Governing Divided Societies

Habsburg Austria's Democratic Legacy and the Czechoslovak First Republic
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-963-386-585-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 446 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 800 g

Reihe: Central European University Press

The authors of this volume challenge conventional notions about Habsburg and Czechoslovak politics, arguing that they were more democratic than they often appear. They use the consociational model of democracy as a means of combining political science and history. The theory, associated with Arend Lijphart, asserts that consociationalism guarantees minorities a say in government and helps preserve democracy in societies that experience deep ideological, cultural, or ethnic divisions. Consociationalism enables the main segments to be isolated organizationally from each other, thus avoiding conflict but affording the leaders opportunities to make compromises for the good of the whole.

Consociationalism has proven its worth as a model for describing contemporary democracies and diagnosing their ills. By exploring the institutions and practices of the Habsburg Monarchy before 1918 and the Czechoslovak First Republic, Howe, Lorman, and Miller prove the value of the consociational theory in analyzing the past. They hold that a multitude of parties, frequent cabinet changes, and reliance on cabinets of experts do not necessarily signal flawed democracies. In fact, they are features of consociationalism. This volume challenges historians and social scientists to view the Austrian half of the Habsburg Monarchy before 1918 as evolving toward consociational democracy and the Czechoslovak First Republic as a fully consociational state.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Howe, Philip J.

Lorman, Thomas A.

Miller, Daniel E.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Tables List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Foreword Preface Introduction Chapter 1 -Consociationalism and Consensus Democracy in Theory and Practice Chapter 2 - Imperial Austria’s Proto-consociational Legacy Chapter 3 - Czechoslovakia as a Consociational Democracy Chapter 4 - The Consociational Model and Interwar Slovakia Conclusion Bibliography About the Authors

Über Autor(innen)

Philip J. Howe is a professor of political science at Adrian College in Adrian, MI.

Thomas A. Lorman is an associate professor of history in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University College London.

Daniel E. Miller is an emeritus professor of history at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.