A spatial theory of the comparative consequences of unified and divided government clarifies the relationship between institutions, partisanship and gridlock. Under formally specified conditions, executive and legislative institutions are shown to inhibit but not prohibit the convergence of public policies to those most preferred by the legislative median voter. Extensions illustrate the ...... hiện toàn bộ
In any society characterized by diversity and specialization, each citizen - the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker - is a special interest on some dimensions of public policy and a member of the general public on many other dimensions. Each citizen enjoys being at the receiving end of special interest handouts even at the expense of inefficiencies imposed on general public. But re...... hiện toàn bộ
A common mental model sees lobbies pushing policy in a certain direction from the status quo with a certain force, the outcome being a function of how hard lobbies push and in what direction, according to the `parallelogram of political forces' at work. When this model is formalized and lobbies are seen as playing a game in which they are attempting to maximize their payoffs, net of lobby...... hiện toàn bộ