Editorial Aims

The Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy (JPIPE) publishes cutting edge work at the intersection of these two interrelated fields of study: Political institutions (systems of politics and government or structures of voluntary cooperation that resolve collective-action and coordination problems in society) and Political economy (interdisciplinary studies drawing upon economics, political science, and law to explain how political institutions, the political environment, and the economic system interact and influence each other).

Concentrations in political institutions include: (1) studies of particular institutions, like legislatures, executives, judiciaries, interest groups, parties, and bureaucracies; (2) cross-institutional studies, which examine how multiple institutions interact; and (3) studies of system-level institutions and their effects, like constitutionalism, federalism, presidentialism, and parliamentarism. Concentrations in political economy include: (1) comparative political economy, which focuses on the role of governmental institutions and/or power relationships in resource allocation for each type of economic system, (2) international political economy, which analyzes the economic impact of international relations and legal regimes, and (3) formal models of political processes, wherein voters, representatives, and bureaucrats are assumed to behave in rational (self-interested) ways.

Editorial Scope

Relevant topics for scholars of political institutions and political economy include:

• the institutional design and structure of government,
• economic regulation,
• accountability and representation,
• distributional politics,
• lobbying and campaign finance.

Empirical analyses, which are often informed by game theory and involve rigorous quantitative analysis, include:

• the influence of elections on economic policy choice,
• the economic and political consequences of central-bank independence,
• the determinants of macro-economic growth,
• the politics of executive, legislative, and judicial relations,
• the connection between political polarization and economic inequality,