This paper defines a fine C1-topology for smooth preferences on a "policy space", W, and shows that the set of convex preference profiles contains open sets in this topology. It follows that if the dimension(W)\leqv(𝒟)-2 (where v(𝒟) is the Nakamura number of the voting rule, 𝒟), then...

For over forty years, Douglass North has sought in his work to determine those conditions that favor economic growth. In his most recent writings he has emphasized the institutional innovations of the state and how these are often preceded, or accompanied, by transformations in beliefs and...

Understanding the governance of nations is a key challenge in contemporaneous political economy. This book provides new advances and the latest research in the field of political economy, dealing with the study of institutions, governance, democracy and elections. The volume focuses on issues...

Social Choice traditionally employs the preferences of voters or agents as primitives. However, in most situations of constitutional decision-making the beliefs of the members of the electorate determine their secondary preferences or choices. Key choices in US political history, such as the...

This volume is intended to provide a broad perspective on collective decision-making, presenting economic and political aspects from both a theoretical and empirical viewpoint. The four chapters in the first section of the book give new results in Social Choice Theory, showing how the Arrow...

Sets, Relations and Preferences -- Linear Spaces and Transformations -- Topology and Convex Optimisation -- Differential Calculus and Smooth Optimisation -- Singularity Theory and General Equilibria -- Topology and Social Choice.