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The main disadvantage of unicameral legislatures operating by simple majority rule is that, when politics is two-dimensional, they allow the adoption of out-of-equilibrium policies. Since in such cases a majority opposed to what a majority has adopted, the result is majority tyranny. To minimize such tyranny, it is necessary to delay action until a true majority in society is arrived at. Of the several methods of delay -- supermajorityism, multipartyism, multicameralism -- the best is multicameralism because it allows for simple majority rule when politics is one-dimensional (and hence when a median voter equilibrium is likely to exist) yet discourages decision when politics is two-dimensional (and hence when, almost certainly, no equilibrium exists). /// Les systèmes parlementaires à chambre unique ont pour défaut majeur de permettre l'adoption de politiques 'déséquilibrées' lorsque la loi de la majorité s'impose à des systèmes d'opinion à deux dimensions. Le bicaméralisme réduit les risques de tyrannie de la majorité car l'existence de deux chambres permet de repousser les décisions jusqu'à ce que se soit forgée une majorité véritable. Parmi les différents moyens de repousser les décisions -- majorités qualifiées, multipartisme, multicaméralisme -- ce dernier est préférable car il s'accommode de la simple majorité lorsque le système politique est unidimensionnel tout en faisant obstacle à la décision trop rapide lorsque ce dernier est à deux dimensions.
The International Political Science Review (IPSR) is the quarterly journal of the International Political Science Association (IPSA). It is committed to publishing material that makes a significant contribution to international political science. It seeks to meet the needs of political scientists throughout the world who are interested in studying political phenomena in the contemporary context of increasing international interdependence and global change. The IPSR reflects the aims and intellectual tradition of its parent body, IPSA: to foster the creation and dissemination of rigorous political inquiry free of subdisciplinary or other orthodoxy.
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International Political Science Review / Revue internationale de science politique