Choice democracy

Arbeitspapier

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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 38

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government ; Crisis Management ; Public Goods
• Subject: democracy ; choice ; polyarchy ; stability ; competition ; efficiency ; Demokratie ; Wirtschaftswissenschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ledoit, Olivier
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Zurich, Department of Economics
• (where): Zurich
• (when): 2011

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5167/uzh-51542
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/77500
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET