Table of Contents

Introductionl
I. Impartiality and Uncertainty
1. The Veil of Uncertainty:
2. The Limits of Uncertaintyl:
II. Accountability and Voting
3. Submajority Voting Rules: Forcing Accountability:
4. Absolute Majority Rules: Optimizing Accountability:
5. Delegation, Accountability and Judgingl:
III. Deliberation and Transparency
6. Optimizing Transparency: The Budget Process:
7. Optimizing Deliberation: Constitutional Issues in Congressl:
Conclusion: Institutional Design as a Going Concern
Acknowledgements & Sources

Reviews

"A truly brilliant book, and a unique one. Vermeule illuminates many of the most important questions in democratic theory -- the achievement of transparency, the use of voting rules, the idea of a "veil of uncertainty," the delegation of authority, and much more. An extraordinary contribution to political science and law, Mechanisms of Democracy also offers countless concrete lessons for those involved in designing constitutions -- and in making them
work better."
--Cass Sunstein, University of Chicago School of Law
"There has been a recent clutch of books on the institutional design of deliberative institutions, some more theoretical, others more practical. Vermeule combines a nuanced sense of the larger theoretical landscape with a real comparative advantage on the finer details of institutional groundings for that project. His book thus makes a distinct, invaluable contribution to that recent clutch of agenda-setting books. It may well end up being the most important
of them."
--Robert Goodin, Australian National University
"Once again, Vermeule is original and illuminating. It is one of those rare books that changes the angle from which we view familiar issues."
--Larry Solum, John E. Cribbet Professor of Law & Professor of Philosophy, University of Illinois College of Law
"Employing a procedural perspective, Vermeule (Harvard Law) emphasizes micro institutional reforms within governing institutions to enhance democratic values and purposes. Believing that small reforms generate less opposition than large-scale changes in governing institutions and relations, he focuses on four democratic values found in many versions of democracy-impartiality, accountability, transparency, and deliberation-but not foundational values such as
equality, freedom, or enhanced popular participation. He insists that it is not a theorist's responsibility to make proposals that are immediately practicable or consistent with current political
possibilities, but more effort to address additional practices that might circumvent his proposals is consistent with his desire to change practices and institutions. Recommened - graduate, research, and professional collections."
--Choice