Drawing on a systematic, empirical analysis of four key Southern European countries, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Italy, this insightful study identifies several key aspects of democratic consolidation: consensus and legitimization, party system and party organization, and the ways in which organized and non-organized interests are related to parties and the institutions of state. This book offers the first extensive, comparative analysis of consolidation and crisis in these countries, and features a wealth of up-to-date information on party organizations, interest associations, the media,...