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A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Krehbiel develops a simple, spatial model of lawmaking in the U.S. Congress. He argues that focusing on the policy positions of “pivotal” voters such as the person crucial to ending a filibuster or overriding a presidential veto, instead of divided government, is the proper way to study the causes and consequences of legislative gridlock.
Who is pivotal in U.S. lawmaking? This is a difficult question insofar as “the United States has the most intricate lawmaking system in the world.” However, based on the hope that even a simple theoretical answer to a difficult question is better than no answer at all, this chapter introduces a theory of pivotal politics that is unabashedly elementary by contemporary modeling standards. The theory not only answers the question of who is pivotal in U.S. lawmaking but also generates a sizable set of empirical implications. After a brief overview of the general properties of good theories – assumptions, results, and interpretations – this chapter turns to their specific manifestations in the pivotal politics theory.
ASSUMPTIONS
Assumptions of the theory cover preferences, players, policies, procedures, and behavior. These can be addressed in varying degrees of mathematical precision and generality. Here I opt for a relatively informal and example-based exposition.
Policy Space
Collective choice occurs via voting over proposals or policies that can be arranged on a line. That is, the policy space is unidimensional.
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