Chapter 2:

The Constitution
 Designing Institutions to
Achieve Collective Action
• Remember: Problems with delegation?
• What are some problems associated
with delegation from the principal to the
agent (a politician; an instructor)?
– Principal runs risk of interests not being
served completely.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 2

 Designing Institutions to Achieve
Collective Action
• Agency loss is the discrepancy
between what principals would ideally
like their agents to do and how these
agents actually behave.
– Accidental or
– Due to reflect inherent differences in the
goals of the principals and those of their
agents

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 3

 Designing Institutions to Achieve
Collective Action
• Remember: Problems with delegation?
• How can a principal determine whether
its agents are faithful when it cannot
observe or understand their actions?
– Many options require a great deal of time
and effort.
– Whistle blowers, monitors/inspectors
• => Professional Classroom Evaluation

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 4

 Preface to the Constitution
- Serious Collective Actions Problem -

• American Revolution in near-collapse in

1780
– Forces had shrunk from 26,000 to 15,000;
General Benedict Arnold switched sides

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 5

 Preface to the Constitution
- Serious Collective Actions Problem -

– Problems appeared to stem less from unfit

commanders or unwilling troops, than from
the fledgling national government.
– STATES WERE FREE RIDING (agreed to
provide provisions but failed to do so in
timely fashion)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 6

 Preface to the Constitution
- Serious Collective Actions Problem -

• The Continental Congress:

– Lacked decision-making authority.
Decisions of consequence had to be
approved by all state governments
– Could not even get available supplies to
troops

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 7

 Preface to the Constitution
- Serious Collective Actions Problem -

– Could not compel states to contribute

resources when needed
– National government could not coordinate
the states’ actions
• General Washington urged for more
government control of efforts

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 8

 Preface to the Constitution
- Serious Collective Actions Problem -

• Collective action problem partially

overcome with outside help: Additional
support and money came from France
(self-interest in defeating and
humiliating its long-time enemy) and
helped end the war officially in 1783;
Battle of Yorktown 1781

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 9

 Preface to the Constitution
- Road to Independence -
• Why was America so well suited to be
the first nation to break with monarchy
and embrace republicanism?
– Geography

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 10

 Preface to the Constitution
- Road to Independence -
– Americans enjoyed home rule (tradition of
self-governance)
• The British had ceded to Americans
responsibility for managing their own domestic
affairs, including taxation

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 11

 Preface to the Constitution
- Road to Independence -
• For more than a century colonists elected their
own leaders and held them accountable for
local policies and taxes; by 1650 all of the
colonies had established elective assemblies
=> some experience in dealing with collective
agreements AND constitution writing

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 12

 Preface to the Constitution
- Road to Independence -
• Britain appointed governors, judges, and
colonial councils:
• BUT:
– their pay was tied to the assemblies
– subsequently, they often accommodated popular
opinion

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 13

 Preface to the Constitution
- Strains Upon Home Rule -
• Trigger: End of the French and Indian
War/Seven Years’ War in 1763 which
drained Britain economically.
• British citizens already were the most
heavily taxed in the world.
• Colonists would need to share the
upkeep (reduce security free riding).

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 14

 Preface to the Constitution
- Strains Upon Home Rule -
• Every revenue law the British
government enacted in the decade
after the end of the war contained
provisions that tightened its control over
the internal affairs of the colonies, thus
violating colonial home rule.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 15

 Preface to the Constitution
- Strains Upon Home Rule -
• Most aggressive challenge to home rule
came with the passage of the Stamp Act
(1765).
• This law imposed a tax on all printed
materials, including legal documents,
licenses, insurance papers, and land
titles. The tax also included commercial
goods such as newspapers and playing
cards.
Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 16
 Preface to the Constitution
- Strains Upon Home Rule -
• This tax had existed in Britain, but
Americans were inflamed by its
introduction.
• Americans had paid taxes before, but
they were local and service-oriented.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 17

 Preface to the Constitution
- Responses to Stamp Act -
• Colonial assemblies passed resolutions
demanding repeal of the tax.
– “no taxation without representation”
• Assemblies sent delegates to a national
conference (the Stamp Act Congress)
to draft a unified response.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 18

 Preface to the Constitution
- Responses to Stamp Act -
• Colonists responded with:
– boycotts
– Boston Tea Party (1773)
– Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 19

