Vital Democracy

Frank Hendriks (1966) is professor of comparative governance at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He deals with cross-border comparison of policies and governance systems, including the comparative analysis of democratic and decisionmaking models at the national and the subnational level.

• List of Figures and Tables ; Preface and Acknowledgements ; Opening Debate ; PART I: CONCEPTS ; 1. Plural Democracy ; 2. Layered Democracy ; PART II: PRACTICES ; 3. Pendulum Democracy ; 4. Consensus Democracy ; 5. Voter Democracy ; 6. Participatory Democracy ; PART III: LESSONS ; 7. Mixing Democracy ; 8. Reforming Democracy ; Closing Debate ; Bibliography ; Index ; Notes

For those who are involved in research and in teaching public administration (broadly defined), Hendriks has provided an accessible route into an important debate that has been badly neglected by the hegemony of those in the discipline who prefer a more economic or managerialist approach. With easy to follow diagrams and tables to explain the more theoretically complicated sections, it covers complex debates without obfuscation. This book should be included on the reading list for both advanced undergraduate programmes and for specialist postgraduate students.