 | The Power of Opposition: How Legislative Organization Influences Democratic Consolidation Subjects: Politics & International Relations; Comparative Politics; International Politics; Government; Political Philosophy; Elections; Political Institutions; Legislative Politics; Democracy; Proposing a novel way to look at the consolidation of democratic regimes, this book presents important theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of democratic consolidation, legislative organization, and public opinion. Theoretically, Simone Wegmann brings legislatures into focus as the main body representing both winners and losers of democratic elections. Empirically, Wegmann shows that the degree of policy-making power of opposition players varies considerably between countries. Using survey data from the CSES, the ESS, and the LAPOP and systematically analyzing more than 50 legislatures across the world and the specific rights they grant to opposition players during the policy-making process, Wegmann demonstrates that neglecting the curial role of the legislature in a democratic setting can only lead to an incomplete assessment of the importance of institutions for democratic consolidation. The Power of Opposition will be of great interest to scholars of comparative politics, especially those working on questions related to legislative organization, democratic consolidation, and/or public opinion. Simone Wegmann is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Potsdam, Germany. She currently researches the role of legislatures for democratic consolidation and the influence of legislative organization on public opinion and government formation. Her research has appeared or is forthcoming in a variety of journals, including the American Political Science Review , Democratization, the International Journal of Human Rights, the Journal of Legislative Studies, and West European Politics. |
