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...

We develop a stochastic model of electoral competition in order to study the economic and political determinants of trade policy. We model a small open economy with two tradable goods, each of which is produced using a sector specific factor (e.g., land and capital) and another factor that is...

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...

Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860 partly because of a split in the Democratic Party between Douglas and Breckenridge. This split destroyed the compromise over slavery that, in some sense, had been embedded or hidden within the Constitution. This paper identifies the beginning...