ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book show that a temporally based clustering, imperfect as it may be, was the more practical one, as one of the most significant tests of the consolidation of democracy is the time lapsed since the passage to democracy. It argues that the processes of democratic consolidation and stability are too complex to be explained adequately by single factors in an either/or fashion, whether they be socioeconomic, cultural, political, or institutional. The book reviews extensively both the non-institutional and institutional sources of democratic stability. It also argues that the Westminster democracy—the archetype of the majoritarian parliamentary system—has institutional features that inhibit appropriate policy making and problem solving, especially where there are permanent ethnic and religious minorities and cultural pluralism. The book discusses the importance of constitution making for democratic consolidation.
