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1) Much of democratic politics involves acts of delegation and can be understood through principal-agent models. Describe the principal-agent relationship in politics and give examples of democratic institutions that we can better understand through the framework of a principal-agent model.
2) When it comes to congruence with the median voter, direct democracy works better than representative democracy. Discuss.
3) Explain why even when all group members have perfectly transitive preferences, a group may not be able to agree on a decision. Provide an example of such a situation.
4) Voters can use elections to select candidates they seem fit for the job, but also to punish and reward incumbents for their previous performance. In this context, what do the terms “retrospective voting” and “prospective voting” mean? For each term, provide an assumption, a hypothesis and an example.
5) Most democratic decisions in Europe today are made by representatives and not by citizens directly. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a delegation of power.