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Introduction: It's the institutions -- Part 1. A Tamed Democracy -- Part 2. An Elected King with the Name of President -- Part 3. Two Parties with Narrow Agendas -- Part 4. Either Internal Anger or External Fear -- Part 5. A Future in Hope -- Conclusion.

"Does world government actually exist? Are the current global institutions efficient in making decisions? Can they be compatible with basic democratic principles? This book holds that, indeed, world government does exist. Rulers of the World shows how the world is actually ruled by a few dozen global bureaus, organizations, funds, banks, courts and self-appointed directorates. They use different representation, voting and organizational formulas, yet the variety of arrangements of the global institutions is not an indicator of weak capacity of decision-making or of policy enforcement, but it reflects the extensive scope of their activities and the complexity of the global agenda of issues. With the appropriate institutional design, global government needs to be made compatible with a notion of accountable democratic rule"--

'Colomer's book is a stimulating read ... His most important argument is that global public services, such as security, a trading system, an international monetary regime, and communication networks provided by large democratic entities such as the United States and the European Union provide opportunities for small countries and regions to prosper.' - Sidney Weintraub, William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, USA

The topic of electoral reform is an extremely timely one. The accelerated expansion of the number of new democracies in the world generates increasing demand for advice on the choice of electoral rules; at the same time, a new reformism in well established democracies seeks new formulae favouring both more representative institutions and more accountable rulers. The Handbook of Electoral System Choice addresses the theoretical and comparative issues of electoral reform in relation to democratization, political strategies in established democracies and the relative performance of different electoral systems. Case studies on virtually every major democracy or democratizing country in the world are included

Great Britain and Ireland : variations of party government / Ian Budge -- Germany : the grand coalition state / Manfred G. Schmidt -- France : the institutionalization of leadership / Yves Mény -- Italy : a democratic regime in transition / Gianfranco Pasquino -- Spain and Portugal : rule by party leadership / Josep M. Colomer -- The Low Countries : confrontation and co-operation in segmented societies / Hans Keman -- The Nordic countries : contention, compromise and corporatism / Jan-Erik Lane and Svante Ersson -- The European Union : federalism in the making / Josep M. Colomer

A clear, accessible introduction to the institutional regimes of 15 countries in western Europe, by an outstanding team of European political scientists.