Comparative Constitutional Engineering

'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 in 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.Di Palma, The Review of Politics A path-breaking, highly innovative comparative study in state building by a major political scientist, Comparative Constitutional Engineering examines in detail the various forms of democratic government in their merits, failures and attendant problems. This work is highly innovative on three counts: first, it takes structures seriously; second, it perceives structures as systems of rewards and deprivations, arguing that their working is a function of incentives; third, it relies heavily on condition analysis, i.e. on the specification of the conditions under which a structural arrangement performs, or vice-versa cannot perform, as intended.