CONDITIONS OF DEMOCRACY IN INTERWAR EUROPE - A BOOLEAN TEST OF MAJOR HYPOTHESES

Major hypotheses concerning conditions conducive to the breakdown or s urvival of democratic regimes in sixteen European states in the interw ar period are tested in a systematic comparative manner on the basis o f Boolean methods. These hypotheses take into account a wide variety o f socioeconomic, social structural, political cultural, and institutio nal factors, as well as specific historical sequences and other dynami c and actor-related effects. The tests clearly exhibit the respective strengths and weaknesses and remaining contradictions of the various a pproaches. They provide a first ''pruning'' of some of the more import ant aspects of empirical democratic theory which can be conducted in a ''quasi-experimental'' design. The findings point to further modifica tions and applications elsewhere, including some consequences for cont emporary developments.