Perfecting Parliament
Constitutional Reform, Liberalism, and the Rise of Western Democracy

This book explains why contemporary liberal democracies are based on historical templates rather than revolutionary reforms.

Roger D. Congleton (Author)

9780521151696, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 November 2010

668 pages, 16 b/w illus. 14 tables
22.8 x 15.4 x 3.5 cm, 0.88 kg

'Roger Congleton has spent years perfecting his knowledge of democratic governance - an extraordinary effort of great value for scholars, students, politicians, and citizens.' Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2009, Indiana University

This book explains why contemporary liberal democracies are based on historical templates rather than revolutionary reforms; why the transition in Europe occurred during a relatively short period in the nineteenth century; why politically and economically powerful men and women voluntarily supported such reforms; how interests, ideas, and pre-existing institutions affected the reforms adopted; and why the countries that liberalized their political systems also produced the Industrial Revolution. The analysis is organized in three parts. The first part develops new rational choice models of (1) governance, (2) the balance of authority between parliaments and kings, (3) constitutional exchange, and (4) suffrage reform. The second part provides historical overviews and detailed constitutional histories of six important countries. The third part provides additional evidence in support of the theory, summarizes the results, contrasts the approach taken in this book with that of other scholars, and discusses methodological issues.

1. On the origins of Western democracy
2. Team production, organization, and governance
3. Organizational governance in the long run
4. The origins of territorial governance
5. Constitutional exchange and divided governance
6. The power of the purse and constitutional reform
7. Suffrage without democracy
8. Ideology, interest groups, and adult suffrage
9. Setting the stage: philosophical, economic and political developments prior to the nineteenth century
10. Liberalism and reform in the transformative century
11. Fine-grained constitutional bargaining
12. An overview of British constitutional history: the English king and the medieval parliament
13. Constitutional exchange in England: from the Glorious Revolution to universal suffrage
14. The Swedish transition to democracy
15. Constitutional reform in the Netherlands: from republic to kingdom, to parliamentary democracy
16. Germany: constitutional exchange in an emerging state during the nineteenth century
17. The Japanese transition to democracy and back
18. The United States, an exception or further illustration?
19. Quantitative evidence of gradual reform
20. Ideas, interests, and constitutional reform
Appendix: methodological approach, limits, and extensions.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Economic history [KCZ], Political economy [KCP], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], Sociology [JHB]