Economic development is widely believed to stimulate the development of democratic institutions. This paper supports that argument, but suggests that the connection between industrialization and democracy is quite indirect.

Gordon Tullock’s impact as a scholar was far broader than his own research because he was an initiator of new fields of research rather than one who modestly extended pre-existing pastures. His import as founding editor of Public Choice, as an ambassador for public choice, and as a teacher,...

This paper explores some perverse features that can emerge when social contracts are moved from a social vacuum to a setting of social interdependence. In particular we note incentives that might exist in conjunction with externality problems that yield situations in which: (1) social contracts...

This paper provides a tightly written overview and modest extension of the constitutional exchange and evolution model developed in Perfecting Parliament and uses that approach to analyze the division of authority that one would expect to see in contemporary constitutional governments. The...