Democracy, Southern European Style

Abstract

Uses Arend Lijphart's (1984) empirical method for classifying political systems as "majoritarian" or "consensual" to analyze the democracies of Greece, Italy, Portugal, & Spain alongside other democratic systems to identify key characteristics of these four southern European democracies. Ways in which the analysis differs from Lijphart's practice are described. Special attention is given to continuities & changes since the emergence of democratic consolidation. It is concluded that these countries have all demonstrated a remarkable ability to evolve since consolidation; however, the manner in which they did so was dependent upon the individual structure of opportunities present in each country's historical development. They were all able to accommodate partial regimes without experiencing deconsolidation, & the consolidation spawned modern political systems far different than their predecessors. Changes in the structure of politics have brought them close to the political systems of advanced democracies in northern & western Europe, which supports Lijphart et al's (1988) conclusions about the absence of a "model" of democracy unique to southern Europe. 8 Tables. J. Lindroth