This essay analyzes the Pashtunwalli, the tribal code of the Pashtuns, from a political economy perspective. Though it bears some similarity with customary laws of other Afghan tribes, the Pashtun customs are distinctive both for their persistence and harshness. The norms of the Pashtunwalli...

Thailand's constitution of 1997 introduced profound changes into the country's governance, creating a “postpolitical” democratic structure in which an intricate array of guardian institutions served to limit the role of elected politicians. Ultimately, the constitutional structure was...

This article focuses on three information-related puzzles related to how large law firms recruit entry-level lawyers. First, firms hire on the basis of limited information, usually restricted to two semesters of grades. Second, firms do not rely primarily on laterals, who are already trained....

The presidential-parliamentary distinction is foundational to comparative politics and at the center of a large theoretical and empirical literature. However, an examination of constitutional texts suggests a fair degree of heterogeneity within these categories with respect to important...

As noted by President Obama’s recent Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, pervasive state surveillance has never been more feasible. There has been an inexorable rise in the size and reach of the national security bureaucracy since it was created after World War II, as...