SSRN Home Search and Download Papers Browse Abstract and Paper Submission Subscribe to Networks View Briefcase Top Papers Top Authors Top Institutions

 

Abstract

 


 


Download | Share | Email | Add to Briefcase | Buy Hard Copy

Is Democracy Like Sex?

Glenn Harlan Reynolds
University of Tennessee College of Law



Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 48, 1995

Abstract:     
Sex is messy and expensive, yet it persists. Evolutionary biologists have spent years wondering why, and many have concluded that one reason for the persistence of sexual reproduction is the superior resistance to parasites that it confers, by constantly reshuffling the target species' genes and characteristics.

Democracy, too, seems messy and expensive, yet it has persisted in the United States for over 200 years. Drawing on the work of Mancur Olson, this Essay suggests that democracy plays a similar anti-parasitic role, by making it harder for government insiders and special interest groups to achieve full symbiosis.

Keywords: democracy, sex, federalism, parasites, constitution

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: February 12, 2007 ; Last revised: February 12, 2007

Suggested Citation

Reynolds, Glenn Harlan, Is Democracy Like Sex?. Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 48, 1995. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=962498


Export to: Export Citation What's this?

Contact Information

Glenn Harlan Reynolds (Contact Author)
University of Tennessee College of Law ( email )
1505 West Cumberland Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37996-1810
United States
865-974-6744 (Phone)
Feedback to SSRN (Beta)


Paper statistics
Abstract Views: 6,145
Downloads: 391
Download Rank: 19,727
People who downloaded
this paper also downloaded:

1. Between Freedom And Democracy
By Michael Jensen and William Meckling

2. Plato, Hegel, and Democracy
By Thom Brooks

© 2009 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use  Privacy Policy
This page was served by apollo2 in 0.093 seconds.