Supermajorities have their advantage as well as their disadvantage: they provide an hedgeagainst being in the minority, but they make being in the majority less likely. We characterizethis trade-o¤ and compute the most preferred majority threshold. The relevant parametersare voting power, risk aversion and pessimism. People who feel powerful prefer low thresholds.High thresholds are preferred by risk averters or by those who are pessimistic about being inthe majority.Further we study constitutional agreements on the voting rule. Members of the constituentassembly are heterogeneous in the parameters above. We show that weak and minority memberssucceed in pushing forward on high and protective rules.[...]
Voting as a Lottery
PASSARELLI, Francesco
2010-01-01
Abstract
Supermajorities have their advantage as well as their disadvantage: they provide an hedgeagainst being in the minority, but they make being in the majority less likely. We characterizethis trade-o¤ and compute the most preferred majority threshold. The relevant parametersare voting power, risk aversion and pessimism. People who feel powerful prefer low thresholds.High thresholds are preferred by risk averters or by those who are pessimistic about being inthe majority.Further we study constitutional agreements on the voting rule. Members of the constituentassembly are heterogeneous in the parameters above. We show that weak and minority memberssucceed in pushing forward on high and protective rules.[...]I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
