The problem of constitutional legitimation: what the debate on electoral quotas tells us about the legitimacy of decision-making rules in constitutional choice

Proponents of electoral quotas have a ‘dependent interpretation’ of democracy, i.e. they have formed an opinion on which decision-making rules are fair on the basis of their prior approval of the outcomes these rules are likely to generate. The article argues that this position causes an irresolvable problem for constitutional processes that seek to legitimately enact institutional change. While constitutional revision governed by formal equality allows the introduction of electoral quotas, this avenue is normatively untenable for proponents of affirmative action if they are consistent with their claim that formal equality reproduces biases and power asymmetries at all levels of decision-making. Their critique raises a fundamental challenge to the constitutional revision rule itself as equally unfair. Without consensus on the decision-making process by which new post-constitutional rules can be legitimately enacted, procedural fairness becomes an issue impossible to resolve at the stage of constitutional choice. This problem of legitimation affects all instances of constitutional choice in which there are opposing views not only about the desired outcome of the process but also about the decision-making rules that govern constitutional choice

Economic accountability in Central America

Representative democracy hinges upon the notion of accountability. We examine the mediating effects of political context on economic accountability in a hostile environment – the developing democracies of Central America. We test whether clarity of responsibility mediates the economy's effects on citizens' support for a president using approval ratings. In general, we find that a good economy increases public support for a president significantly more under unified government, but surprisingly, we find that a bad economy decreases public support for a president far more under divided government. Dynamic simulations show that these effects become more pronounced during sustained periods of economic expansion or contraction.La democracia representativa depende de la responsabilidad personal de los oficiales elegidos. Este artículo examina cómo el contexto político afecta la accountability económica en el ambiente hostil de las democracias en desarrollo de Centroamérica. Se investiga si la claridad de la responsabilidad afecta la relación entre las condiciones económicas y la aprobación popular del presidente manifestada en encuestas. Se revela que ge¬ne¬ralmente bajo un gobierno unido la correspondencia entre buenas condiciones económicas y un alto nivel de aprobación popular es mucho mayor que bajo un gobierno dividido. Sin embargo, la reducción de la aprobación popular del presidente bajo malas condiciones económicas sorprendentemente es mucho mayor en un gobierno divido que en un gobierno unido. Simulaciones dinámicas demuestran que estos efectos se destacan aun más durante largos períodos de expansión o contracción económica

Economic Accountability in Central America La accountability económica en Centroamérica

Representative democracy hinges upon the notion of accountability. We examine the mediating effects of political context on economic accountability in a hostile environment – the developing democracies of Central America. We test whether clarity of responsibility mediates the economy’s effects on citizens’ support for a president using approval ratings. In general, we find that a good economy increases public support for a president significantly more under unified government, but surprisingly, we find that a bad economy decreases public support for a president far more under divided government. Dynamic simulations show that these effects become more pronounced during sustained periods of economic expansion or contraction. La democracia representativa depende de la responsabilidad personal de los oficiales elegidos. Este artículo examina cómo el contexto político afecta la accountability económica en el ambiente hostil de las democracias en desarrollo de Centroamérica. Se investiga si la claridad de la responsabilidad afecta la relación entre las condiciones económicas y la aprobación popular del presidente manifestada en encuestas. Se revela que ge¬ne¬ralmente bajo un gobierno unido la correspondencia entre buenas condiciones económicas y un alto nivel de aprobación popular es mucho mayor que bajo un gobierno dividido. Sin embargo, la reducción de la aprobación popular del presidente bajo malas condiciones económicas sorprendentemente es mucho mayor en un gobierno divido que en un gobierno unido. Simulaciones dinámicas demuestran que estos efectos se destacan aun más durante largos períodos de expansión o contracción económica