Publications [#250181] of Michael C. Munger

Journal Articles

1. Munger, MC, 19th Century Voting Procedures in a 21st Century World, Special Issue on "Public Choice Perspectives at the Dawn of the 21st Century", edited by Shughat, W; Tollison, R, Public Choice: Public Chpoce Perspectives at the Dawn of the 21st Century, vol. 124 no. 1-2 (2005), pp. 115-133, Springer Nature, ISSN 0048-5829 [Gateway.cgi], [doi]
   (last updated on 2026/01/15)

   Abstract:
   Voting procedures nowadays are anachronistic on two counts: the technology of recording and counting votes often is outmoded and too much is expected from the mechanisms of democratic choice. Even if votes always and everywhere were counted perfectly, election outcomes would still be arbitrary since no collective choice process can divine the "general will". The crucial line in any state is the one dividing private decisions from collective decisions. Democracy is part of the package for nations freeing themselves from totalitarianism's grip, but it may be the last, rather than the first thing that should be added to the mix. © Springer 2005.