Constitutional Choices and Governmental Performance
- What are the principal varieties of modern democracy? How do they differ? What are the main putative consequences of those institutional choices?
- Compare the consequences of adopting a closed party-list, proportional representation system with that of a plurality-winner, single-member district system. What will be the effect on party formation? Electoral strategy? Voting behavior?
- Most political scientists have argued that presidentialism was hostile to democracy and urged new democracies to adopt parliamentary forms of government. Do you agree?
- Consider the methods that Persson and Tabellini employ and the data they use. What are the principal limitations of these methods? What sort of additional evidence would strengthen their argument?
- Political institutions (such as electoral rules) interact with social divisions, existing partisan cleavages, political culture, subordinate institutional arrangements (e.g., campaign finance rules and the internal structure of parties), the ideology of political elites, the structure of interest groups, and the sui generis characteristics of particular countries. Can we make accurate predictions about the effects of a particular institution, or are these interactions sufficiently complex that it is impossible to draw general conclusions? (Put differently, do you agree with Hume?)
- Wave a magic wand at the institutions of your favorite country, changing one of them. What would be the result?
