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Abstract: Exchange within the political marketplace, just like the marketplace for goods and services, takes place within an institutional structure that lowers transaction costs to facilitate political exchange. One difference is that whereas institutional constraints in markets for goods and services typically are enforced by a third party – government – institutional constraints in the political marketplace are enforced by those who are constrained by them. This chapter discusses a variety of political institutions, and explains why those institutions, in general, are designed to enable the political elite to maintain their power against potential challengers. Recognizing the way that political institutions are designed to protect the power of the incumbent elite, the chapter concludes that the most important dimension of political competition is the competition between elites and challengers, not competition among parties.