When Majorities Fail The Russian Parliament, 1990}}}1993 [Paperback]

When Majorities Fail is a study of institutional failure in Russia's first democratic legislature.When Majorities Fail is a study of institutional failure in Russia's first democratic legislature. Inadequate rules and a chaotic party system combined to make it nearly impossible for the legislature to pass a coherent legislative program, including a new constitution. This is the first book-length study of a peculiar form of chaos (cycling) that can exist in majority rule institutions when institutional rules are weak. Not only does this study identify cycling in an important institutional setting--the Russian national legislature--it shows that poor institutional design has important consequences for the consolidation of democracy in transitional countries.When Majorities Fail is a study of institutional failure in Russia's first democratic legislature. Inadequate rules and a chaotic party system combined to make it nearly impossible for the legislature to pass a coherent legislative program, including a new constitution. This is the first book-length study of a peculiar form of chaos (cycling) that can exist in majority rule institutions when institutional rules are weak. Not only does this study identify cycling in an important institutional setting--the Russian national legislature--it shows that poor institutional design has important consequences for the consolidation of democracy in transitional countries.This study of institutional failure in Russia's first democratic legislature claims that inadequate rules and a chaotic party system combined to make it nearly impossible for the legislature to pass a coherent legislative program, including a new constitution. It studies a peculiar form of chaos; cycling; that can exist in majority rule institutions when institutional rules are weak. It identifies cycling in an important institutional setting--the Russian national legislature--and shows that poor institutional design has important consequences for the colƒ$