Preface to the Japanese Edition of Golden Rule

Abstract

This is the English version of the author’s preface to the Japanese translation of Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995). The Japanese version is published in two volumes by Keiei Kagaku Publishing and this preface appears with its permission. The paper discusses some of the problems the author’s early work in archives highlighted with conventional approaches to understanding political power. It also locates the book’s argument in relation to earlier studies of industrial structures and politics and surveys some of the most important later results of quantitative research within the book’s framework.

Keywords: median voter, New Deal, political money, elections, industrial structure.

JEL Classification: D72, H10; H4; P16; L50, M14, N82