Institutionalizing uncertaintythe choice of electoral formulas
- Fernández de Córdoba Martos, Gonzalo
- Penadés de la Cruz, Alberto 1
- 1 Universidad de Salamanca, Departamento de Sociología
ISSN: 1578-0252
Año de publicación: 2008
Número: 19
Páginas: 3-25
Tipo: Artículo
Otras publicaciones en: Papeles de trabajo del Instituto de Estudios Fiscales. Serie economía
Resumen
Taken from an infinite set of divisors methods, the D'Hondt formula is the unique rule that maximizes the minimum number of seats for parties exceeding average size but not surpassing absolute majority of the votes. This property is also shared, in the quota set of methods, by the Droop quota. At the same time, these methods are those most commonly observed in practice. This paper relates the property stated with the stylized fact observed. If parties try to maximize the minimum number of seats for a given share of votes, then the D'Hondt formula should be chosen. This choice is consistent with rational parties that make institutional choices in an uncertain environment.