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The Handbook of Democratic Government is the first compact and
comprehensive data collection for 20 countries which simultaneously
provides comparative and complete information on the composition of
governments. Parties, ministries, portfolios, ministers and
parliamentary support are listed, as well as duration, type of
government and reasons for termination. The data are organised in
such a manner that every researcher can use them as a basic data
set, ready to be transformed according to the particular needs
dictated by the research undertaken. Various levels of analysis are
possible, both cross-nationally and across time, ranging from
individual ministers and separate ministries to specific parties,
governments or countries. Given its format, the data set is also a
very useful background to the special annual issue of the European
Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook. It will
save researchers in the field of comparative politics valuable time
as it can be utilised in connection with, or in addition to other
data sources.
Since the 1980s, political scientists have developed a renewed
interest in the study of political institutions, based on the
assumption that "institutions matter" -that is, that formal
governmental institutions and constitutional-legal rules (as well
as informal institutions like parties and interest groups) are
crucial determinants of the shape of politics and policy outcomes.
In this respect, the "new institutionalism" resembles the "old
institutionalism" of pre-behaviorist days, but the crucial
difference between the two is that the new institutionalists are
committed to systematic empirical testing of their hypotheses, at
least in principle. In practice, however, especially in compara
tive analyses, this goal has often been frustrated by the lack of
reliable data for a large number of countries. Researchers have
therefore usually been limited to testing their hypotheses with
modest data sets collected for their own particular purposes. Of
all of the political institutions, the executive branch of the
government is by far the most important; it can be regarded as the
irreducible core of government and the principal embodiment of
political authority with specific powers that are not lodged
elsewhere in the political system. Almost all countries in the
world, and certainly all modem democracies, have an executive body
called "government," "cabinet," or "administration" (as in the term
"the Clinton administration") that has the main responsibility for
running the country's public affairs."
Since the 1980s, political scientists have developed a renewed
interest in the study of political institutions, based on the
assumption that "institutions matter" -that is, that formal
governmental institutions and constitutional-legal rules (as well
as informal institutions like parties and interest groups) are
crucial determinants of the shape of politics and policy outcomes.
In this respect, the "new institutionalism" resembles the "old
institutionalism" of pre-behaviorist days, but the crucial
difference between the two is that the new institutionalists are
committed to systematic empirical testing of their hypotheses, at
least in principle. In practice, however, especially in compara
tive analyses, this goal has often been frustrated by the lack of
reliable data for a large number of countries. Researchers have
therefore usually been limited to testing their hypotheses with
modest data sets collected for their own particular purposes. Of
all of the political institutions, the executive branch of the
government is by far the most important; it can be regarded as the
irreducible core of government and the principal embodiment of
political authority with specific powers that are not lodged
elsewhere in the political system. Almost all countries in the
world, and certainly all modem democracies, have an executive body
called "government," "cabinet," or "administration" (as in the term
"the Clinton administration") that has the main responsibility for
running the country's public affairs."
The Handbook of Democratic Government is the first compact and
comprehensive data collection for 20 countries which simultaneously
provides comparative and complete information on the composition of
governments. Parties, ministries, portfolios, ministers and
parliamentary support are listed, as well as duration, type of
government and reasons for termination. The data are organised in
such a manner that every researcher can use them as a basic data
set, ready to be transformed according to the particular needs
dictated by the research undertaken. Various levels of analysis are
possible, both cross-nationally and across time, ranging from
individual ministers and separate ministries to specific parties,
governments or countries. Given its format, the data set is also a
very useful background to the special annual issue of the European
Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook. It will
save researchers in the field of comparative politics valuable time
as it can be utilised in connection with, or in addition to other
data sources.
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