This note describes some cryptographic issues related to multi‐located parties. In general, multi‐located parties make it difficult for the eavesdropper to mount the man‐in‐the‐ middle attack. Conversely, they make it easier to address problems such as joint encryption and error correction coding. It is easier to implement the three‐stage quantum cryptography protocol.

This chapter gives a flavour of recent theoretical work on coalition formation and political parties. I survey recent work on both pre-election coalition formation and post election coalition (or government) formation. A number of alternative rationales for the formation of parties are compared with the help of some illustrative examples. JEL Classification:C71, C72, C78, D71, D72, D78

Ethnic divisions, according to empirical democratic theory, and commonsense understandings of politics, threaten the survival of democratic institutions. One of the principal mechanisms linking the politicization of ethnic divisions with the destabilization of democracy is the so-called “outbidding effect.” According to theories of ethnic outbidding, the politicization of ethnic divisions inevi...

The relationship of trust between mediators and parties is a key element of the mediation process. This article reviews the trust relationship from the parties’ perspectives. A qualitative research methodology was used to identify five key factors explaining why parties trust their mediator: degree of mastery over the process, explanation of the process, warmth and consideration, chemistry with...

Many elections specialists take seriously V.O.Key’s hypothesis (1966) that much voting is retrospective: citizens reward good performance by becoming more likely to vote for the incumbent and punish bad performance by becoming less likely. Earlier (Bendor, Siegel, and Kumar 2005) we formalized Key’s verbal theory. Our model shows that people endogenously develop partisan voting tendencies, even...