 Preface to the Constitution
- Strains Upon Home Rule -
• Escalation: Britain responded with the
Restraining Acts and Coercive Acts
• The other colonies were aware of the
situation and met in late 1774 in
Philadelphia for what became the First
Continental Congress.
• Served as nucleus of national representation for
next decade, but did not establish a national
government as suggested by Benjamin Franklin
=> creation of “committees of observation”
Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 20
 Preface to the Constitution
- Second Continental Congress -
• By the time the Second Continental
Congress met (Spring 1775), war had
broken out:
– battles of Lexington and Concord
• => need for coordination: The
Continental Congress had to become
the national government in order to
respond to the events of war.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 21

 Preface to the Constitution
- Second Continental Congress -
• They quickly instructed the conventions
to reconstitute themselves as state
governments based on republican
principles.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 22

 Preface to the Constitution
- Second Continental Congress -
• Using their former colonial
governments as models, most states
adopted bicameral legislatures, and all
created governorships => generally
with limited authority due to difficult
relations with royal governors (to this
day persisting anti-executive bias!)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 23

 Preface to the Constitution
- Second Continental Congress -
• They issued the nation’s first bonds and
established a national currency.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 24

 Preface to the Constitution
- Declaration of Independence -
• January 1776: Thomas Paine publishes
over 120,000 copies of “Common
Sense”; independence had not been
considered seriously earlier on.
• June 1776: Virginia delegate Richard
Henry Lee calls for creation of a new
nation separate from Britain.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 25

 Preface to the Constitution
- Declaration of Independence -
• A number of Jefferson’s listed
grievances were removed:
– condemnation of slavery offended slave-
owning southern delegates

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 26

 Preface to the Constitution
- Declaration of Independence -
• In a solemn ceremony on July 4, 1776,
each member of the Second
Continental Congress signed the
document.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 27

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
• With independence need to create a
new government:
– Articles de facto constitution until its
ratification in 1781

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 28

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
– The first government was a confederation
—a highly decentralized governmental
system in which the national government
derives limited authority from the states
rather than directly from the citizenry.
– The Articles transferred power from the
Continental Congress to the new,
permanent Congress.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 29

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
• Provisions of the Articles:
– major laws—such as those dealing with taxes and
constitutional change—required the endorsement
of nine of the thirteen states
– more fundamental change, such as amending the
Constitution, required unanimous agreement
– national authority was so circumscribed that the
delegates saw little purpose for an executive or a
judiciary
• Delegates sought to replicate home rule they
had lost.
Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 30
 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
• Problems in conduct of the war under
the Articles:
• the states, unwilling to give the national
government sufficient authority to
conduct the war, became chiefly
responsible for recruiting troops and
outfitting them for battle -> shirking

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 31

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
• Congress attempted to coordinate the
state regiments into a single fighting
force; it could borrow money, but could
not tax => so what guarantee for buying
government bonds?
• no administrative branch; so Congress
had to do all the work, including
requisitioning the army

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 32

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
• After the war the nation faced new
perils and questions as to its survival:
– a war-torn economy (debt national, purse
strings with the states; unwilling to share
import duties)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 33

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
– Trade barriers at home and abroad (all
matters of commerce reserved to the
states; cannot negotiate trade
agreements)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 34

 America’s First Constitution
- The Articles of Confederation -
– Mounting debt (currency one tenth of
prewar value; states have their own
currencies leading to widely fluctuating
exchange rates)
– Popular discontent (Shays’s Rebellion) =>
demonstrates that confederation cannot
even perform the most basic function of
government—keeping the peace

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 35

 America’s Second Constitution
- The U.S. Constitution: Philosophical Influences -

• Some of these Enlightenment thinkers

were:
– John Locke (1632–1704)—popular
sovereignty
• citizen’s delegation of authority to their agents
in government, with the ability to rescind that
authority.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 36

 America’s Second Constitution
- The U.S. Constitution: Philosophical Influences -

– Isaac Newton (1642–1727) laws of

physical reactions offered an analogue to
social relations

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 37

 America’s Second Constitution
- The U.S. Constitution: Philosophical Influences -

– Charles, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–

1755)—limited government, powerful idea
that best government can be designed!
– David Hume (1711–1776)—competition
among contending interests

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 38

 America’s Second Constitution
- The U.S. Constitution: Philosophical Influences -

