A model of stability and persistence in a democracy

We develop an intertemporal model of political competition which accounts for three stylized facts of political life in representative democracies: (i) political stability and the absence of discrimination, (ii) a limited degree of political competition , and (iii) the persistence of different political outcomes in otherwise similar economies. In our model political stability is desirable for risk-averse voters. Voters only vote for "decent" policy proposals which do not discriminate against single groups. We derive properties of the set of possible political outcomes and study the issue of robustness against renegotiation. Classification Numbers: C72, D70, D72. (C) 2000 Academic Press.