This study examines how the basic constitutional structure of a government affects what it can accomplish. It also examines the links between the structure of democratic government and the outcomes it achieves, by drawing comparisons between the American system and other forms of government.

PART I: THE PROBLEM ; 1. Democracy in America ; 2. Democracy in Other Parts of the World ; PART II: THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE ; 3. The Constitutional Premise ; 4. Why Have Government? ; 5. The Nature of a Constitution ; PART III: INSTITUTIONS TO REVEAL AND ADVANCE A COMMUNITY'S INTERESTS ; 6. Federalism ; 7. Direct Democracy ; 8. Representative Democracy - Proportional Representation ; 9. Representative Democracy - Two-Party Government ; 10. The Two Systems Compared ; 11. The Parliamentary Voting Rule ; PART IV: INSTITUTIONS TO CONSTRAIN GOVERNMENT ; 12. The Referendum ; 13. Bicameralism ; 14. Rights ; 15. The Market and the State ; 16. Redistribution ; 17. The Executive Branch ; 18. Dictatorship ; 19. The Judiciary ; PART V: GETTING STARTED ; 20. Citizenship ; 21. The Constitutional Convention ; PART VI: COMING TO AN END ; 22. Epilogue

Well informed and well written. I strongly recommend it for courses on constitutional democracy at law schools and in political science, economics and philosophy departments. H. Kliemt, Public choice 1999.

"...Constitutional Democracy is a useful addition to the literature on public choice theory and on constitutions. It opens up an interesting area for discussion and deserves to be widely studied."--The American Journal of Legal History "...An extaordinarily interesting book. Those who dislike public choice literature because of its frequent use of symbolic notation and first or second derivatives will be pleasantly surprised by Mueller's book. It is almost entirely prose and leaves the mathematical proof of his statements to notes. A tremendous advantage of Mueller's book is that it provides material for the teaching of many courses."--The Law and Politics Book Review "...Mueller has done a superb job in bringing together in one volume a very complete coverage of the essential economics....Constitutional Democracy will become the standard reference for those who take the next step to constitutional economics."--Constitutional Political Economy "...Constitutional Democracy is a useful addition to the literature on public choice theory and on constitutions. It opens up an interesting area for discussion and deserves to be widely studied."--The American Journal of Legal History "...An extaordinarily interesting book. Those who dislike public choice literature because of its frequent use of symbolic notation and first or second derivatives will be pleasantly surprised by Mueller's book. It is almost entirely prose and leaves the mathematical proof of his statements to notes. A tremendous advantage of Mueller's book is that it provides material for the teaching of many courses."--The Law and Politics Book Review "...Mueller has done a superb job in bringing together in one volume a very complete coverage of the essential economics....Constitutional Democracy will become the standard reference for those who take the next step to constitutional economics."--Constitutional Political Economy