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Most theoretical studies of coalition politics have focused on, selection, rather than accountability: Coalition partners are selected according to the proximity of their positions in a Euclidean policy space. This proximity, together with institutional attributes of the party systems or the coalitions, serves also to explain, the duration of the coalition. Empirical studies of retrospective voting, often with little connection to accountability theory, have generally concluded that the political survival of coalitions is, considerably independent from elections. Such results, however, refer to governments as a whole. In this work, voters allocate rewards and punishments for past outcomes focusing on the prime ministers and their parties. If differences in clarity of responsibility exist, they do not seem to produce greater economic accountability of single-party governments-it is similarly limited under both coalition and single-party governments. Coalitions, however, increase the risks of losing office due to political crises, rather than elections. Prime ministers can respond to challenges by reshuffling the government or the coalition. Because such crises are launched under economic conditions that improve the welfare of citizens, coalitions may undermine democratic accountability. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses shortcomings of the theory of democracy as the retrospective control of governments by voters. Formal models make implausible assumptions about voting based only on voters' assessments of past performance disconnected from expectations about the future, about elections excluding selection between different candidates, & about informed citizens able to assign responsibility for outcomes at the end of a mandate. The empirical foundations of retrospective voting as leading to representation are also unconvincing. The article analyses the survival of prime ministers in 23 parliamentary democracies between 1945 & 2003, with 1,109 country/year observations: 39% of the losses of power were due to an electoral defeat; 61% to the replacement of the prime minister between elections by another politician of the same party or coalition. Therefore the verdict of voters is not the only threat for a prime minister. A longitudinal survival model shows that voters & politicians have opposite reasons for sacking a prime minister. Badly informed voters & non-electoral threats undermine the argument that retrospective voting is the foundation of democracy & representative government. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

This article studies variations in the degree of democracy achieved by the new poliarchies of Southern & Eastern Europe. The analysis shows, firstly, that the legacies of the past & birth conditions cannot explain the different degrees of democracy achieved ten years after the first democratic elections, in clear contrast to arguments defended by democratization theory. Secondly, the analysis focuses on institutional, economic & ethno-cultural variables of the newly established regimes in order to measure their impact on further democratization. These variables cannot explain, either, why some poliarchies achieve a higher degree of democracy than others during the same time period. This variation is better explained by the simple passage of time, by external conditionality, & by the strategic decisions of the relevant actors. The analysis also suggests that not only the degree of democracy is undetermined but that the more democratic regimes have a greater capacity to overcome adverse conditions than the less democratic ones. Finally, in the light of these conclusions, we wonder what are the reasons behind the EU criteria of inclusion into the European negotiations of some countries & not others. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

AS THE RECENT WAVE OF DEMOCRATION CRESTED IN THE 1980S, SKEPTICS QUESTIONED THE CAPACITY OF NEW DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS TO MANAGE THE DAUNTING POLITICAL CHALLENGES OF ECONOMIC REFORM. IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE CHALLENGES OF CONSOLIDATION, THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES: THE NEED TO REDEFINE THE ROLE OF THE STATE; POVERTY AND INCOME INEQUALITY; INSTITUTIONALIZING DEMOCRACY; CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTORAL REFORM, AND, THE SECOND ROUND OF ECONOMIC REFORM AND POLTICIAL INSTITUTION BUILDING. IT ARGUES THAT CONCERNS ABOUT DEMOCRATIC BREAKDOWN AND POLICY STALEMATE REMAIN SALIENT IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD.