ABSTRACT
Democracies can utilize alternative institutional arrangements. A key question that democratic theory currently addresses is the impact of these alternative institutional set-ups upon policy outputs and outcomes. In a Continental European context, the institutions of Konkordanzdemokratie and corporatism are particularly interesting (Lehmbruch 1996). Can we claim that they have had a critical impact on the political, social and economic outcomes of the post-war period? We will focus on these institutions from the same angle as we regarded institutional effects, because ‘for the corporatist analyst, differences in the nature of these institutions tend to be crucial in determining the policies adopted and their eventual outcomes’ (Schmitter 1996: 3).
