The Importance of Uncertainty in a Two-Stage Theory of Constitutions

This paper analyzes the consequences of different assumptions regarding the kind of uncertainty that exists at the constitutional stage of a two-stage political process. Individuals at the constitutional stage decide the actions that are to be allowed, compelled or banned in the subsequent stage. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPublic choice Vol. 108; no. 3/4; pp. 223 - 258
Main Author Mueller, Dennis C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers 01.09.2001
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Bans
Choices
Collective action
Communities
Constitution
Constitutional law
Constitutions
Decision making
Economic models
Economic theory
Expected utility
Externality
Freedom
Governmental process
Highway construction
Institutions
Majority rule
Negative externalities
Political behavior
Political Development
Political institutions
Political science
Political Science Theories
Political systems
Political theory
Politics
Positive externalities
Prisoners
Slavery
Studies
Uncertainty
Utility functions
Voting
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Summary:This paper analyzes the consequences of different assumptions regarding the kind of uncertainty that exists at the constitutional stage of a two-stage political process. Individuals at the constitutional stage decide the actions that are to be allowed, compelled or banned in the subsequent stage. The analysis allows us to specify conditions under which certain bans and obligations might be included in a constitution, while others are decided by legislative action, to define the "optimal voting rule", and the conditions under which the majority rule is this optimal rule. The paper provides a unified framework for analyzing the choice of institutions in a two-stage constitutional political system.
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ISSN:0048-5829
1573-7101
DOI:10.1023/A:1017500106015