Democracy at the Crossroads - Challenges for Governance and Representation
Essays in Honour of Thomas Saalfeld
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 25. March 2026
Book
Hardback
576 pages
978-1-032-95032-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines the complex challenges confronting modern democratic systems. Amid rising political fragmentation, polarization, societal diversity, democratic backsliding, technological advances, economic stagnation, and environmental crises, it explores the nuances of democratic governance and how representative institutions can strengthen their resilience. It provides new insights into traditional models of democratic delegation through a series of studies on how legislative bodies function and interact with the executive, especially during government formation. Later chapters focus on minority representation, analyzing conditions that promote political inclusion for women, migrants, and LGBT individuals, particularly in legislative institutions. The final section discusses the radical right's growth and addresses how political systems confront environmental issues, connecting themes of representation and sustainability. This book honors Thomas Saalfeld, a prominent scholar in legislative politics, government formation, and minority representation.
This volume is highly relevant for scholars and students interested in comparative politics, political representation, legislative behaviour, and European politics more broadly.
This volume is highly relevant for scholars and students interested in comparative politics, political representation, legislative behaviour, and European politics more broadly.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
92 s/w Tabellen, 82 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 82 s/w Abbildungen
92 Tables, black and white; 82 Halftones, black and white; 82 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
1125 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-95032-7 (9781032950327)
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
Jorge M. Fernandes | Javier Martinez-Canto
Democracy at the Crossroads - Challenges for Governance and Representation
Essays in Honour of Thomas Saalfeld
E-Book
03/2026
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Jorge M. Fernandes | Javier Martinez-Canto
Democracy at the Crossroads - Challenges for Governance and Representation
Essays in Honour of Thomas Saalfeld
E-Book
03/2026
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Persons
Jorge M. Fernandes is a Ramon y Cajal Fellow at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies, CSIC, Madrid. He holds a Ph.D. in Social and Political Sciences from the European University Institute (2013). After graduation, Jorge moved to Bamberg where he worked under the unabridged mentorship of Thomas Saalfeld. In 2017, Jorge took a position as Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. His research interests include representation, electoral systems, political parties, legislatures, and coalitions. His work has appeared in journals such as Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of European Public Policy, Legislative Studies Quarterly, among many others. He is the co-editor of The Politics of Legislative Debates (Oxford University Press, 2021) and The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics (Oxford University Press, 2023). He has held visiting positions at UC San Diego, Center for European Studies, Harvard University, and Robert Schuman Centre (EUI). From 2025, Jorge is the PI of the ERC Consolidator Grant 'SEE: Representation in Proportional Electoral Systems'.
Javier Martinez-Canto is a Cesar Nombela Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies, CSIC, Madrid. He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Bamberg (2021), which he developed under the outstanding supervision of Thomas Saalfeld. He has also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz, IBEI, and the University of Salamanca. During the 2023-2024 academic year, Javier was the inaugural Ramon Arences Fellow at Harvard University's Center for European Studies. His research interests include political parties, legislative behaviour, political representation, political competition, and federalism. His work has appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Party Politics, among many others. He has held short-term visiting positions at Princeton University (2018) and the University of Vienna (2022).
Javier Martinez-Canto is a Cesar Nombela Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies, CSIC, Madrid. He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Bamberg (2021), which he developed under the outstanding supervision of Thomas Saalfeld. He has also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz, IBEI, and the University of Salamanca. During the 2023-2024 academic year, Javier was the inaugural Ramon Arences Fellow at Harvard University's Center for European Studies. His research interests include political parties, legislative behaviour, political representation, political competition, and federalism. His work has appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Party Politics, among many others. He has held short-term visiting positions at Princeton University (2018) and the University of Vienna (2022).
Content
Part I: Delegation Models of Representation
Chapter 1. Constitutional Rigidity Matters: A Veto Players Approach?
George Tsebelis
Chapter 2. From selection to oversight? Parliament and government relations in France and Norway over more than a century.
