1st Edition

Comparative Politics The Principal-Agent Perspective

By Jan-Erik Lane Copyright 2008
    332 Pages 1 Color & 73 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    336 Pages 1 Color & 73 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    336 Pages 1 Color & 73 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Starting from the principal-agent perspective, this book offers a new analysis of government. It interprets political institutions as devices designed to solve the omnipresent principal-agent game in politics. In other words how to select, instruct, monitor and evaluate political agents or elites so that they deliver in accordance with the needs and preferences of their principal: the population.

    This book explores whether there are any evolutionary mechanisms in politics which guide mankind towards the rule of law regime, domestically and globally. It combines a cross-sectional approach with a longitudinal one.

    Comparing the extent of the rule of law among states, using a set of data from 150 countries concerning political and social variables, the author seeks to understand why there is such a marked difference among states. Taking a state-centred perspective and looking at countries with a population larger than one million people during the post Second World War period, the book examines:

    • The stability and performance of states
    • The conditions for the rule of law regime: economic, social, cultural and institutional ones
    • The evolution of governments towards rule of law

    Comparative Politics - The Principle-Agent Perspective will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, government, political theory and law.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER: MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS

    Politics as a Series of Principal-Agent Games

    Politics as Principal-Agent Contracting

    Institutional Mechanism: Rule of Law

    Political Agents and Incentives

    Political Agents and Outcomes

    Rules and Preferences

    Conclusion

    SECTION 1. STATES: STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE

    CHAPTER ONE: THE STATES OF THE WORLD

    Introduction

    Weber’s concept of the State

    The identification of Present States

    States as Institutional Probabilities

    State Longevity and Regime Stability

    Institutional Foundations of States

    Regimes

    Regime Longevity and Constitutional Changes

    State Stability and Political Unrest

    Conclusion

    CHAPTER TWO: RULE OF LAW

    Introduction

    Performance Analysis

    Rule of Law Measure

    The Public Sector

    Social Outcomes

    Conclusion

     

    SECTION II. CONDITIONS THAT SUPPORT RULE OF LAW

    CHAPTER THREE: ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

    Introduction

    Size and Climate

    Social Structure

    Religion

    Family Values: Individualism versus Collectivism

    Economic Conditions

    Relevance of Social, Cultural and Economic Conditions

    Conclusion

     

     

     

    CHAPTER FOUR: IMPACT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

    Introduction

    Institutions, Principals and Agents

    Contestation and Participation

    Adversarial, Concurrent and Consociational Democracy

    Federations and Confederations

    Presidentialism

    Parliamentarism and Bicameralism

    Authoritarian Institutions

    Institutional Consolidation or Decay

    Judicial Institutions

    Relevance of Institutions

    Conclusions

     

    CHAPTER FIVE: CHANGING PRINCIPAL-AGENT INSTITUTIONS

    Introduction

    Introducing the Market Economy

    Third World State Transformation

    Political Stability

    Conclusion

    CHAPTER SIX: PARTY SYSTEM INSTABILITY AND VOLATILITY FROM THE PRINCIPAL-AGENT PERSPECTIVE

    Introduction

    Party-System Stability and Democratic Stability

    Volatility and the Vitality of Democracy

    The Data

    Net Volatility

    Party System Fractionalization

    Volatility and Fractionalization

    A Regression Model of Volatility

    Conclusion

    SECTION III. TOWARDS EVOLUTIONARY REGIME THEORY

    CHAPTER SEVEN: REGIME FITNESS ON THE SURVIVAL OF POLITIES

    Introduction

    Polity Forms, Fitness and Evolutionary Mechanisms

    Capacity

    Efficacy and Legitimacy of a Political Regime

    Conclusion

    CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CONCEPT OF A POLITY: From the City-State to the Empire

    Introduction

    The Greek Heritage

    Emergence of the Hellenistic Empires and Pax Romana

    Conclusion

     

    CHAPTER NINE: ANCIENT EMPIRES. Oriental Despotism or the Patrimonial State

    Introduction

    Wittfogel

    Weber

    The Aztecs

    The Mayas

    The Incas

    West-African Empires

    China

    Mughal India

    Conclusion

     

    CHAPTER TEN: FEUDALISM: Political, Economical and Modern

    Introduction

    Occidental and Oriental Feudalism

    Political Feudalism

    Economic Feudalism: Manorialism

    An Ideal-Type Feudal Polity?

    Modern Feudalism: The War Lords

    Conclusion

    CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE NATION-STATE AND COLONIAL EMPIRES

    Introduction

    Birth of the Nation-State

    Colonial Empires

    African Colonialism

    Towards an American Empire

    The Post-Colonial State

    Conclusion

     

    CHAPTER TWELVE: THE REGIONALISATION OF THE STATE

    Introduction

    Basic Modes of Regional Organization

    The Regional Forum

    Regional Facilities

    Economics I: FTA’s and Customs Unions

    Economics II: Monetary Unions

    Economics III: The Common Market

    The Regional Regimes: Will They Replace the State?

    Conclusion

     

    CONCLUDING CHAPTER: EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE OF RULE OF LAW REGIMES

    Can Stable Authoritarian Regimes Survive?

    Politics as Principal-agent Contracting

    Conclusion

     

     

     

    APPENDIX I: STATES INCLUDED IN THE DATA ANALYSIS

     

     

    REFERENCES

     

    Biography

    Jan Erik-Lane, University of Freiburg.