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Product Description Constitutional Democracy systematically examines how the basic constitutional structure of governments affects what they can accomplish. This relationship is especially important at a time when Americans are increasingly disillusioned about government's fundamental ability to reach solutions for domestic problems, and when countries in the former Soviet block and around the world are rewriting their constitutions. Political economist Mueller illuminates the links between the structure of democratic government and the outcomes it achieves by drawing comparisons between the American system and other government systems around the world. Working from the "public choice" perspective in political science, the book analyzes electoral rules, voting rules, federalism, bicameralism, citizenship, and separation of powers. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of political economy. Review "... Constitutional Democracy is a useful addition to the literature on public choice theory and on constitutions. It opens up an interesting area for discussion and deserves to be widely studied."-- The American Journal of Legal History "...An extaordinarily interesting book. Those who dislike public choice literature because of its frequent use of symbolic notation and first or second derivatives will be pleasantly surprised by Mueller's book. It is almost entirely prose and leaves the mathematical proof of his statements to notes. A tremendous advantage of Mueller's book is that it provides material for the teaching of many courses."-- The Law and Politics Book Review "...Mueller has done a superb job in bringing together in one volume a very complete coverage of the essential economics.... Constitutional Democracy will become the standard reference for those who take the next step to constitutional economics."-- Constitutional Political Economy From the Back Cover Dennis C. Mueller illuminates the links between the structure of democratic government and the outcomes it achieves by drawing comparisons between American and foreign government systems. The questions examined are not what constitutions have been written, but rather what constitution should be written to advance a community's interests. The book explores the major issues a polity faces when drafting a constitution: Is a two-party or a multi-party system better? Should it adopt federalism? Bicameralism? Should the executive and legislative functions be combined? What role should the judiciary play? How should citizenship be defined? Addressing these questions and much more, Constitutional Democracy is a comprehensive and up-to-date normative analysis of these issues. Provocative and intriguing, this work will be of great interest to scholars and students of political science, economics and law. About the Author Dennis C. Mueller is Professor of Economics at the University of Vienna.