Olivier Rozenberg
Chapter 3. The European Parliament as a Principal: The evolution of inter-institutional oversight in the European Union.
Amie Kreppel and Murad Gafarov
Chapter 4. Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Roles.
Kaare Strom and Shane Martin
Chapter 5. The Confidence Relationship between Parliament and Government.
Reuven Y. Hazan and Gaya S. Sigavi
Chapter 6. Elite loyalty, legislative productivity or constituency service: Where lies the reward in intra-party competition in Ghana?
Martin Acheampong
Chapter 7. Parliamentary Norms -a tool of the party group leaders?
Stefanie Bailer
Chapter 8. The Renaissance of Roll-Calls Votes in Austria's Second Republic.
Marcelo Jenny and Wolfgang C. Muller
Chapter 9. Aspects of Artificial Intelligence in Parliamentary Governance.
Fotios Fitsilis
Part II: Government Formation, Duration, and Termination
Chapter 10. The Vote of Confidence and Executive Bargaining Power on environmental protection.
Petra Schleiter and Georgina Evans
Chapter 11. Polarization as a challenge to parliamentary governance.
Hanna Back and Royce Carroll
Chapter 12. Portfolio Design in Germany: How coalition governments (re-)shape ministerial jurisdictions and what this tells us about coalition politics.
Ulrich Sieberer and David Schmuck
Chapter 13. Can legislative speech unveil conflict between coalition parties? An empirical illustration based on two examples in the German Bundestag.
Henning Bergmann, Lucas Geese, Carsten Schwemmer and Christian Koss
Chapter 14. It is possible because I have already seen it - How Sub-National Coalitions Affect Voters' Expectations about Government Compositions on the National Level.
Daniel Hohmann and Maria Thurk
Chapter 15. The electoral consequences of coalition bargaining.
Heike Kluver and Svenja Krauss
Chapter 16. Parliamentary Institutions and Portfolio Allocation in Coalition Governments.
Bjorn Erik Rasch, Bjorn Mo Forum and Cristina Bucur
Part III: Minority representation
Chapter 17. Who wants descriptive representation, and why?
Claudia Landwehr and Armin Schafer
Chapter 18. Career facilitators, springboards and allies: Examining what factors foster the careers of politicians of immigrant ancestry.
Laura Morales, Carles Pamies, and Claire Vincent-Mory
Chapter 19. Out and Loud? LGBT Representation in the Parliamentary Arena.
Javier Martinez-Canto, Jorge M. Fernandes and Edgar Chicurel
Chapter 20. Who likes descriptive representation, why, and with what implications? The Beliefs of Parliamentary Candidates in German Election Campaigns.
Thomas Zittel
Chapter 21. Patterns behind the termination of careers of immigrant-origin MPs in the German Bundestag.
Andreas M. Wust and Henning Bergmann
Chapter 22. Deracialised inclusion: from explaining ethnic minorities under-representation to explaining the new descriptive representation.
Maria Sobolewska
Chapter 23. Diverse Candidates - Diverse Positions? Party Line Conformity in Campaign Positions by Female and Immigrant Origin Candidates for the German Bundestag.
Lukas Hohendorf, Micaela Grosmann and Julia Schulte-Cloos
Chapter 24. Does protest affect MP roll-call votes in Germany?
Danieal Bischof
Part IV: Democratic Anxieties
Chapter 25. Permanent crises, the politics of the Merkel governments and the rise of right-wing populism in Germany.
Reimut Zohlnhofer
Chapter 26. The potential of extremist voters in Germany.
Sebastian Jungkunz and Marc Helbling
Chapter 27. Legislative conflict dimensions on environmental protection.
Tamaki Ohmura and David Willumsen
Chapter 28. Conflicts about the German Energiewende as a threat for democracy?
Simon Fink
Chapter 1. Constitutional Rigidity Matters: A Veto Players Approach?
