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Endogenous Political Institutions

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Author Info
Aghion, Philippe
Alesina, Alberto F
Trebbi, Francesco

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Abstract

A fundamental aspect of institutional design is how much society chooses to delegate unchecked power to its leaders. If, once elected, a leader cannot be restrained, society runs the risk of a tyranny of the majority, if not the tyranny of a dictator. If a leader faces too many ex post checks and balances, legislative action is too often blocked. As our critical constitutional choice we focus upon the size of the minority needed to block legislation, or conversely the size of the (super) majority needed to govern. We analyse both 'optimal' constitutional design and 'positive' aspects of this process. We derive several empirical implications, which we then discuss.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 3473.

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Date of creation: Nov 2002
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3473

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Related research
Keywords: endogenous constitutions political systems super-majority rule

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
O50 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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