Comparing and Classifying Legislatures

David Arter holds the First Chair of Politics at the University of Aberdeen

• Introduction: Comparing the Legislative Performance of Legislatures David Arter 1. Qualified Exceptionalism: The US Congress in Comparative Perspective John E. Owens and Burdett A. Loomis 2. The Baltic Parliaments: Legislative Performance from Independence to EU Accession Vello Pettai and U¨lle Madise 3. Parliaments and the Enhancement of Democracy on the African Continent: An Analysis of Institutional Capacity and Public Perceptions Lia Nijzink Shaheen Mozaffar and Elisabete Azevedo 4. The French Assemble´e Nationale: The Case of a Weak Legislature? Eric Kerrouche 5. The Influence of Candidate Selection Methods on Legislatures and Legislators: Theoretical Propositions, Methodological Suggestions and Empirical Evidence Reuven Y. Hazan and Gideon Rahat 6. Characterising the Italian Parliament: Legislative Change in Longitudinal Perspective James L. Newell 7. Legislatures in Presidential Systems: The Latin American Experience Carlos Huneeus Fabiola Berrı´os and Rodrigo Cordero 8. Assessing Strength and Weakness in Legislatures: The Case of Denmark Erik Damgaard and Henrik Jensen 9. Social Choice and Comparing Legislatures: Constitutional versus Institutional Constraints Anthony J. McGann 10. Conclusion. Questioning the ‘Mezey Question’: An Interrogatory Framework for the Comparative Study of Legislatures David Arter