The Calculus of Dissent: Constitutional Completion and Public Goods

Starting from the two-stage model underlying constitutional political economy, this work suggests the introduction of a third stage with the aim of solving the problems, which under certain conditions arise in public goods market. These problems may be due to: a) a centralized institutional framework, and b) the impossibility to reach an agreement following the majority rule. The work addresses a completely neglected issue using a new approach centered around the concept of residuum of consent vis à vis the emergence of dissent and concludes that the contractarian logic may survive only by resorting consensually to a lottery which assures a random choice.