1. Two patterns of democratization; 2. The old regime and the conservative dilemma; 3. From 1688 to mass politics: British democratization; 4. A virtuous cycle? Conservative strength and Britain's settled path, 1884–1906; 5. Averting a democratic disaster in Britain, 1906–1922; 6. Weak party conservatism and the case of Germany; 7. Stalled democratization in Germany before 1914; 8. The unsettled path: conservative weakness in Weimar Germany, 1918–1928; 9. A deluge: conservative weakness and democratic breakdown in Germany; 10. How countries democratize: Europe and beyond; 11. Conclusion.
A bold re-interpretation of democracy's historical rise in Europe, Ziblatt highlights the surprising role of conservative political parties with sweeping implications for democracy today.
Daniel Ziblatt is Professor of Government at Harvard University, Massachusetts where he is also a resident fellow of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He is also currently Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. His first book, Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism (2006) received several prizes from the American Political Science Association. He has also written extensively on the emergence of democracy in European political history, publishing in journals such as American Political Science Review, the Journal of Economic History, and World Politics. Ziblatt has held visiting fellowships and professorships at Sciences Po, Paris; the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Germany; Stanford University, California; the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Massachusetts; and the Center for Advanced Studies, Munich, Germany.
'Daniel Ziblatt has written an incredibly important book about the
development of democracy in Europe. Based on in-depth qualitative
research and extremely innovative use of quantitative data, he has
given us a new picture of German and British political development
in particular. Focusing on opponents of democratization, Ziblatt
asks why anti-democratic elites accepted democratization in some
places (like Britain) but vociferously and often violently opposed
it in other places (like Germany). Ziblatt points to the strength
of conservative parties as the key variable. This book will be
invaluable to anyone interested in European political history,
democratization more generally, and the ways in which thoughtful
historical research can illuminate contemporary debates.' Sheri
Berman, Barnard College, New York
'Daniel Ziblatt revolutionizes the literature on democratic
transitions by linking it to subsequent democratic breakdown, and
shows that it is the nature of conservative party organization that
determines democracy's long-run stability. His focus on democracy's
'first wave' in the nineteenth century carries enormous
implications for the future of democracy today.' Francis Fukuyama,
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for
International Studies, Stanford University, California
'This book profoundly improves our understanding of historical
regime trajectories. Only where inclusive, encompassing, and
centralized conservative parties created a centripetal dynamic that
could sideline reactionary challenges could regime change progress
incrementally toward democracy. And only there, democracy proved
resilient against renewed authoritarian challenges in the twentieth
century. Unfortunately, Ziblatt's book may also have timely
implications for twenty-first century challenges to democracy.'
Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Professor of International
Relations, Duke University, North Carolina
'This is the best book in comparative politics I have read in a
decade. Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy is a book
of stunning erudition and deep learning. It has profound
implications for how we think about democratic development and
dictatorship virtually everywhere in the world.' Jeffrey Kopstein,
Chair of the Political Science Department, University of
California, Irvine
'With immensely erudite historical comparison, quantitative
evidence, and probing archival research, Daniel Ziblatt
demonstrates that the organizational capacity of conservative
elites makes the crucial long-term contribution to preserving
liberal democracy. He has, I fear, written the political parable
for our own times.' Charles S. Maier, Leverett Saltonstall
Professor of History, Harvard University, Massachusetts
'First we had Capital in the Twenty-First Century, now we have
Barrington Moore.' James Robinson, Harris School of Public Policy,
University of Chicago
'… Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy is written
in fire. It delves deep into long-forgotten electoral histories to
emerge with insights of Tocquevillian power, to illuminate not only
the past but also the present and future.' David Frum, The
Atlantic
'Ziblatt's well-written and astute analysis is of interest both to
professional political scientists and historians and a wider
audience of anyone curious about the course of European
democratization.' Hermann Beck, The Journal of Modern History
'The book contains a plethora of fascinating empirical analyses …
it is a wonderful read, and I found myself so engrossed, especially
in the German chapters, that I had a hard time putting the book
down.' Jørgen Møller, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics
'All in all, the book's scope is impressive. The author not just
compares the development of conservative parties in Germany and the
UK but also includes short side views about other European and even
non-European countries to support his arguments.' Frieder Gunther,
American Historical Review
'… the book's scope is impressive. The author not just compares the
development of conservative parties in Germany and the UK but also
includes short side views about other European and even
non-European countries to support his arguments. Daniel Ziblatt has
added a viable argument to the debate on the survivability of
democracies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which
helps us to better understand why some countries were more inclined
to choose anti-parliamentarian alternatives than others.' Frieder
Gunther
'Ziblatt's book offers a plethora of empirical examples analyzed
through fascinating datasets collected from a wide range of sources
(from memoires to census and parliamentary reports). The
micro-level evidence for the case studies presents an insightful
and detailed comparative historical analysis. The crafted use of
nested analysis (quantitative and qualitative) for his case studies
vividly presents the importance of center-right parties for
democratization in Western Europe.' Zdravko Veljanov, Zeitschrift
für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
'… a brilliant scholarly work …' Fareed Zakaria, The Washington
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