1. Introduction--Democracy, Parties, and Performance
The Contemporary Democracies
Political Parties and the Democratic Order
Standards of Political Performance

2. Political Performance--The Initial Comparison
Citizen Voting Participation
Stable and Effective Government
Maintaining Political Order
Compatibility of the Performance Dimensions

3. The Social and Economic Environment
Population Size
Modernization and Economic Development
Social Cleavages
Economic Divisions
A Brief Multivariate Consideration

4. The Constitutional Setting
Constitutional Design
Constitutional Design and Political Performance
Constitution and Culture
Socioeconomic and Constitutional Effects

5. Party Systems and Election Outcomes
Attributes of Party Systems
Fractionalization
Parties and Social Groups
Extremist Parties
Volatility of Party Strength
Party-System Dynamics
Party Systems and Democratic Performance

6. Citizen Involvement I Participation or Turmoil
Getting Citizens to the Polls
A Causal Model of Voting Participation
Turmoil and Its Containment

7. Government Performance / Executive Stability
Parliamentary Systems: Government Formation
Parliamentary Systems: Durability of Governments
Presidential Government

8. Managing Violence and Sustaining Democracy
Elite Bases of Deadly Violence
Organized Violence: Strategic Objectives and Consequences
How Democracies Are Replaced: Military and Executive Coups

9. Democratic Performance--Liberty, Competition, Responsiveness
Civil Liberties
Political Competition
Policy Responsiveness

10. Conclusion--Constraint and Creativity in Democracies
Relationships among the Dimensions of Performance
Executive Control and Economic Manipulation
Institutionalizing Compromise: Consociational Practices
Requirements for Performance and Survival
Comparative Analysis: Limits and Directions

Appendix
Notes
Index

G. Bingham Powell, Jr. is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester, and the coauthor of Comparative Politics: System, Process, and Policy.