Power Diffusion and Democracy
Institutions, Deliberation and Outcomes

Presents a theoretically and methodologically sophisticated remapping and analysis of political-institutional power diffusion in democracies.

Julian Bernauer (Author), Adrian Vatter (Author)

9781108483384, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 May 2019

302 pages, 53 b/w illus. 18 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.63 kg

'… the book is of high interest for advanced students and scholars in the field of assessing democratic quality especially regarding power diffusion and deliberation. Further Bernauer's and Vatter's book will also be of interest to those interested in actor-centered institutionalism. Finally, the book is also recommended for scholars of other social science disciplines, as it draws on sociological aspects of inclusion, such as income equality and migrant integration.' Ingrid Heidlmayr-Chegdaly, Democratization

Departing from the established literature connecting the political-institutional patterns of democracy with the quality of democracy, this book acknowledges that democracies, if they can be described as such, come in a wide range of formats. At the conceptual and theoretical level, the authors make an argument based on deliberation, redrawing power diffusion in terms of the four dimensions of proportionality, decentralisation, presidentialism and direct democracy, and considering the potential interactions between these aspects. Empirically, they assemble data on sixty-one democracies between 1990 and 2015 to assess the performance and legitimacy of democracy. Their findings demonstrate that while, for example, proportional power diffusion is associated with lower income inequality, there is no simple institutional solution to all societal problems. This book explains contemporary levels of power diffusion, their potential convergence and their manifestation at the subnational level in democracies including the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

1. Introducing power diffusion in democracies
2. A theory of power diffusion, deliberation and democracy
3. A taxonomy of power diffusion
4. Performance
5. Legitimacy
6. Explaining power diffusion
7. Convergence
8. Subnational power diffusion
9. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]