Improving Democracy Through Constitutional Reform

"Most writing in constitutional political economy is theoretical and normative - it describes what constitutions should look like and how they should work, not how they do look and work. In tracing the constitutional history of Sweden, Roger Congleton breaks with this tradition. Sweden constitutes one of democracy's great success stories of the last century, and thus it is important that students of constitutional political economy know what role its constitutions have played in bringing about this success. This book describes how Sweden's constitutions have evolved, and puts this evolutionary process into perspective using analytic insights from public choice. It is a most welcomed addition to the literature." (Dennis C. Mueller, Dept. of Economics, University of Vienna) "Professor Congleton has brought his considerable knowledge of political economy to bear on new questions. His carefully constructed analysis of the Swedish setting shows why "constitutions matter" and how reforms can allow a well-functioning democracy to improve and better serve its citizens. The results is a balanced and complete discussion that will be of interest to all of those interested in how our choice of institutions affects the workings of our democratic systems." (Birgitta Swedenborg, Center for Business and Policy Studies, Stockholm, Sweden)

• 1. The Course of Reform.- Interests and Interest in Constitutional Reform.- Why Sweden?.- Methodology.- Generality of the Approach.- I: Constitutional Interests.- 2. The Nature of Constitutions.- 3. An Overview of Swedish Constitutional History.- 4. Ideas and Interests in Constitutional Reform.- 5. The Consequences of Constitutional Reform.- 6. Governance Under Constraints.- II: Perfecting Parliament.- 7. Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Design.- 8. Essential Procedural Methods and Constraints for Parliament.- 9. Constraining Parliamentary Democracy to Advance the Majority’s Interest.- 10. Organizing Governance to Broaden Consensus: Beyond Majority Rule.- III: Swedish Lessons.- 11. Appraising the Performance of the Swedish Constitution.- 12. Constitutional Reforms of the 1970s and the Performance of Swedish Governance: Statistical Evidence.- 13. Improving the Swedish Constitution.- 14. Lessons Learned.- References.- Books.- Articles.- Data Appendixes.- A. Economic Data.- B. Political Data.