In this rich and broad-ranging volume, Giovanni Sartori outlines what is now recognised to be the most comprehensive and authoritative approach to the classification of party systems. He also offers an extensive review of the concept and rationale of the political party, and develops a sharp critique of various spatial models of party competition. This is political science at its best - combining the intelligent use of theory with sophisticated analytic arguments, and grounding all of this on a substantial cross-national empirical base. Parties and Party Systems is one of the classics of postwar political science, and is now established as the foremost work in its field.

"Democratic constitutional engineering is tricky, yet consequential, nowadays more than ever. I can hardly think of a better proof of this double assertion than the one provided by the latest book by Giovanni Sartori, possibly the most astute and passionate student of constitutional engineering . . . Mine is an invitation to read the book, indeed to unwrap and savor it. Rarely has constitutional engineering been more salient to the future of expanding democracy."
--G. DiPalma, "The Review of Politics"

"Delightfully written, this monograph will be a staple of courses on comparative constitutional design . . . I can think of no better example of contemporary political "engineering" than this, and it is precisely this product of research that students of comparative politics must attempt."
--Peter C. Ordeshook, "Political Science Quarterly"

"Despite the seemingly endless volume of literature on democratic institutions, no text even comes close to formulating the kind of comprehensive and critical synthesis one finds in this elegant new book by Sartori."
--P. Vannicelli, "Los Angeles Monthly"

"Giovanni Sartori, internationally recognized political scientist, has written a pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study of state building."
--"The Commentator"

"The last book of Giovanni Sartori is a beautiful work that ranks among his very best writings. It is very concise, for it deals only with essentials, and yet covers all the basics of his subject matter; and Sartori always takes a crystal-clear stand on the many controversies that he covers."
--G. Bognetti, "Il Sole/24 Ore"

The second edition of this pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study instate-building by a major political scientist is a fully updated examination of the problems of making democratic government work.

Sartori begins by assessing electoral systems. He attacks the conventional wisdom that their influence cannot be predicted and also disputes the view that proportional representation is always best and will deliver 'consensus democracy'. He argues that the double-ballot formulas deserve more consideration for their ability to facilitate governability in adverse circumstances.

His comparative assessment of presidential and semi-presidential systems and the variety of formulas that are categorized, sometimes misleadingly, as parliamentary, looks at the conditions that allow a political form to perform as intended.

He concludes with a detailed proposal for a new type of government: alternating presidentialism. This meets the need for strong parliamentary control and efficient government, with safeguards against both parliamentary obstructionism and government by decree, and so could help to avoid political paralysis in Latin America, in the post-communist countries of Europe and in countries with dysfunctional parliamentary systems such as Italy and Israel.

Used in the production of a wide number of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction represents a synthetic process of great interest to organic chemists of academia and industry. Nearly 40 years since the last major treatise on the topic and reflecting the growing emphasis on green technology, Advances in Friedel-Crafts Acylation Reactions: Catalytic and Green Processes focuses on how to make this reaction more economically and environmentally friendly by using green acylating conditions, thus minimizing the formation of waste and decreasing production costs. Divided into four parts, the book explores stoichiometric acylations, catalytic homogeneous acylations, catalytic heterogeneous acylations, and phenol acylations. It is structured according to the role played by the catalyst in the activation of reagents as well as in the different modes of regioselectivity encountered in the acylation of arenes, aromatic ethers, and phenols. Incorporating examples of all acid-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions, the text considers classic Lewis and Broensted acid types along with more innovative and advanced multicomponent superacid catalysts. These range from rare earth triflates or triflimides and their combination with ionic liquids to metal-promoted zeolites and zeotypes, clays, polymetal oxides, sulfated zirconia, heteropoly acids, and Nafion. The book emphasizes the major industrial applications, providing a critical assessment of the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Helping readers to better understand the mechanism of the Friedel-Crafts acylation, the examples in the book substantiate the development of more effective catalysts and more selective processes achieved during the last few decades, enabling industry to embark on a safer and more efficient synthesis of aromatic ketones for the manufacture of a wide array of products.

