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This article analyzes (in terms of "normal science") the two typologies of democratic forms of government elaborated by Arend Lijphart in the last two decades. According to Lijphart, the different forms of government are fundamental variables to define different types of democratic regime. Lijphart marks the difference between presidentialism & parliamentarism without including semipresidentialism in his typologies. On the contrary, as pointed out by Giovanni Sartori, the semipresidential form of government keeps a specific position, both in theoretical & empirical terms. Starting from Sartori's point of view, in the second part of the article, the author elaborates a new typology of democratic forms of government. Based on Lijphart's methodological criteria, the new typology includes, together with presidential & parliamentary, also semipresidential forms of government. 5 Tables, 152 References. Adapted from the source document.

Political science, because of its many subdisciplines & multiple approaches, strongly needs a specific vocabulary. This article compares eleven dictionaries -- in three languages & four different political cultures -- to offer a critical overview of the making of a political dictionary. First, the author reviews the editorial & methodological features (number of editors &/or contributors, average length of the entries, method of explanation of the entries, & the system of cross-references). Then he gives an account of the (eleven) different typologies of political concepts provided by the editors, after which he provides a short review of the entry "political science." A dictionary is more interesting when each single entry goes beyond a simple report of definitions, taking the aim -- as Sartori says -- of reconstructing a concept but also forming a concept. New & original classifications & stronger & stimulating linking patterns among concepts are indispensable to a professional political vocabulary as well as to theory making. In the last 15 years, some steps have been taken -- including by these eleven dictionaries -- but much work remains to be done. 3 Tables, 29 References. Adapted from the source document.