• James Madison as political

philosopher:
• Vices of the Political System of the United
States

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 39

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• Virginia Plan, Madison’s blueprint for a
new constitution, introduced by fellow
Virginian Edmund Randolph

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 40

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• Its centerpiece was a bicameral
legislature:
– members of the lower chamber
apportioned among the states by
population and directly elected
– lower chamber would elect members of
the upper chamber from lists generated by
the state legislatures AND elect the
national executive and judiciary

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 41

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
– More closely resembled parliamentary
system of future than current American
system: the national government could
make whatever laws it deemed
appropriate and veto any state laws it
regarded as unfit.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 42

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
– Most importantly: If a state failed to fulfill
its legal obligation, the national
government could use military force
against it.
– => High conformity costs for states; a
tactical error because it inflamed the
opposition.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 43

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• Many saw the proposed legislature as
too powerful although Madison had
incorporated a check on its power.
• What was this check?
– The Council of Revision
– But chosen by legislature in the first place

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 44

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• Opposition grew toward the Virginia
plan from two directions:
• Less populous states. Why?
– Far less representation than under the
Articles
• States’ rights delegates. Why?
– Worried about state sovereignty

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 45

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• These two groups coalesced around an
alternative proposed by New Jersey
delegate William Paterson in response
to the Virginia Plan.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 46

 America’s Second Constitution
- Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans -
• The New Jersey Plan perpetuated the
composition and selection of Congress
as it functioned under the Articles, but it
did give Congress the power to tax.
– Single-house chamber; equal representation
for each state regardless of population
– Plural executive
– On petition of a majority of states executive
can be removed by legislature

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 47

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Great Compromise -
• Each side got one of the two legislative
chambers fashioned to its liking:
– the upper chamber (Senate) would be
composed of two delegates sent from
each state legislature who would serve a
six-year term

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 48

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Great Compromise -
– Madison’s population-based, elective
legislature became the House of
Representatives and as an extra
compromise to appease Madison’s
nationalists, House has sole authority to
originate revenue legislation
– Unanimity replaced by a rule allowing a
majority of the membership to pass
legislation

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 49

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Great Compromise -
• Article 1, Section 8 extended the
authority of the national legislature.
– commerce clause (Clause 3)
– necessary and proper clause (Clause 18)
– => Allowed for expansion of federal-level
power in the future

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 50

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Great Compromise -
• If the state legislatures could corrupt the
entire Congress through their hold on
the Senate, they also could corrupt the
entire national government through
Congress’s power to select the offices of
the other branches.
• NEED FOR INSULATION to contain the
Senate’s effort to subvert national policy.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 51

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Great Compromise -
• => Madison argues for a separation of
powers between the branches, that is,
an executive and judiciary that are
independent from each other and
especially from the legislature (checks
and balances!)
– Given the compromise, why was not
Madison happy?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 52

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Executive -
• Plural executive and Hamilton’s idea of
a life-long executive dismissed
• State executives (governors) purposely
created weak because of experience
with arbitrary executives (tyrants) back
in England and colonial governors in
constant conflict with colonial
legislatures

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 53

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Executive -
• To achieve an independent executive
that could not abuse its authority and
could moderate excesses of the
legislature, the Framers utilized several
features:
– Limited scope
– Legislative check
– Veto

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 54

 America’s Second Constitution
- Choosing the Executive: Electoral College -

• Compromise
• Example of indirect democracy
– EC = # of MCs + # of Senators

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 55

 America’s Second Constitution
- Choosing the Executive: Electoral College -

• States decide how to pick electors

• No majority in the electoral college?
– The election is thrown into the House of
Representatives.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 56

 America’s Second Constitution
- Choosing the Executive: Electoral College -

• Twelfth Amendment corrected the most

egregious flaws of the Electoral College,
that is, instead of two votes for president
(with the person with the second most
votes becoming vice president) ensuring a
distinct vote casting for both offices.
– Election of 1796 and 1800 (first Jefferson
becoming Adams Vice President although from
different parties; then Burr same amount of
votes as Jefferson)
Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 57
 America’s Second Constitution
- The Judiciary -
• The convention spent comparatively
little time designing the new federal
judiciary
• Jurisdiction of resolving disputes
between states and national-level
institutions; supremacy clause (Article
VI): national law takes precedence over
state laws

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 58

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Judiciary -
• They did debate over two (minor)
questions:
– Who would appoint Supreme Court
justices?
– Should a network of lower federal courts
be created or should state courts handle
all cases until they reach the federal
court?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 59

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Judiciary -
• What were the pragmatic results of
their debate?
– Appointment and confirmation
proceedings split between president and
Senate (the states)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 60

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Judiciary -
• The extent of the Court’s authority to
overturn federal laws and executive
actions as unconstitutional—the concept
of judicial review—was never quite
resolved in the constitutional convention.
– Hamilton and others argued that the
Constitution implicitly provides for judicial
review for federal-level laws (state laws
clearly stated in supremacy clause).

