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  1. Home
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  3. When Majorities Fail
  • Cited by 22
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
September 2009
Print publication year:
2002
Online ISBN:
9780511510601
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511510601
Series:
Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions
Subjects:
Politics: General Interest, Russian and East European Government, Politics and Policy, Political Economy, Politics and International Relations
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Book description

When Majorities Fail is a study of institutional failure in Russia's first democratic legislature. Inadequate rules and a chaotic party system combined to make it nearly impossible to pass a coherent legislative program, including a new constitution. The internal instability in Russia's parliament is known as cycling, one of the most important theoretical concepts in formal study of legislatures. There are few recorded cases of cycling in politically important settings. This book documents the presence of cyclical majorities in Russian Parliament with comprehensive case and statistical analysis, and demonstrates how the failure to adopt a new constitution led to the confrontation between parliament and president in the fall of 1993. Earlier research has shown that the design of a legislative institution is crucial in preventing cycling. The author shows how the institutional design of the parliament failed, underscoring the importance of institutional design in a democratic transition.

Reviews

'This study illuminates an important aspect of Russia's history, and avoids the facile condemnations of Yeltsin that are too common in the literature. The work is also of significance for students of comparative presidentialism, but above all it marks a great leap forwards in our understanding of legislature behaviour. From being an abstract concept in the literature, Andrews has made cycling the centrepiece of this study and the points she makes are of relevance to students of parliamentary affairs elsewhere. Despite dealing with a complex theoretical model and applying much detailed empirical analysis of voting patterns, the work is accessible to the general reader.'

Source: Slavonica

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