Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries

by Arend Lijphart

Book Overview

In this updated and expanded edition of his classic text, Arend Lijphart offers a broader and deeper analysis of worldwide democratic institutions than ever before. Examining thirty-six democracies during the period from 1945 to 2010, Lijphart arrives at important--and unexpected--conclusions about what type of democracy works best.

Praise for the previous edition:

"Magnificent. . . . The best-researched book on democracy in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300172028
• ISBN13: 9780300172027
• Release Date: September 2012
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

I got the book within a few days and it was in great condition and it was a great price! Thank you so much!

A neccessity

This book it a need of anyone who is either interested in or studies political science. I am an International Relations major at Harvard, and I have used the book in every government course I have had. It is very easy to read and not over-articulate. I like Lijphart's clear analysis, it is a great book.

Essential Reading for Comparative Political Studies

This revision of Lijphart's Classic 'Democracies' is a first-rate survey of 36 democracies, which focuses on the relationships between a number of political variables. One of the most striking features of the book is the manner in which Lijphart divides the book into 10 areas of inquiry (e.g. electoral systems, party formations, executive power, etc.), devoting one chapter per area. He reviews the theory regarding the area of interest, while also attempting to use applied examples from the 36 countries to illustrate that theory. He then tries to construct rough numerical indices to outline more formally the degree and extent to which qualitative differences exist. This helps in conceptualizing how (dis)similar two countries are with respect to one another.The other outstanding aspect of the book is that by the end, the reader is broadly familiar with the structure of all 36 democracies. You walk away understanding how diverse the party formations of federal Germany are, or how UK Commonwealths tend to mirror their colonial power in terms of parliamentary power, centralisation of power, and so forth.Because of its lucid and and pragmatic structure, as well as its strong comparative approach, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about what features differentiate democracies and why France is or is not similar to Japan or Paupa New Guinea--an excellent study by a classic thinker!

Lijphart fan

To the reader from CaliforniaArend Lijphart is a staple of political science honours classes in Australia with good reason. As for the Communist manifesto - good in theory - not so good in practice - all people need the right to free expression 'cos they're humans capable of independent thought - they're not drones! Cf. fall of eastern bloc!

A magnificent textbook

This is a successor to Lijphart's Democracies, which covered twenty-two countries. It is expanded to include LDCs like India, Costa Rica and Jamaica. This is the first text to cover the full range of democracies, and do so in an interesting and useful way.