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 61

 America’s Second Constitution
- The Judiciary -
– Madison did not believe an unelected
branch should have such authority.
– Irony: his involvement as litigant in
Supreme Court case that established
judicial review: Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 62

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
• Slavery figured importantly in many
delegates’ private calculations,
particularly those from the South.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 63

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
• One critical point was during the
creation of the national legislature:
– Southern states wanted to count slaves as
part of their population, thus giving them
more representatives in the House, yet
these “citizens” had no rights in those
states

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 64

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
– After much debate, the southern states
were allowed to count a slave as three-
fifths of a citizen (The 3/5’s Compromise)
• Left much of the issue to future
government.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 65

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
• Why did the northern delegates gave in
to the southern ones, who were fewer
in number?
– The need to get the Constitution passed
– Fear of defection

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 66

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
– logrolling: a standard bargaining strategy
in which two sides swap support for
dissimilar policies:
• New England accommodated the South, and in
return, the South dropped their opposition to
commercial issues that were important to New
England

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 67

 America’s Second Constitution
- Slavery -
• Two guarantees for the South:
– unrestricted right to continue importing slaves (In
the end they managed to negotiate a ban on
regulation of the slave trade until 1808)
– the return of runaway slaves residing in northern
states

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 68

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification -
• “The Ratification of the Conventions of
nine States, shall be sufficient for the
Establishment of this Constitution
between the States so ratifying the
Same.”

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 69

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification -
• This statement did two important
things:
– It removed the unanimous assent rule of
the Articles of Confederation
– It withdrew authority from the state
legislatures, which might have misgivings
about surrendering autonomy

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 70

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
• The methods incorporated in part the
desires of both the states’ rights and
nationalist delegates.
– The Constitution allows amendment to be
proposed either by a two-thirds vote of
both houses of Congress or by an
“application” from two-thirds of the states.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 71

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
– Enactment occurs when three-fourths of
the states, acting either through their state
legislatures or in special conventions,
accept the amendment.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 72

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
• Since its ratification, the Constitution
has been amended twenty-seven
times:
– In every instance Congress initiated the
process.
– In all but one case, the state legislatures
did the ratifying.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 73

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
• Six additional amendments (including
the Equal Rights Amendment) were
sent to the states but failed to win the
needed number of endorsements.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 74

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
• Recent examples of failed proposed
amendments include:
– Restriction of marriage that between one
man and one woman.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 75

 America’s Second Constitution
- Amending the Constitution -
– Assuring “God” is included in the Pledge of
Allegiance
– Providing a mechanism for Congress to
replenish its membership should more
than a quarter of its members be killed.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 76

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Federalists: rhetoric of nationalism

• Antifederalists: rhetoric of state rights

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 77

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Antifederalists argued that only local

democracy could approach true
democracy.
– A country so large and diverse could not
be ruled by a single set of laws.
– Stronger national government must come
with safeguards against tyranny.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 78

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Madison made a strategic move and

announced that he would introduce the
constitutional amendments that would
protect individual rights.
• For this reason, the Bill of Rights was
included almost immediately after
ratification.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 79

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• The responses mustered to counter the

Antifederalist arguments against the
Constitution collectively make up
eighty-five essays, known as The
Federalist Papers:
– Written by Hamilton (wrote the most),
Madison (wrote the best), and John Jay
(who wrote five); wrote under the
pseudonym “Publius”

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 80

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

– Were directed primarily at the state of New

York, which had not yet voted in 1788
although by this point the Constitution was
technically ratified.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 81

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

– Provide insight into the “genuine” meaning

of the Constitution
– According to most historians, the actual
impact of the Federalist essays was
negligible; positions were grounded in
economic and other self-interests and
were not likely to be shifted by abstract
arguments.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 82

