; and why the countries that liberalized their political systems also produced the Industrial Revolution. The analysis is organized in three parts. The first part develops new rational choice models of (1) governance, (2) the balance of authority between parliaments and kings, (3) constitutional exchange, and (4) suffrage reform. The second part provides historical overviews and detailed constitutional histories of six important countries. The third part provides additional evidence in support of the theory, summarizes the results, contrasts the approach taken in this book with that of other scholars, and discusses methodological issues.

Contents:

1. On the origins of Western democracy

2. Team production, organization, and governance

3. Organizational governance in the long run

4. The origins of territorial governance

5. Constitutional exchange and divided governance

6. The power of the purse and constitutional reform

7. Suffrage without democracy

8. Ideology, interest groups, and adult suffrage

9. Setting the stage: philosophical, economic and political developments prior to the nineteenth century

10. Liberalism and reform in the transformative century

11. Fine-grained constitutional bargaining

12. An overview of British constitutional history: the English king and the medieval parliament

13. Constitutional exchange in the United Kingdom

14. The Swedish transition to democracy

15. Constitutional reform in the Netherlands: from republic to kingdom, to parliamentary democracy

16. Germany: constitutional negotiations in an emerging state

17. The Japanese transition to democracy and back

18. The United States, an exception or further illustration?

19. Quantitative evidence of gradual reform

20. Ideas, interests, and constitutional reform

Appendix: methodological approach, limits, and extensions.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-85183-9

1-107-21727-X

1-282-90806-5

9786612908064

0-511-77925-9

0-511-91822-4

0-511-91920-4

0-511-91543-8

0-511-91364-8

0-511-91724-4

OCLC:

689996460