Steffen Ganghof is Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Potsdam. His research concentrates on political institutions and democratic theory. In addition to many articles and chapters, he has authored or co-edited four books in German and he is the author of The Politics of Income Taxation: A Comparative Analysis (ECPR Press, 2006).

This is the most exciting new approach to comparative democratic institutional theory in decades. Ganghof develops a new concept of democratic regime design, "semi-parliamentary". This design partially exists in the world today (principally in Australia, and with some parallels in Germany), but this book fully articulates it as a distinct model of democracy. Ganghof offers a new approach to the concept of separated powers, and guidelines for institutional design that should be heeded by all scholars and practitioners interested in how democracy works, and how it could be reformed to work better.

• 1: The Road Not Taken 2: Separation of Powers ≠ Presidentialism 3: Why We Need the Concept of Semi-Parliamentary Government 4: Are Some Forms of Government More Democratic Than Others? 5: Visions of Democracy and the Limits of Parliamentarism 6: How Semi-Parliamentarism Can Balance Visions of Democracy 7: Design Matters: Second Chambers, Cabinet Formation, and Constitutional Reform 8: Designing Semi-Parliamentary Democracy 9: Against Presidentialism Appendix

Steffen Ganghof is Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Potsdam. His research concentrates on political institutions and democratic theory. In addition to many articles and chapters, he has authored or co-edited four books in German and he is the author of The Politics of Income Taxation: A Comparative Analysis (ECPR Press, 2006).

This is the most exciting new approach to comparative democratic institutional theory in decades. Ganghof develops a new concept of democratic regime design, "semi-parliamentary". This design partially exists in the world today (principally in Australia, and with some parallels in Germany), but this book fully articulates it as a distinct model of democracy. Ganghof offers a new approach to the concept of separated powers, and guidelines for institutional design that should be heeded by all scholars and practitioners interested in how democracy works, and how it could be reformed to work better.

• 1: The Road Not Taken 2: Separation of Powers ≠ Presidentialism 3: Why We Need the Concept of Semi-Parliamentary Government 4: Are Some Forms of Government More Democratic Than Others? 5: Visions of Democracy and the Limits of Parliamentarism 6: How Semi-Parliamentarism Can Balance Visions of Democracy 7: Design Matters: Second Chambers, Cabinet Formation, and Constitutional Reform 8: Designing Semi-Parliamentary Democracy 9: Against Presidentialism Appendix

Steffen Ganghof is Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Potsdam. His research concentrates on political institutions and democratic theory. In addition to many articles and chapters, he has authored or co-edited four books in German and he is the author of The Politics of Income Taxation: A Comparative Analysis (ECPR Press, 2006).

This is the most exciting new approach to comparative democratic institutional theory in decades. Ganghof develops a new concept of democratic regime design, "semi-parliamentary". This design partially exists in the world today (principally in Australia, and with some parallels in Germany), but this book fully articulates it as a distinct model of democracy. Ganghof offers a new approach to the concept of separated powers, and guidelines for institutional design that should be heeded by all scholars and practitioners interested in how democracy works, and how it could be reformed to work better.

• 1: The Road Not Taken 2: Separation of Powers ≠ Presidentialism 3: Why We Need the Concept of Semi-Parliamentary Government 4: Are Some Forms of Government More Democratic Than Others? 5: Visions of Democracy and the Limits of Parliamentarism 6: How Semi-Parliamentarism Can Balance Visions of Democracy 7: Design Matters: Second Chambers, Cabinet Formation, and Constitutional Reform 8: Designing Semi-Parliamentary Democracy 9: Against Presidentialism Appendix