INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DEMOCRACY

Democracy even if it is a system of self-government, rests on institut ional commitments. An institutional commitment is a manipulation throu gh rules of one's set of alternatives. I analyze the nature of institu tional commitments in general and the role they play in a democracy. A fter drawing a distinction between committing to a rule and being comm itted by what a role establishes, three conclusions emerge: a) that re presentation is a functional commitment, b) that constitutions are com mitments to rules, and c) that judicial review is not a commitment, bu t makes credible the commitments embodied in representation and consti tutions.