Comparative Constitutional Engineering

Giovanni Sartori holds the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities at Columbia University and is the author of numerous books, including Parties and Party Systems and, more recently, The Theory of Democracy Revisited, which have been translated and published in fifteen countries. As the English second edition of this work appears, Comparative Constitutional Engineering has also been published in Brazil, Chile, Japan, Italy, Mexico and Turkey

"Delightfully written, this monograph will be a staple of courses on comparative constitutional design ... I can think of no better example of contemporary political "engineering" than this, and it is precisely this product of research that students of comparative politics must attempt." -Peter C. Ordeshook,Political Science Quarterly "Democratic constitutional engineering is tricky, yet consequential, nowadays more than ever. I can hardly think of a better proof of this double assertion than the one provided by the latest book by Giovanni Sartori, possibly the most astute and passionate student of constitutional engineering ... Mine is an invitation to read the book, indeed to unwrap and savor it. Rarely has constitutional engineering been more salient to the future of expanding democracy." -G. DiPalma,The Review of Politics "The last book of Giovanni Sartori is a beautiful work that ranks among his very best writings. It is very concise, for it deals only with essentials, and yet covers all the basics of his subject matter; and Sartori always takes a crystal-clear stand on the many controversies that he covers." -G. Bognetti,Il Sole/24 Ore "Despite the seemingly endless volume of literature on democratic institutions, no text even comes close to formulating the kind of comprehensive and critical synthesis one finds in this elegant new book by Sartori." -P. Vannicelli,Los Angeles Monthly "Giovanni Sartori, internationally recognized political scientist, has written a pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study of state building." -The Commentator