Politics of Regime Structure Reform in Democracies

Gideon Rahat is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"Thoroughly researched and carefully analyzed, this impressive piece of scholarship on party systems and electoral reform will be invaluable for academics, politicians, and policy makers working in this field. For scholars of Israel especially, this book will play an important role in explaining the country's unique electoral history and its various experiments with electoral reform." — John C. Courtney, author of Elections"Rahat finds just the right balance between the larger theoretical and comparative questions and an informed, detailed analysis of the Israeli experience. This is no simple accomplishment, and he is to be congratulated on the achievement." — Asher Arian, author of Politics in Israel: The Second Republic, Second Edition

• List of TablesList of AbbreviationsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Stability and Reform of the Regime Structures of Established Democracies PART  ONEThe Politics of Electoral Reform in Israel 2. The Electoral System, 1948–1969: A Brief Historical Overview 3. The Politics of Electoral Reform, 1969–1977: The Failure to Promote Compromise 4. The Politics of Electoral Reform, 1984–1990: From (Knesset) Electoral Reform to Government System Reform PART TWO The Politics of Government System Reform in Israel, 1988–1992 5. Long-Term Developments, Catalyzing Events, and the Reform Initiative 6. The Actors 7. The Stages of the Reform Process and Overcoming the Barriers PART THREE Reform of Regime Structures of Established Democracies in Historical and Cross-National Comparative Perspectives 8. The Israeli Case Studies in a Historical-Comparative Perspective 9. The Politics of Regime Structure Reform in Established Democracies: A Cross-National Comparative Perspective ConclusionsEpilogueNotesBibliographyAuthor Index Subject Index