It is common to describe the dynamic processes that generate outcomes in U.S. primaries as "unstable" or "unpredictable". In fact, the way we choose candidates may amount to a lottery. This paper uses a simulation approach, assuming 10,000 voters who vote according to a naive, deterministic...

Preparation for the annual meetings of an organization such as the Public Choice Society involves scheduling various panels (sessions) in the available time slots. No person can be scheduled for more than one panel in the same time slot. Each panel belongs to a specific subject area; one tries to...

The authors build a model of two-candidate elections in which voters judge candidates on the basis of how well their announced campaign positions correspond with their records. Given different records, the candidates will adopt different campaign positions. Two types of reputational advantage...

All societies, political or academic, must choose among alternatives; these choices can be good, or bad. The worst choice may be looking for "answers" before there is consensus, or at least a debate, on what the real questions should be. Five "real" questions are offered here, in an integrated...

Canada is one nation, but it is in many ways two communities, one Francophone and the other Anglophone. The authors employ a formal model of 'ideology' and analyze how nationality is constructed in people's minds. The magnitude of the changes in expressed 'preferences' in terms of ideology...