The article develops a theoretical framework for the analysis of the conditions which affect the creation of barriers to entry into political systems. Its main argument is that parties in power increase structural barriers to enhance their interests when they perceive a threat to their own...

Analyses of the impact of intra-party conflicts on coalition bargaining have generally concluded that, when intra-party conflicts occur, the more centralized the party structure, the more effective is the party as a coalition actor. This paper argues a concrete alternative which challenges the...

In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in our understanding of policy persistence, on the one hand, and of the psychological phenomenon of underreaction, on the other. Surprisingly, there has been no attempt to use robust findings, derived from these efforts, in order to understand...