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The Dynamics of Legislative Gridlock, 1947–96

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  • Binder, Sarah A.

Abstract

David Mayhew's Divided We Govern(1991) sparked an industry of scholars who alternately challenge or confirm the work on theoretical and empirical grounds. Still, we lack a definitive account of the proportions and causes of legislative gridlock. I revisit the effects of elections and institutions on policy outcomes to propose an alternative theory of gridlock: The distribution of policy preferences within the parties, between the two chambers, and across Congress more broadly is central to explaining the dynamics of gridlock. To test the model, I construct a measure that assesses legislative output in proportion to the policy agenda. Using newspaper editorials to identify every salient legislative issue between 1947 and 1996, I generate Congress-by-Congress gridlock scores and use them to test competing explanations. The results suggest that intrabranch conflict—perhaps more than interbranch rivalry—is critical in shaping deadlock in American politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Binder, Sarah A., 1999. "The Dynamics of Legislative Gridlock, 1947–96," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(3), pages 519-533, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:93:y:1999:i:03:p:519-533_21
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    Cited by:

    1. Gersbach, Hans & Tejada, Oriol & Muller, Philippe, 2016. "The Effects of Higher Re-election Hurdles and Costs of Policy Change on Political Polarization," CEPR Discussion Papers 11375, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Schelker, Mark, 2018. "Lame ducks and divided government: How voters control the unaccountable," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 131-144.
    3. Krehbiel, Keith & Peskowitz, Zachary, 2012. "Legislative Organization and Ideal-Point Bias," Research Papers 2124, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    4. Jonathan B Slapin, 2014. "Measurement, model testing, and legislative influence in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 15(1), pages 24-42, March.
    5. Erasmus Kersting & Christopher Kilby, 2021. "Do domestic politics shape U.S. influence in the World Bank?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 29-58, January.
    6. Andreas Bernecker, 2015. "Divided Government and the Adoption of Economic Reforms," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(04), pages 47-52, January.
    7. Salvatore Barbaro, 2021. "A social-choice perspective on authoritarianism and political polarization," Working Papers 2108, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    8. Michael M. Bechtel & Dirk Leuffen, 2010. "Forecasting European Union politics: Real-time forecasts in political time series analysis," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(2), pages 309-327, June.
    9. Gersbach, Hans & Muller, Philippe & Tejada, Oriol, 2019. "Costs of change and political polarization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. Gustavo Adolfo Caballero Orozco, 2016. "Luck and Effort: Learning about Income from Friends and Neighbors," 2016 Papers pca706, Job Market Papers.
    11. Hans Gersbach & Fikri Pitsuwan & Giovanni Valvassori Bolgè, 2024. "Volatility and Resilience of Democratic Public-Good Provision," CESifo Working Paper Series 11004, CESifo.
    12. Jason Webb Yackee & Susan Webb Yackee, 2009. "Divided government and US federal rulemaking," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 3(2), pages 128-144, June.
    13. Myunghoon Kang, 2017. "Representation, sophisticated voting, and the size of the gridlock region," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 29(4), pages 623-646, October.
    14. Chris Den Hartog & Nathan Monroe, 2015. "The Jeffords switch and legislator rolls in the U.S. Senate," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 25-43, October.
    15. Christopher S. Kelley & Bryan W. Marshall, 2010. "Going it Alone: The Politics of Signing Statements from Reagan to Bush II," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 168-187, March.
    16. Bernecker, Andreas, 2016. "Divided we reform? Evidence from US welfare policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 24-38.
    17. De Clercq, Dirk & Meuleman, Miguel & Wright, Mike, 2012. "A cross-country investigation of micro-angel investment activity: The roles of new business opportunities and institutions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 117-129.
    18. repec:ces:ifodic:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:19149990 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. J. Mitchell Pickerill & Cynthia J. Bowling, 2014. "Polarized Parties, Politics, and Policies: Fragmented Federalism in 2013–2014," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 369-398.
    20. Luca Repetto & Maximiliano Sosa Andrés, 2022. "Divided Government and Polarization: Regression-Discontinuity Evidence from US States," CESifo Working Paper Series 9823, CESifo.
    21. Dimiter Toshkov, 2011. "Public opinion and policy output in the European Union: A lost relationship," European Union Politics, , vol. 12(2), pages 169-191, June.
    22. Kira Killermann, 2016. "Loose Ties or Strong Bonds? The Effect of a Commissioner's Nationality and Partisanship on Voting in the Council," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 1367-1383, November.
    23. Ian Ostrander & Joel Sievert, 2020. "Presidential Communication During the Legislative Process," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(3), pages 1165-1182, May.
    24. Chengguang Li & Rodrigo Isidor & Luis Alfonso Dau & Rudy Kabst, 2018. "The More the Merrier? Immigrant Share and Entrepreneurial Activities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 698-733, September.
    25. Andreas Bernecker, 2015. "Divided Government and the Adoption of Economic Reforms," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(4), pages 47-52, 01.

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