Introduction: Parliamentary democracy and the chain of delegation

The purpose of the essays collected in this issue is to illuminate thinking about political constitutions & parliamentary democracy. The authors use the idea of agency theory -- a new body of scholarship focusing on neoinstitutional economics & political science -- in order to clarify the entire chain of democratic delegation. The first paper introduces a new conception of parliamentary democracy characterized by what the author has termed the singularity principle. The next paper offers an introduction to agency relationships & delegation in present-day democracies. Other topics include the role of political parties, the link between voters & parliamentarians, parliamentary oversight, delegation complications that exist in the European Union, & problems that stem from ministers delegating to civil servants. 17 References. K. A. Larsen