Article dans une série de papiers de travail :
Résumé
Voting is a lottery in which an individual who is uncertain about
how the others vote wins if she belongs to the majority or loses if she
falls into the minority. The risk of losing can be reduced by increasing
the majority threshold. This however has the negative effect of also
lowering the chance to win. We find that an individual prefers higher
majority thresholds when she is more risk averse, less powerful, or less
optimistic about the chance that others will vote like her. De facto,
raising the majority threshold is a form of protection against the higher
risk of being tyrannized by an unfavorable majority.
We include these preferences for majority thresholds in a Nash
bargaining game that describes constitutional negotiations over voting
rules. Individuals that largely avert the risk of being tyrannized
behave reluctantly during negotiations, and succeed in getting higher
protection through a threshold raise.
Mots clefs
majority rule, supermajority, risk aversion
D72 : Economic Models of Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
D81 : Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
H11 : Structure and Scope of Government
Economie comportementale et expérimentale