This is the most ambitious and comprehensive account of the institutions of democratic delegation in West European parliamentary democracies to date. It provides an unprecedented cross-national investigation of West European political institutions from 1945 until the present day, as well as situating modern parliamentary democracy in the context of changing political parties and the growing importance of the European Union.

• List of Figures


• List of Tables


• List of Contributors


• Section 1: Introduction and Theory


• 1: Wolfgang C. Müller, Torbjörn Bergman, and Kaare Strøm: Parliamentary Democracy: Promise and Problems


• 2: Arthur Lupia: Delegation and its Perils


• 3: Kaare Strøm: Parliamentary Democracy and Delegation


• 4: Torbjörn Bergman, Wolfgang C. Müller, Kaare Strøm, and Magnus Blomgren: Democratic Delegation and Accountability: Cross-National Patterns


• Section 2: Survey


• 5: Wolfgang C. Müller: Austria: Imperfect Parliamentarism but Fully-Fledged Party Democracy


• 6: Lieven de Winter and Patrick Dumont: Belgium: Delegation and Accountability under Partitocratic Rule


• 7: Erik Damgaard: Denmark: Delegation and Accountability in Minority Situations


• 8: Tapio Raunio and Matti Wiberg: Finland: Polarized Pluralism in the Shadow of a Strong President


• 9: Jean-Louis Thiébault: France: Delegation and Accountability in the Fifth Republic


• 10: Thomas Saalfeld: Germany: Multiple Veto Points, Informal Co-ordination, and Problems of Hidden Action


• 11: Georgios Trantas, Paraskevi Zagoriti, Torbjörn Bergman, Wolfgang C. Müller, and Kaare Strøm: Greece: 'Rationalizing' Constitutional Powers in a Post-Dictatorial Country


• 12: Svanur Kristjánsson: Iceland: A Parliamentary Democracy with a Semi-Presidential Constitution


• 13: Paul Mitchell: Ireland: 'O What a Tangled Web...' - Delegation, Accountability, and Executive Power


• 14: Luca Verzichelli: Italy: Delegation and Accountability in a Changing Parliamentary Democracy


• 15: Patrick Dumont and Lieven De Winter: Luxembourg: A Case of More 'Direct' Delegation and Accountability


• 16: Arco Timmermans and Rudy B. Andeweg: The Netherlands: Rules and Mores in Delegation and Accountability Relationships


• 17: Kaare Strøm and Hanne Marthe Narud: Norway: Virtual Parliamentarism


• 18: Octavio Amorim Neto: Portugal: Changing Patterns of Delegation and Accountability under the President's Watchful Eyes


• 19: Carlos Flores Juberías: Spain: Delegation and Accountability in a Newly Established Democracy


• 20: Torbjörn Bergman: Sweden: From Separation of Power to Parliamentary Supremacy - and Back Again?


• 21: Thomas Saalfeld: The United Kingdom: Still a Single 'Chain of Command'? The Hollowing Out of the 'Westminster Model'


• Section 3: Analysis and Conclusion


• 22: Kaare Strøm, Wolfgang C. Müller, Torbjörn Bergman, and Benjamin Nyblade: Dimensions of Citizen Control


• 23: Kaare Strøm, Wolfgang C. Müller, and Torbjörn Bergman: Challenges to Parliamentary Democracy