Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/77500 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 38
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Democracy is defined by two core tenets: voice and pluralism. Within these constraints, a wide variety of regime types can be designed. We show that the only new, untested form of democracy is when every citizen is governed by the political party of his/her choice. Multiple full-edged governments would coexist in the same national territory at the same time, each one sovereign only over the people who chose to vote for it - hence the name: Choice Democracy. Choice Democracy can be regarded as pure polyarchy, the broadest form of political competition, and a robust mechanism for disciplining government agencies. We argue that this system makes democracy more stable by reducing the risk of revolutionary and financial crises. We develop a theory for the optimal number of governments per countries, where the answer is determined by a trade-off between cooperation and competition. We also provide evidence indicating that Choice Democracy would be viable in the real world.
Subjects: 
democracy
choice
polyarchy
stability
competition
efficiency
JEL: 
H11
H12
H41
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
213.95 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.