ABSTRACT
The first drafts of this chapter were prepared and discussed in the weeks immediately prior to the US Presidential election, held on 7 November 2000. The text was presented as a conference piece on 8 November as the election count was being made, before the fascinating if somewhat depressing saga of the Florida recount began and before the general public had ever heard of 'hanging charts'. At that time, the material here was offered as a series of suggested answers to questions of what if?' - what if the outcome was a Republican presidential victory, what if it was a Democratic win, and what if there was a mixed result between the executive and legislative branches, with a Republican president but a Democratic majority in the Senate and/or House of Representatives or vice versa?
