This title was first published in 2001. This text addressses the variations in democratic institutional design and seeks to determine not only if these differences matter, but also to explain how they matter. Using data from established, economically weel-off systems, the book shows that not only are there a multitude of ways to construct a democracy but also how a democracy is constructed influences the outcomes produced by that system. That is to say, institutional differences create distinct incentives for behaviour that in turn influence the type of outcome produced.