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Two of the Federalist Papers (No. 10

and 51) focus on the fundamental
problem of self-governance.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 83

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• We are not “angels” as Madison writes,

so how do we get a government of non-
angels not only to govern the governed,
but to “govern” itself as well?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 84

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

– In other words: How do we keep the

people’s agents honest as well as avoid
tyranny of the majority (democracy already
eliminates minority tyranny)?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 85

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

– Solution: pit politicians against one

another through the mutual vetoes
embedded in the Constitution’s separation
of powers and checks and balances.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 86

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Federalist No. 10: Madison argues that

a large, diverse republic is not only
capable of controlling the tyranny of
faction, but when properly designed,
the best means of doing so
• Direct democracy would allow for
majority usurpation of minority rights.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 87

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• However, a representative government

would:
– Dilute factious spirit (to get elected
politicians would need to play to more than
one audience).
– Negate the ability of potential majorities to
attempt any form of collusion.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 88

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Larger size, instead of being

problematic, the linchpin of the republic:
larger means greater variety of
interests and parties and therefore less
probable that a majority of the whole
will have a common motive to invade
the rights of other citizens (pluralism)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 89

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Federalist No. 51: Madison explains

how (mechanically) the Constitution will
employ checks and balances to prevent
the people’s representatives from
exploiting their political power

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 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• By separating government officers into

different branches (separation of
powers) and giving them the authority to
interfere with each other’s actions
(checks and balances) they could
defend the integrity of their offices:
– bicameralism
– popular election
– presidential veto
Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 91
 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Ambition is made to counteract

ambition.
• This argument gave reassurances to
those fence sitters who worried about a
tyrannical government forming.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 92

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• But did the Framers overdo it? What

criticisms can be leveled at the system?
• Authority fragmented

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 93

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• Conservative political process in which

legitimate majorities are frequently
frustrated by some minority faction

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 94

 America’s Second Constitution
- Ratification: Federalists vs. Antifederalists -

• And Constitution mostly born out of

political necessity than theoretical
rationale (or how do you explain the
three-fifths rule and the Byzantine
procedures for electing the U.S.
president?)

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 95

 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Command
– Authority of one actor to prescribe actions
of another.
– Command is unilateral.
– Cuts through coordination and prisoner’s
dilemmas by allowing one actor to impose
a solution or policy.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 96

 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Veto
– Veto embodies the right to say “no.”
– A blocking action that preserves the status
quo.
– Unilateral: allows those who possess the
veto to impose their views regardless of
preference of others

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 97

 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Agenda Control
– The right of an actor to set choices for
others
– Positive and negative influence over
collective decisions
– Really matters when some members of a
group have agenda control and others do
not

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 98

 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Voting Rules
– With collective decision-making authority,
the outcomes are determined by some
previously agreed-to voting rule
• Typically majority rule
– Governments controlled by popular
majority are less likely to engage in
tyranny

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 99

 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Delegation
– Occurs when individuals or groups
authorize someone to make and
implement decisions for them.
– By far the favored solution to controlling
transaction costs

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 100
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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– Principals: those who possess decision-

making authority may delegate their
authority to agents, who then exercise it
on behalf of the principals, for example,
EPA, IRS, and FCC.
– Helps with the need for technical
expertise, delegating enforcement
authority.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 101
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
-

• Problems with Delegation

• What are some problems associated
with delegation?
– Principal runs risk of interests not being
served completely.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 102
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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• Agency loss is the discrepancy

between what principals would ideally
like their agents to do and how these
agents actually behave.
– Accidental or
– Due to reflect inherent differences in the
goals of the principals and those of their
agents

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 103
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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• Problems with Delegation

• How can a principal determine whether
its agents are faithful when it cannot
observe or understand their actions?
– Many options require a great deal of time
and effort.
– Whistle blowers and monitors/inspectors.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 104
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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• What happens when the agent turns

against the principal?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 105
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- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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• Problems with Delegation

• Fundamental questions:
– How much authority can citizens safely
surrender in achieving their collective
goals?
– When does delegation become abdication
and invite tyranny?

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 106
 The Logic of American Politics
- Designing Institutions to Achieve Collective Action
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• Madison: In framing a government, the

great difficulty lies in this: you must first
enable the government to control the
governed; and in the next place oblige
it to control itself.

Kernell, The Logic of American Politics, 8e. SAGE Publications, 2018. 107