"Democratic constitutional engineering is tricky, yet consequential, nowadays more than ever. I can hardly think of a better proof of this double assertion than the one provided by the latest book by Giovanni Sartori, possibly the most astute and passionate student of constitutional engineering . . . Mine is an invitation to read the book, indeed to unwrap and savor it. Rarely has constitutional engineering been more salient to the future of expanding democracy."
--G. DiPalma
"The Review of Politics"

"Delightfully written, this monograph will be a staple of courses on comparative constitutional design . . . I can think of no better example of contemporary political "engineering" than this, and it is precisely this product of research that students of comparative politics must attempt."
--Peter C. Ordeshook
"Political Science Quarterly"

"Despite the seemingly endless volume of literature on democratic institutions, no text even comes close to formulating the kind of comprehensive and critical synthesis one finds in this elegant new book by Sartori."
--P. Vannicelli
"Los Angeles Monthly"

"Giovanni Sartori, internationally recognized political scientist, has written a pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study of state building."
--"The Commentator"

"The last book of Giovanni Sartori is a beautiful work that ranks among his very best writings. It is very concise, for it deals only with essentials, and yet covers all the basics of his subject matter; and Sartori always takes a crystal-clear stand on the many controversies that he covers."
--G. Bognetti
"Il Sole/24 Ore"

The second edition of this pathbreaking, highly innovative comparativestudy in state-building by a major political scientist is a fully updated examination of the problems of making democratic government work.

Sartori begins by assessing electoral systems. He attacks the conventional wisdom that their influence cannot be predicted and also disputes the view that proportional representation is always best and will deliver 'consensus democracy'. He argues that the double-ballot formulas deserve more consideration for their ability to facilitate governability in adverse circumstances.

His comparative assessment of presidential and semi-presidential systems and the variety of formulas that are categorized, sometimes misleadingly, as parliamentary, looks at the conditions that allow a political form to perform as intended.

He concludes with a detailed proposal for a new type of government: alternating presidentialism. This meets the need for strong parliamentary control and efficient government, with safeguards against both parliamentary obstructionism and government by decree, and so could help to avoid political paralysis in Latin America, in the post-communist countries of Europe and in countries with dysfunctional parliamentary systems such as Italy and Israel.

In this rich and broad-ranging volume, Giovanni Sartori outlines what is now recognised to be the most comprehensive and authoritative approach to the classification of party systems. He also offers an extensive review of the concept and rationale of the political party, and develops a sharp critique of various spatial models of party competition. This is political science at its best -- combining the intelligent use of theory with sophisticated analytic arguments, and grounding all of this on a substantial cross-national empirical base. Parties and Party Systems is one of the classics of postwar political science, and is now established as the foremost work in its field. This edition includes a new preface by the author, and a new introduction by Peter Mair.

A logical and historial appraisal of democracy, translated by the author from the Italian Democrazie e definizione.

This is part two of a two-volume set. "Democracy is, in part, a debate about what democracy is. With The Theory of Democracy Revisted, Sartori offers an overview of classical and contemporary issues. All students of politics will find his arguments provocative, whether or not they agree with his conclusions." - Jean Bethke Eishtain, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

This is part one of a two-volume set. "...[Sartori] reviews the major democratic theories of our time and canvasses astutely the salient issues among them. Sartori synthesizes a theory of his own which he proffers as a new mainstream view to his readers. His trenchant and swift-moving argument moves deftly among competing schools of thought. The book's greatest strength lies in Sartori's demonstration that prescriptive and descriptive theories (the ideal and the real) must be blended, to be valid, in an integral whole-in theory of the democratically possible. The clarity and dramatic power of this erudite work render it very accessible to undergraduate students." - William T. Bluhm, The University of Rochester

Used in the production of a wide number of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction represents a synthetic process of great interest to organic chemists of academia and industry. Nearly 40 years since the last major treatise on the topic and reflecting the growing emphasis on green technology, Advances in Friedel-Crafts Acylation Reactions: Catalytic and Green Processes focuses on how to make this reaction more economically and environmentally friendly by using green acylating conditions, thus minimizing the formation of waste and decreasing production costs. Divided into four parts, the book explores stoichiometric acylations, catalytic homogeneous acylations, catalytic heterogeneous acylations, and phenol acylations. It is structured according to the role played by the catalyst in the activation of reagents as well as in the different modes of regioselectivity encountered in the acylation of arenes, aromatic ethers, and phenols. Incorporating examples of all acid-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions, the text considers classic Lewis and Broensted acid types along with more innovative and advanced multicomponent superacid catalysts. These range from rare earth triflates or triflimides and their combination with ionic liquids to metal-promoted zeolites and zeotypes, clays, polymetal oxides, sulfated zirconia, heteropoly acids, and Nafion. The book emphasizes the major industrial applications, providing a critical assessment of the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Helping readers to better understand the mechanism of the Friedel-Crafts acylation, the examples in the book substantiate the development of more effective catalysts and more selective processes achieved during the last few decades, enabling industry to embark on a safer and more efficient synthesis of aromatic ketones for the manufacture of a wide array of products.