Books published by Rowman & Littlefield International

Is Democracy a Lost Cause? explores the current debate on democracy.

Sixty years of democratic representation in Germany allow us to study the working of a specific type of electoral system, namely a mixed system combining proportional and majoritarian rules, in great detail. Mixed systems have figured as a reference point in many reform debates of the recent past. This is because they appear to combine advantageous traits of proportional and majoritarian rules, such as fairness, proximity between constituencies and representatives, and stable government majorities. Mixed systems have also attracted much scholarly attention of late, because they allow us to study the effects of electoral rules while holding many intervening variables constant. But they also attract interest because the proportional and majoritarian electoral tiers affect each other in ways that differ from what would have resulted under pure PR or plurality. All this makes mixed systems a fascinating object of study, and the German system is its oldest and prototypical exemplar. 'Professor Manow's book establishes a new standard for work on German elections and on mixed-member proportional electoral systems more generally. Given the influence of the German system on electoral system designers around the world in the past quarter century, this book should rightly find a broad audience.'John M Carey, Dartmouth College 'Professor Manow provides a terrific summary of the modern literature on Germany's mixed electoral system and extends it in several directions. Highly recommended for scholars of mixed electoral systems.'Jens Hainmueller, Stanford University

Insiders and outsiders agree; there is something particular about negotiating in Brussels. This book analyses ten years of continuous negotiations about EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, answering questions such as When and how are decisions typically reached in the European Union? What is this 'culture of consensus' that pervades negotiations in the Council of Ministers? And why are some member states more successful than others in making their voices heard? Using the metaphor of the Caucus race from Alice in Wonderland, Smeets' book offers a fresh perspective on the decision-making realities in Brussels' European Quarter. By providing unique empirical insight into behind-closed-doors debates, it explains the faltering accession process of the countries of former Yugoslavia. But most of all, it reveals the mechanism by which national interests are accommodated, so that deals can be reached between the member states. Much work has been done in individual disciplines on the phenomenon of tax competition that lies at the heart of this crisis. Yet, the combination of issues of democratic legitimacy, social justice, economic efficiency, and national sovereignty that tax competition raises clearly requires an interdisciplinary analysis. This book offers a rare example of this kind of work, bringing together experts from political science, philosophy, law, and economics whose contributions combine empirical analysis with normative and institutional proposals. It makes an important contribution to reforming international taxation.

This book offers a rare example of this kind of work, bringing together experts from political science, philosophy, law, and economics whose contributions combine empirical analysis with normative and institutional proposals.

Killingsworth's book presents three broad arguments, all of which reject the way civil society has been applied in the analysis of opposition and dissent in totalitarian Czechoslovakia, the GDR and Poland.

Seek new approaches to empirical studies on the relationship between citizens and their chosen representatives, this book focuses on the way in which representatives and citizens interact during mandate periods between elections.

The first comprehensive account of the booming phenomenon of deliberative mini-publics, this book offers a systematic review of their variety, discusses their weaknesses, and recommends ways to make them a viable component of democracy.

This volume sets out an impressive historical, theoretical and institutional framework for a comprehensive, comparative and empirical analysis of the forms, patterns, trends and determinants of citizen participation in two of Europe's largest democracies.

A compilation of Adrian Favell's innovative and agenda-setting essays which, since the late 1990s, have charted the emergence of new migration patterns and politics in Europe.

Its re-publication makes this classic piece of spatial (political) science available to contemporary audiences, for whom it is as relevant as when the book first appeared in 1979.

This book is the story of what happens to parties, governments and voters when the fundamental features that conditioned party formation and voter alignments undergo rapid change. It is this that makes the Finnish case interesting and, as far as possible, this book examines Finland in a comparative perspective. Karvonen's study is based on a wealth of new primary evidence. It demonstrates that Finland is indeed a special case in certain respects, especially when it comes to the attenuation of ideological rivalry and the recurrent waves of populist protest.

Contributors to this edited collection address head-on the puzzle of conservative women who engage in gendered political representation but do so within a conservative setting.