This book is unique in analysing the new Scottish Parliament from a systematically comparative perspective. Its basic premise is that since devolution in 1999 Scotland can be considered a Scandinavian-style democracy with several features of a Scandinavian-style parliament. The basic research question, therefore, is: 'Has the Scottish Parliament in its first four-year term manifested a Scandinavian-style politics in the sense that there has been a high incidence of inter-party negotiation within parliament?' The architects of the Scottish Parliament saw the committees as the motor of a 'new...

This book is about the distinctive features of Scandinavian democracy, the state of Scandinavian democracy and the classification of the Scandinavian democracies. It breaks new ground in challenging the established status of the Scandinavian countries as 'consensus model democracies'.
The book poses three main questions. First, what are the distinctive features of the five Scandinavian political systems when compared with the Westminster model of democracy? Next, how well does the evidence from recent commissions suggest that Scandinavian democracy is working in practice? Finally, is...

Recent years have witnessed substantial work in the legislative studies field. But what do we know about legislatures today and are there clear criteria for comparing and classifying them?

This is a new review of the state of our knowledge of parliament and tackles key questions: Do legislatures matter in legislative terms, and, if so, how much? What is the extent of the legislature's control of the legislative process. How can we classify legislatures on the basis of their relative legislative performance. Five measures of the policy power of parliaments are applied in the...

This book is about the distinctive features of Scandinavian democracy, the state of Scandinavian democracy and the classification of the Scandinavian democracies. It breaks new ground in challenging the established status of the Scandinavian countries as 'consensus model democracies'.
The book poses three main questions. First, what are the distinctive features of the five Scandinavian political systems when compared with the Westminster model of democracy? Next, how well does the evidence from recent commissions suggest that Scandinavian democracy is working in practice? Finally, is...

This book is unique in analysing the new Scottish Parliament from a systematically comparative perspective. Its basic premise is that since devolution in 1999 Scotland can be considered a Scandinavian-style democracy with several features of a Scandinavian-style parliament. The basic research question, therefore, is: 'Has the Scottish Parliament in its first four-year term manifested a Scandinavian-style politics in the sense that there has been a high incidence of inter-party negotiation within Parliament?' The architects of the Scottish Parliament saw the committees as the motor of a 'new...

This completely revised and updated third edition of Scandinavian politics today provides a uniquely comparative, thematic and insightful treatment of politics and government in the five Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and the three Home Rule territories that together make up the Nordic region.
The approach is distinctive in being systematically thematic and comparative and the author draws on current themes in political science literature to produce a book with cosiderable 'added value' over the run-of-the-mill textbook treatment. There are six parts and...

This completely revised and updated third edition of Scandinavian politics today provides a uniquely comparative, thematic and insightful treatment of politics and government in the five Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and the three Home Rule territories that together make up the Nordic region. The approach is distinctive in being systematically thematic and comparative and the author draws on current themes in political science literature to produce a book with cosiderable 'added value' over the run-of-the-mill textbook treatment. There are six parts and...