George Tsebelis
Chapter 2. From selection to oversight? Parliament and government relations in France and Norway over more than a century.
Olivier Rozenberg
Chapter 3. The European Parliament as a Principal: The evolution of inter-institutional oversight in the European Union.
Amie Kreppel and Murad Gafarov
Chapter 4. Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Roles.
Kaare Strom and Shane Martin
Chapter 5. The Confidence Relationship between Parliament and Government.
Reuven Y. Hazan and Gaya S. Sigavi
Chapter 6. Elite loyalty, legislative productivity or constituency service: Where lies the reward in intra-party competition in Ghana?
Martin Acheampong
Chapter 7. Parliamentary Norms -a tool of the party group leaders?
Stefanie Bailer
Chapter 8. The Renaissance of Roll-Calls Votes in Austria's Second Republic.
Marcelo Jenny and Wolfgang C. Muller
Chapter 9. Aspects of Artificial Intelligence in Parliamentary Governance.
Fotios Fitsilis
Part II: Government Formation, Duration, and Termination
Chapter 10. The Vote of Confidence and Executive Bargaining Power on environmental protection.
Petra Schleiter and Georgina Evans
Chapter 11. Polarization as a challenge to parliamentary governance.
Hanna Back and Royce Carroll
Chapter 12. Portfolio Design in Germany: How coalition governments (re-)shape ministerial jurisdictions and what this tells us about coalition politics.
Ulrich Sieberer and David Schmuck
Chapter 13. Can legislative speech unveil conflict between coalition parties? An empirical illustration based on two examples in the German Bundestag.
Henning Bergmann, Lucas Geese, Carsten Schwemmer and Christian Koss
Chapter 14. It is possible because I have already seen it - How Sub-National Coalitions Affect Voters' Expectations about Government Compositions on the National Level.
Daniel Hohmann and Maria Thurk
Chapter 15. The electoral consequences of coalition bargaining.
Heike Kluver and Svenja Krauss
Chapter 16. Parliamentary Institutions and Portfolio Allocation in Coalition Governments.
Bjorn Erik Rasch, Bjorn Mo Forum and Cristina Bucur
Part III: Minority representation
Chapter 17. Who wants descriptive representation, and why?
Claudia Landwehr and Armin Schafer
Chapter 18. Career facilitators, springboards and allies: Examining what factors foster the careers of politicians of immigrant ancestry.
Laura Morales, Carles Pamies, and Claire Vincent-Mory
Chapter 19. Out and Loud? LGBT Representation in the Parliamentary Arena.
Javier Martinez-Canto, Jorge M. Fernandes and Edgar Chicurel
Chapter 20. Who likes descriptive representation, why, and with what implications? The Beliefs of Parliamentary Candidates in German Election Campaigns.
Thomas Zittel
Chapter 21. Patterns behind the termination of careers of immigrant-origin MPs in the German Bundestag.
Andreas M. Wust and Henning Bergmann
Chapter 22. Deracialised inclusion: from explaining ethnic minorities under-representation to explaining the new descriptive representation.
Maria Sobolewska
Chapter 23. Diverse Candidates - Diverse Positions? Party Line Conformity in Campaign Positions by Female and Immigrant Origin Candidates for the German Bundestag.
Lukas Hohendorf, Micaela Grosmann and Julia Schulte-Cloos
Chapter 24. Does protest affect MP roll-call votes in Germany?
Danieal Bischof
Part IV: Democratic Anxieties
Chapter 25. Permanent crises, the politics of the Merkel governments and the rise of right-wing populism in Germany.
Reimut Zohlnhofer
Chapter 26. The potential of extremist voters in Germany.
Sebastian Jungkunz and Marc Helbling
Chapter 27. Legislative conflict dimensions on environmental protection.
Tamaki Ohmura and David Willumsen
Chapter 28. Conflicts about the German Energiewende as a threat for democracy?
Simon Fink