institutions

Question 1

definition of institutions

Answer 1

manmade constraints/arrangements that shape and authorize human interaction

Question 2

examples of institutions

Answer 2

• courts
• electoral rules
• political parties
• markets
• legal rights
• family
• morals/customs
• international organizations

Question 3

difference between preferences & institutions

Answer 3

preferences provide the MOTIVATION for individual actions
VS.
institutions provide the STRUCTURE for individual actions

Question 4

voting rules

Answer 4

example of institutions that turn individual preferences into aggregate outcome

Question 5

examples of voting rules

Answer 5

• majority rule
• plurality
• plurality w/ runoff
• borda count
• single non-transferable voting
• limited voting

Question 6

majority rule

Answer 6

alternative preferred by more than half of the voters (a majority) wins

Question 7

plurality

Answer 7

alternative with more votes than any other single alternative wins

Question 8

plurality w/ runoff

Answer 8

if an alternative has >50% of votes, the alternative wins
OR
if no alternative has has >50% of votes, top two candidates go to the second round

Question 9

borda count

Answer 9

rank choice voting; each voter ranks k number of alternatives
–> k pts, k-1 pts, etc.

Question 10

what is an agenda?

Answer 10

how institutions decide on sequence of votes considered to affect outcome of the vote

Question 11

condorcet winner

Answer 11

alternative which wins a simple majority against each of the others when every pair of candidates is compared

Question 12

condorcet consistency

Answer 12

voting rule is condorcet consistent if it always selects the CW whenever it exists

Question 13

mckelvey’s chaos theorem

Answer 13

if preferences are defined over a multidimensional policy space (two or more issues to be decided on), then majority rule is in general unstable: there is no CW

Question 14

nash equilibrium

Answer 14

each player’s NE is best response to the other players’ strategy

Question 15

origins of institutions (list)

Answer 15

• formal collective agreements to ensure stable desired outcomes
• evolution of conventions & norms between individuals in a social system
• institutional engineering by specific individuals who desire to impose their will on others
• external shocks

Question 16

example of formal collective agreements

Answer 16

• constitutions
• international organizations

Question 17

example of conventions & norms

Answer 17

maghribi traders (greif)

Question 18

example of institutional engineering

Answer 18

majority party decides to change electoral rules

Question 19

example of external shocks

Answer 19

black death → end of serfdom in western europe

Question 20

examples of institution-building (& changing)

Answer 20

• european institutions in the last 40 years
• voting systems in latin america in the 1980s and 1990s
• models of democracy in central/eastern europe after the soviet collapse
• independence of the bank of england in 1998
• brexit in 2016