The Robust Federation: Principles of Design (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Bednar, Jenna

ISBN 10: 0521878993 / ISBN 13: 9780521878999

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2008

About this Item

Seller Inventory # V9780521878999

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Robust Federation: Principles of Design (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521878993
• ISBN 13: 9780521878999
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Robust Federation offers a comprehensive approach to the study of federalism. Jenna Bednar demonstrates how complementary institutions maintain and adjust the distribution of authority between national and state governments. These authority boundaries matter – for defense, economic growth, and adequate political representation – and must be defended from opportunistic transgression. From Montesquieu to Madison, the legacy of early institutional analysis focuses attention on the value of competition between institutions, such as the policy moderation produced through separated powers. Bednar offers a reciprocal theory: in an effective constitutional system, institutions complement one another; each makes the others more powerful. Diverse but complementary safeguards – including the courts, political parties, and the people – cover different transgressions, punish to different extents, and fail under different circumstances. The analysis moves beyond equilibrium conceptions and explains how the rules that allocate authority are not fixed but shift gradually. Bednar’s rich theoretical characterization of complementary institutions provides the first holistic account of federal robustness.

About the Author

Jenna Bednar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Her work crosses disciplines, addressing constitutional questions using the methods of complex systems analysis and game theory, and has been published in law reviews as well as journals in economics, political science, and sociology. Professor Bednar received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1998.