Institutions of Liberal Democratic States

Munroe Eagles is Professor of Political Science and Geography at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His primary research interests are in the field of electoral and political geography, and in the politics of advanced industrial democracies. He has published numerous journal articles on these topics and is the author, with R. Kenneth Carty, of Politics is Local: National Politics at the Grassroots (Oxford University Press, 2005). Christopher Holoman teaches political science at Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York. His research interests include international relations, political economy, and distributive justice.Larry Johnston is the author of Ideologies: An Analytic and Conceptual Approach (1996) and Between Transcendence and Nihilism (1995). A legislative researcher in Toronto since 1998, he was an academic consultant to the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in 2006. He has taught a variety of politics courses at the University of Toronto, McMaster University, and Ryerson University.

• Chapter One The State: Constitutions, Institutions, and Systems 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Functions of State 1.3 Constitutions and Constitutionalism 1.4 Institutions 1.4.1 Legislatures 1.4.2 Executives 1.4.3 Judiciaries 1.5 Systems 1.5.1 Separated Powers 1.5.2 Concentrated Powers (Parliamentary Systems) 1.5.3 Comparing Systems Chapter Two Presidential versus Parliamentary Systems: Executives and Legislatures in Liberal Democracies 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Presidentialism Explored 2.3 Parliamentary Systems 2.3.1 Majoritarian versus Proportionate Systems 2.3.2 Majority, Minority, and Coalition Government 2.3.3 Formation and Dissolution of Parliamentary Governments 2.3.4 The Head of State 2.3.5 The Political Executive: Prime Minister and Cabinet 2.3.6 Policy-Making: Executive Dominance 2.4 Presidentialism in Parliamentary Systems: France as Hybrid 2.5 Conclusion Chapter Three Governing Territory: Unitary and Federalism Systems 3.1 Introduction: Decentralization and Centralization 3.2 Definitions: Federal, Confederal, and Unitary Systems 3.3 Why Federalism? 3.4 The Division of Powers 3.4.1 Legislative Powers 3.4.2 Administrative Powers 3.4.3 Fiscal Powers 3.5 Bicameralism in Federal States 3.6 Home Rule and Decentralization in Unitary States 3.7 Supranational Federalism: The European Union Chapter Four Cleavage Structures and Electoral Systems 4.1 Cleavages Defined 4.2 Some Cleavages Examined 4.2.1 Religious 4.2.2 Ethno-Linguistic 4.2.3 Center-Periphery 4.2.4 Urban-Rural 4.2.5 Class 4.3 Reinforcing and Cross-Cutting Cleavages 4.4 Electoral Systems: The Basics 4.5 Electoral Systems: Main Variants 4.5.1 Single-Member (Majoritarian) Systems 4.5.2 Proportionate Electoral Systems 4.5.3 Hybrid (Mixed-Member) Systems 4.6 Party Systems 4.7 Conclusion Index