Constitutional Choices for New Democracies - Arend Lijphart Flashcards
Two Choices for New Democracies
Plurality elections vs. Proportional representation
Parliamentary vs. Presidential forms of government
Ideal government for new democracies
Proportional representation and parliamentary government
Plurality elections
two-party system, one-party government and an executive that is dominant in legislation
Proportional representation
multiparty system, coalition government, and more equal executive-legislator relations
Extreme PR
no limits to small parties (ex. Netherlands)
Moderate PR
minimum threshold for small parties (ex. 5% of vote in Germany)
2 ways to go from monarchy –> democracy
1: taking away monarch’s political prerogatives and making their cabinet into a parliament
2: removing the hereditary monarch and replacing them with an elected monarch