the tale of liberal democracy over the past part century has been a victorious one in lots of methods, with the variety of democracies expanding from a minority of states to an important majority. but large difficulties afflict democratic states, and whereas the variety of democratic international locations has increased, democratic perform has shriveled. This ebook introduces a unique framework for comparing the increase and decline of democratic governance. reading 3 mature democratic nations - Britain, Australia and New Zealand - the authors speak about styles of governance from the emergence of mass democracy on the outset of the 20th century via to its current situation. The shared political cultures and institutional preparations of the 3 nations enable the authors to enquire relatively the dynamics of political evolution and the chances for systemic advancements and institutional change.