When Majorities Fail

WhenMajoritiesFailisastudyofinstitutionalfailureinRussia'sfirstdemocraticlegislature.Inadequaterulesandachaoticpartysystemcombinedtomakeitnearlyimpossibletopassacoherentlegislativeprogram,includinganewconstitution.TheinternalinstabilityinRussia'sparliamentisknownascycling,oneofthemostimportanttheoreticalconceptsinformalstudyoflegislatures.Therearefewrecordedcasesofcyclinginpoliticallyimportantsettings.ThisbookdocumentsthepresenceofcyclicalmajoritiesinRussianParliamentwithcomprehensivecaseandstatisticalanalysis,anddemonstrateshowthefailuretoadoptanewconstitutionledtotheconfrontationbetweenparliamentandpresidentinthefallof1993.Earlierresearchhasshownthatthedesignofalegislativeinstitutioniscrucialinpreventingcycling.Theauthorshowshowtheinstitutionaldesignoftheparliamentfailed,underscoringtheimportanceofinstitutionaldesigninademocratictransition.