Democratic Devices and Desires

Abstract

This book, first published in 2000, offers an account of key features of modern representative democracy. Working from the rational actor tradition, it builds a middle ground between orthodox political theory and the economic analysis of politics. Standard economic models of politics emphasise the design of the institutional devices of democracy as operated by essentially self-interested individuals. This book departs from that model by focusing on democratic desires alongside democratic devices, stressing that important aspects of democracy depend on the motivation of democrats and the interplay between devices and desires. Individuals are taken to be not only rational, but also somewhat moral. The authors argue that this approach provides access to aspects of the debate on democratic institutions that are beyond the narrowly economic model. They apply their analysis to voting, elections, representation, political departments and the separation and division of powers, providing a wide-ranging discussion of the design of democratic institutions.

Collective choice and individual action: Education policy and social mobility in England

“…Major statements of the importance of expressiveness in understanding democratic procedures and outcomes can be found in Brennan and Lomasky (1993) and Brennan and Hamlin (2000). Hillman (2010) directs us to the importance people attach to their sense of identity and how a collective action setting such as voting allows them to express their identity at low cost.…”

Community size, heterogeneity and voter turnouts

“…4 The ethical voter hypothesis was first put forward by Goodin and Roberts (1975). Fiorina (1976) first proposed the expressive voter hypothesis, although it has received its most extended development by Brennan and Lomasky (1997), Brennan and Hamlin (2000) and Schuessler (2000). A discussion of the importance of ethical motivations can be found in Blais (2000), who also provides favorable survey evidence.…”

Trustworthiness and Motivations

“…But it is also plausible that professions offering high financial rewards are particularly attractive to psychopaths, since they do not get satisfaction from non--self--regarding aspects of a job. In general, we can affect the type of people that we attract into roles by varying the currency in which rewards are offered (Brennan & Hamlin, 2000). This is something to bear in mind when considering executive compensation, and other types of compensation that society can bestow such as honours and esteem.…”

“…If we have that framework then, in the same way that some have advocated using different types of rewards to motivate different types of people (e.g. Brennan & Hamlin, 2000), we can use different types of sanctions to motivate different types of people.…”