The Governance Cycle in Parliamentary Democracies: A Computational Social Science Approach

Parliamentary democracy is characterized by elections, government formations, and the need for governments to survive in hostile environments. This book attacks the problem computationally by modeling the behavior of "functionally rational" senior politicians and using artificial intelligence to model how hyper-rational politicians might find strategies that are close to optimal.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 09 February 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Parliamentary democracy is a complex and dynamic system characterized by a continuous cycle of elections, government formations, and the challenges of survival in potentially hostile environments. This requires members of government to make critical decisions on a wide range of issues, often leading to sharp divisions among them. To navigate these complexities, officials employ a strategy known as "logrolling," where they concede on issues they deem less important in exchange for reciprocal concessions on issues of greater significance to them. While traditional formal analysis may struggle to fully capture the intricacies of this governance cycle, this book takes a computational approach. Firstly, it models the behavior of senior politicians who are characterized by functional rationality, utilizing informal decision-making heuristics to navigate their high-stakes environment. Secondly, by applying computational methods to traditional game theory, it explores the potential strategies employed by hyper-rational politicians who aim to optimize their outcomes in complex political landscapes. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the book sheds light on the dynamics and strategies of parliamentary democracy, offering valuable insights into the complex decision-making processes of governments and the challenges they face in navigating the ever-changing political landscape.

ISBN-13: 9781009315487