When Majorities Fail

• Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Cycling in action: Russia's constitutional crisis; 3. Cycling and its consequences: a theoretical framework; 4. Institutional design and implications for majority rule; 5. Issue dimensions and partisan alliances; 6. The structure of preferences; 7. Legislative instability; 8. The dynamics of agenda control in the Russian parliament; 9. Implications of disequilibrium in transitional legislatures; References; Index.

'This study illuminates an important aspect of Russia's history, and avoids the facile condemnations of Yeltsin that are too common in the literature. The work is also of significance for students of comparative presidentialism, but above all it marks a great leap forwards in our understanding of legislature behaviour. From being an abstract concept in the literature, Andrews has made cycling the centrepiece of this study and the points she makes are of relevance to students of parliamentary affairs elsewhere. Despite dealing with a complex theoretical model and applying much detailed empirical analysis of voting patterns, the work is accessible to the general reader.' Slavonica