A Centripetal Theory of Democratic Governance

This book outlines the importance of political institutions in achieving good governance within a democratic polity.

John Gerring (Author), Strom C. Thacker (Author)

9780521710152, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 8 June 2008

248 pages, 16 tables
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.35 kg

“This splendid book offers a comprehensive theory, and a wide-ranging set of empirical tests, to explain why some democratic governments work better than others, and it represents is a significant addition to the growing body of evidence in favor or parliamentary government and proportional representation. It will be a touchstone for social scientists, policymakers, and constitution-drafters who are concerned with the role of formal institutions in structuring the tasks of governance.”
-Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego

This book outlines the importance of political institutions in achieving good governance within a democratic polity and sets forth an argument to explore what sorts of institutions do the job best. By focusing on 'centripetal institutions', which maximize both representation and authority by bringing political energy and actors toward the centre of a polity, the authors set forth a relatively novel theory of democratic governance, applicable to all political settings in which multi-party competition obtains. Basing their theory on national-level political institutions, the authors argue that there are three types of political institutions that are fundamental in securing a centripetal style of democratic governance: unitary (rather than federal) sovereignty, a parliamentary (rather than presidential) executive, and a closed-list PR electoral system (rather than a single-member district or preferential-vote system).

1. Models of governance
Part I. Causal Mechanisms: 2. Party government
3. Conflict mediation
4. Policy coordination
Part II. Empirics: 5. Hypotheses
6. Crossnational tests
7. Assessing the evidence
Part III. Conclusions: 8. In defense of grand theory
Appendix A. Defining good governance
Appendix B. Alternative theories revisited
Sources.

Subject Areas: International institutions [JPSN], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]