The Logic of Democracy

The Logic of Democracy

MICHIGAN STUDIES IN POLITICAL ANALYSIS Michigan Studies in Political Analysis promotes the development and dissemination of innovative scholarship in the field of methodology in political science and the social sciences in general. Methodology is defined to include statistical methods, mathematical modeling, measurement, research design, and other topics related to the conduct and development of analytical work. The series includes works that develop a new model or method applicable to social sciences, as well as those that, through innovative combination and presentation of current analytical tools, substantially extend the use of these tools by other researchers. General Editors: John E. Jackson (University of Michigan) and Christopher H. Achen (Princeton University) Keith Krehbiel Information and Legislative Organization Donald R. Kinder and Thomas R. Palfrey, Editors Experimental Foundations of Political Science William T. Bianco Trust: Representatives and Constituents Melvin J. Hinich and Michael C. Munger Ideology and the Theory of Political Choice John Brehm and Scott Gates Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic Response to a Democratic Public R. Michael Alvarez Information and Elections David Austen-Smith and Jeffrey S. Banks Positive Political Theory I: Collective Preference Gregory Wawro Legislative Entrepreneurship in the U.S. House of Representatives David Austen-Smith and Jeffrey S. Banks Positive Political Theory II: Strategy and Structure Anthony McGann The Logic of Democracy: Reconciling Equality, Deliberation, and Minority Protection

The Logic of Democracy Reconciling Equality, Deliberation, and Minority Protection Anthony McGann The University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor

Copyright by the University of Michigan 2006 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 2009 2008 2007 2006 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGann, Anthony J. The logic of democracy : reconciling equality, deliberation, and minority protection / Anthony McGann. p. cm. (Michigan studies in political analysis) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-472-09949-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-472-09949-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-472-06949-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-472-06949-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Democracy. 2. Representative government and representation. 3. Minorities Civil rights. I. Title. II. Series. JC423.M384 2006 321.8 dc22 2006001568

For Karen, as promised

Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments ix x xi Chapter 1. Introduction 1 2. Groundwork: Political Equality and Political Institutions 5 PART 1: POLITICAL EQUALITY 3. Political Equality in Electoral Systems: Equality Implies Proportionality 35 4. Political Equality in Decision Rules: Equality Implies Majority Rule 60 PART 2: MINORITY PROTECTION 5. Minority Protection, Rights, and Supermajoritarianism 89 PART 3: DELIBERATION 6. Deliberation, Rationality, and Representation 115 7. The Logical Bases of Deliberative Democracy: The Limits of Consensus 153 PART 4: STABILITY, ECONOMICS, AND OTHER VALUES 8. Political Equality in Practice: Stability and Economic Outcomes in the Consensual Democracies 177 9. Conclusions: Political Equality and the Beauty of Cycling 202 Notes 211 References 219 Index 233

Figures 3.1. ConAguration of voters under Borda count 46 3.2. ConAguration of voters under Borda count with new party 46 4.1. Cycling in a three-person majority-rule divide-the-dollar game 65 4.2. Global cycling in policy space 66 4.3. The covering relation 68 4.4. Logrolling implies intransitivity 72 4.5. A Prisoner s Dilemma game 74 5.1. ConAguration of eight voters 95 5.2. ConAguration of Ave voters 95 5.3. ConAguration of Ave voters with q 4 and status quo point S 96 5.4. Society s preferences over alternatives under majority and supermajority rule 98 5.5. Mappings from the law to Anal payoffs 102 6.1. An assurance game 121 6.2. The trilemma of deliberative democracy 128 6.3. A three-party bargaining situation 139 8.1. Constitutional types in the OECD 186 8.2. Total government expenditure in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States 192

Tables 2.1. The Condorcet paradox 20 3.1. Typology of pure electoral systems 48 3.2. Proportional representation formulas 49 3.3. Typology of mixed-member systems 51 4.1. The Condorcet cycle 63 5.1. A Prisoner s Dilemma game 106 6.1. Typology of representation 143 8.1. Electoral system proportionality and constitutional supermajoritarianism 183 8.2. Correlation between measures of consensual democracy 185 8.3. Variation in total government expenditure for different constitution types 190 8.4. Regression of constitutional type on deviation in total government expenditure 192 8.5. Regression of Tsebelis veto points on deviation in total government expenditure 193

Acknowledgments This book began as a spirited email exchange with Mike Munger and Mike Ensley at Duke University concerning the 2000 presidential election. I would like to thank Bernard Grofman, Donald Saari, Russell Dalton, Duncan Luce, and William Batchelder at the University of California, Irvine for their support and encouragement, and also the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Science and the Center for the Study of Democracy. I would also particularly like to thank Nicholas Miller for his support and advice over the years. I am grateful to my co-author, Eliora van der Hout, whose work on electoral systems was vital to the conclusions of chapter 3. Chapter 5 draws heavily on my article The Tyranny of the Supermajority, Journal of Theoretical Politics 16, no. 1: 53 77, Sage Publications, Ltd., London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi, 2004, and is used here by permission. I would like to thank my teachers, particularly Herbert Kitschelt, Hervé Moulin, John Brehm, Emerson Niou, John Aldrich, Romand Coles, Michael Gillespie, David Soskice, and Iain McLean. I would like to thank various colleagues at UCI and elsewhere for their helpful suggestions and conversations, and others for providing encouragement to Anish this book. The list includes but is not limited to James Adams, Shaun Bowler, Carter Butts, Linda Cohen, Amihai Glazer, Marek Kaminski, Kamal Sadiq, Wayne Sandholtz, Brian Skyrms, and Rein Taagepera. I would also like to thank various graduate students who participated in the classes and seminars in which some of this material was developed, notably Michael Latner, Bruce Hemmer, Michael Jensen, John Ensch, and Steven Weldon. Finally I would like to thank Karen, Margaret, and Madeleine for being there or not being there, as appropriate.