Abstract:
Economists models of trade-policy determination generally assume unitary government. We offer a congressional model. Under assumptions guaranteeing a median-voter outcome under a unitary model, we find a wide range of possible outcomes: Any policy from the 25th to the 75th percentile voter’s optimum can emerge in equilibrium, depending on how voters are divided up into voting districts. The equilibrium policy is the optimum of the median voter of the median district. Protection is most likely if import-competing interests are not too geographically concentrated or too disperse. We discuss implications for the American electoral college system, and for empirical work.