Deciding Decision Processes in Post-World War II International Organizations.

The Rational Design Project, as described by Koremenos, Lipson, and Snidal (2000), suggest that progress can be made in explaining the causal evolution of international institutions. One of the areas of empirical interest to the project is the decision-making processes states agree to adopt in the institutions they collectively create (centralization). Building on cases of international organization design and voting system theories (notable the works of Rae, Buchanan, Tullock, and Riker), this paper presents a mathematical analysis of the voting majorities and weighting systems of a large sample of international organizations created after World War 2. Particular attention will be paid to how the method of analysis influences such empirical analyses, as well as question the notion of sovereign equality as a norm of institutional design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]