
Losers' Consent
Elections and Democratic Legitimacy
Oxford University Press
Published on 25. October 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-19-923200-0 (ISBN)
Description
Democratic elections are designed to create unequal outcomes: for some to win, others have to lose. This book examines the consequences of this inequality for the legitimacy of democratic political institutions and systems. Using survey data collected in democracies around the globe, the authors argue that losing generates ambivalent attitudes towards political authorities. Because the efficacy and ultimately the survival of democratic regimes can be seriously threatened if the losers do not consent to their loss, the central themes of this book focus on losing: how losers respond to their loss and how institutions shape losing. While there tends to be a gap in support for the political system between winners and losers, it is not ubiquitous. The book paints a picture of losers' consent that portrays losers as political actors whose experience and whose incentives to accept defeat are shaped both by who they are as individuals as well as the political environment in which loss is given meaning.
Given that the winner-loser gap in legitimacy is a persistent feature of democratic politics, the findings presented in this book contain crucial implications for our understanding of the functioning and stability of democracies.
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Professor Alfio Mastropaolo, University of Turin and Kenneth Newton, University of Southampton and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin . The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.
Given that the winner-loser gap in legitimacy is a persistent feature of democratic politics, the findings presented in this book contain crucial implications for our understanding of the functioning and stability of democracies.
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Professor Alfio Mastropaolo, University of Turin and Kenneth Newton, University of Southampton and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin . The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.
Reviews / Votes
All in all this is an interesting book which deserves to be read. * Robert Klemmensen Political Studies Review *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
numerous tables and figures
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
373 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-923200-0 (9780199232000)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Christopher J. Anderson | Andre Blais | Shaun Bowler
Losers' Consent
Elections and Democratic Legitimacy
Book
01/2005
Oxford University Press
€190.20
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Christopher J. Anderson is Professor of Government at Cornell University.
Andre Blais is Professor of Political Science at the Unversity of Montreal.
Shaun Bowler is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside.
Todd Donovan is Professor of Political Science at Western Washington University.
Ola Listhaug is Professor of Political Science at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Andre Blais is Professor of Political Science at the Unversity of Montreal.
Shaun Bowler is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside.
Todd Donovan is Professor of Political Science at Western Washington University.
Ola Listhaug is Professor of Political Science at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Editor
, Department of Government, Cornell University
, Department of Political Science, University of Montreal
, Department of Political Science, University of California, Riverside
, Department of Political Science, Western Washington University
, Department of Sociology and Political Science, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Content
PART 1: THE WINNER-LOSER GAP; PART 2: UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES IN LOSERS' CONSENT