Elections, parties, democracy: conferring the median mandate

The authors combine traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods to assess how contemporary democracies function. Their theory on the median mandate, the voice of the majority, which empowers the centre party, is tested with evidence from 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995

The authors combine traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods to assess how contemporary democracies function. Their theory on the median mandate, the voice of the majority, which empowers the centre party, is tested with evidence from 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995.

This bold venture into political theory and comparative politics combines traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods. It asks how contemporary democracies work, an essential stage in asking how they can be justified. An answer to both questions is found in the idea of the median mandate. The voter in the middle - the voice of the majority - empowers the centre party in parliament to translate his or her preferences into public policy. The median mandateprovides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each

Choosing governments or identifying preferences? : the role of elections in democracy -- Mandate theories : government and median -- Communicating preferences : the public policy space -- Research questions for comparative investigation -- Choices parties offer -- Mandates without obvious majorities? -- Representing the median voter -- Who controls short-term policymaking? -- From declared to actual policy : short-term influences on government policies -- Long-term policy regimes : incrementalism put in context -- Fluctuating political forces -- Politics and policy regimes : setting a long-term equilibrium -- Unifying theories of democracy through the median mandate