Brian F. Crisp is a Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His work on electoral systems, legislative politics, interbranch relations, and policy choices has been published in The American Journal of Political Science, The American Political Science Review, and The Journal of Politics. He is also the Executive Editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly. Santiago Olivella is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research focuses on developing quantitative tools to study issues in electoral and legislative politics. He has published articles in Political Analysis, the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Electoral Studies. Guillermo Rosas is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His research explores the economic consequences of political regimes and political elite behavior. He is the author of Curbing Bailouts: Bank Crises and Democratic Accountability in Comparative Perspective (2010) and co-author of Latin American Party Systems (Cambridge, 2010).

'This very important book applies the logic of institutional design and sequential stages of representation to describe and explain the connections between citizens and policies in presidential democracies. The 'separation-of-powers' systems of Latin America, with their directly elected chief executives and greatly varying policymaking powers, provide an additional level of institutional variation. Its incorporation in this book makes a unique and memorable contribution to the representation literature.' G. Bingham Powell, Jr, University of Rochester

• 1. Studying the chain of representation; 2. Our solutions to the challenges of studying the chain of representation; Part I. Stages: 3. Stage 1: citizens' preferences; 4. Stage 2: policymakers' preferences; 5. Stage 3: public policies chosen; 6. Placing preferences and policies on a common scale; Part II. Linkages: 7. Linkage 1: electoral systems; 8. Linkage 2: policymaking processes; Part III. Testing the Chain of Representation: 9. From citizens to policymakers; 10. From policymakers to policies; 11. From citizen to policies; 12. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Brian F. Crisp is a Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His work on electoral systems, legislative politics, interbranch relations, and policy choices has been published in The American Journal of Political Science, The American Political Science Review, and The Journal of Politics. He is also the Executive Editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly. Santiago Olivella is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research focuses on developing quantitative tools to study issues in electoral and legislative politics. He has published articles in Political Analysis, the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Electoral Studies. Guillermo Rosas is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His research explores the economic consequences of political regimes and political elite behavior. He is the author of Curbing Bailouts: Bank Crises and Democratic Accountability in Comparative Perspective (2010) and co-author of Latin American Party Systems (Cambridge, 2010).

'This very important book applies the logic of institutional design and sequential stages of representation to describe and explain the connections between citizens and policies in presidential democracies. The 'separation-of-powers' systems of Latin America, with their directly elected chief executives and greatly varying policymaking powers, provide an additional level of institutional variation. Its incorporation in this book makes a unique and memorable contribution to the representation literature.' G. Bingham Powell, Jr, University of Rochester

• 1. Studying the chain of representation; 2. Our solutions to the challenges of studying the chain of representation; Part I. Stages: 3. Stage 1: citizens' preferences; 4. Stage 2: policymakers' preferences; 5. Stage 3: public policies chosen; 6. Placing preferences and policies on a common scale; Part II. Linkages: 7. Linkage 1: electoral systems; 8. Linkage 2: policymaking processes; Part III. Testing the Chain of Representation: 9. From citizens to policymakers; 10. From policymakers to policies; 11. From citizen to policies; 12. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Brian F. Crisp is a Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His work on electoral systems, legislative politics, interbranch relations, and policy choices has been published in The American Journal of Political Science, The American Political Science Review, and The Journal of Politics. He is also the Executive Editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly. Santiago Olivella is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research focuses on developing quantitative tools to study issues in electoral and legislative politics. He has published articles in Political Analysis, the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Electoral Studies. Guillermo Rosas is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. His research explores the economic consequences of political regimes and political elite behavior. He is the author of Curbing Bailouts: Bank Crises and Democratic Accountability in Comparative Perspective (2010) and co-author of Latin American Party Systems (Cambridge, 2010).

'This very important book applies the logic of institutional design and sequential stages of representation to describe and explain the connections between citizens and policies in presidential democracies. The 'separation-of-powers' systems of Latin America, with their directly elected chief executives and greatly varying policymaking powers, provide an additional level of institutional variation. Its incorporation in this book makes a unique and memorable contribution to the representation literature.' G. Bingham Powell, Jr, University of Rochester

• 1. Studying the chain of representation; 2. Our solutions to the challenges of studying the chain of representation; Part I. Stages: 3. Stage 1: citizens' preferences; 4. Stage 2: policymakers' preferences; 5. Stage 3: public policies chosen; 6. Placing preferences and policies on a common scale; Part II. Linkages: 7. Linkage 1: electoral systems; 8. Linkage 2: policymaking processes; Part III. Testing the Chain of Representation: 9. From citizens to policymakers; 10. From policymakers to policies; 11. From citizen to policies; 12. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.