Abstract
We present a framework to analyze the ejects of constitutional features on legislative voting with respect to cohesion and the distribution of payoffs. We then apply this framework to parliamentary democracies and show how a prominent feature of decision making in parliaments, the vote of confidence procedure, creates an incentive for ruling coalitions to vote together on policy issues that might otherwise split them. The key feature that creates cohesive voting is the fact that votes on bills are treated as votes on who controls floor access in future periods. As a consequence, legislative majorities capture more of the legislative rents from the minority in parliamentary democracies than in nonparliamentary settings.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 611-621 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | American Political Science Review |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1998 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations