Power in the Design of Constitutional Rules

Abstract

This paper examines different ways of measuring power and the use of these measures in the context of the European Union. The paper deals with classical power indices of co-operative games and more recent non-cooperative a priori measures.

On party-proportional representation under district distortions

“…Proportional representation then induces an inequitable power distribution, distorted in favor of districts with large populations (see e.g. the survey of Widgren (2005)).…”

On Allocating Seats to Parties and Districts: Apportionments

“…It should be clear that this approach crucially depends on the chosen index. Power is linked with decisiveness, that is the chances of being pivotal, which in turn depend on the assumptions one makes on representatives' voting behavior, both within a district (block vote or not) and across districts such as the possible correlations of the votes (see Widgren [2005] for a survey). Power also depends on the electoral rule in the assembly since the chances of being pivotal depend on the set of 'winning' coalitions.…”

Invariably Suboptimal: An Attempt to Improve the Voting Rules of the Treaties of Nice and Lisbon

“…There are various considerations about the Council of the EU in connection with the square root law (Ade, 2005; Baldwin and Widgren, 2004; Baldwin et al ., 2000; Bilbao, 2004; Bobay, 2004; Felsenthal and Machover, 2000, 2003; Hosli and Machover, 2002; Hosli and Taagepera, 2006; Kirsch, 2001; Laruelle and Valenciano, 2002; Laruelle and Widgren, 1998; Leech, 2002; Leech and Machover, 2003; Lindner, 2004; Lindner and Machover, 2004; Maaser and Napel, 2007; Moberg, 2002; Plechanovova, 2004; Sutter, 2000; Słomczynski and Życzkowski 2004, 2007a; Tiilikainen and Widgren, 2000; Widgren, 2003).…”

“…This result is known as the square root law by Penrose [Pe46], [FM98]. There are various considerations about the Council of the EU in connection with the square root law [Ad05], [BBGW00], [Bi04], [Bo04], [BW04], [FM00], [HM02], [Ho00], [HT06], [Ki01], [Ko05], [Le02], [Li04], [LM03], [LM04], [LW98], [MN07], [Mo02], [Pa05], [Pl04], [So04], [Su00], [SZ04], [SZ07a], [TW00], [Wi03]. In particular, it is well known that both the voting rules of the Nice Treaty and those of the Treaty of Lisbon deviate strongly from the square root distribution of power.…”