Journal Articles

Navigating the Legislative Divide: Polarization, Presidents, and Policymaking in the United States

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Polarization hallmarks contemporary Washington's political landscape. While an increasing literature examines the
factors propelling this schism, theoretical work investigating its consequences has just begun.
Building from a simple bargaining model in which an exogenous actor (e.g. the president) strategically allocates
scarce `political capital' to induce changes in legislators' preferences, we examine how varying the chamber's preference distribution affects the policies that result. Instead of miring presidents' preferred policies in gridlock, the model shows that ideological polarization — in the form of a bimodal distribution — can actually enable a president to pass policies closer to his ideal than would have been possible under greater ideological homogeneity.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Journal of Theoretical Politics

Call Number

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Publisher

California : Sage Publications., 2008

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0951-6298

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 20, No. 2, April 2008. Page 201-220

Subject(s)

Congress
polarization
presidency
Navigating the Legislative Divide

Specific Detail Info

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