Subnational Patterns of Democracy in Austria, Germany and Switzerland

Bibliographic Data

ID6407044
AuthorsAdrian Vatter (0000-0002-6588-8771), I Stadelmann-Steffen (0000-0003-3441-4757)
Year2013
Volume36
Issue1
Pages71-96
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402382.2013.742737
OpenAlexW2045938722
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited38

This article investigates the main political institutions in the sub-national democracies of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. It applies Lijphart’s approach to these German-speaking countries in Western Europe and expands it – following recent advances – by direct democracy. The main finding of the sub-national analysis is that, similar to Lijphart, two dimensions of democracy can be distinguished. While the first can be considered as the ‘consensual dimension’ of democracy, the second represents the ‘rules of the game’. Moreover, and in contrast to analyses at the national level, direct democracy does not constitute a dimension on its own, but forms an important element of consensus decision-making in the sub-national units at hand. Finally, based on cluster analysis three homogenous national clusters were found, but also one cluster with sub-national democracies from Germany and Austria that are more similar to one another than to other Länder within their respective federal states

Cluster (spacecraft · Democracy · Dimension (graph theory · Economic history · Economic system · Economics · Element (criminal law · Geography · German · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · West germany · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Mathematics · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration

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