TY - JOUR
T1 - Who Controls the Agenda Controls the Legislature
AU - Ali, S. Nageeb
AU - Bernheim, B. Douglas
AU - Bloedel, Alexander W.
AU - Battilana, Silvia Console
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Economic Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - We model legislative decision-making with an agenda setter who can propose policies sequentially, tailoring each proposal to the status quo that prevails after prior votes. Voters are sophisticated, and the agenda setter cannot commit to future proposals. Nevertheless, the agenda setter obtains her favorite outcome in every equilibrium regardless of the initial default policy. Central to our results is a new condition on preferences, manipulability, that holds in rich policy spaces, including spatial settings and distribution problems. Our findings therefore establish that, despite the sophistication of voters and the absence of commitment power, the agenda setter is effectively a dictator.
AB - We model legislative decision-making with an agenda setter who can propose policies sequentially, tailoring each proposal to the status quo that prevails after prior votes. Voters are sophisticated, and the agenda setter cannot commit to future proposals. Nevertheless, the agenda setter obtains her favorite outcome in every equilibrium regardless of the initial default policy. Central to our results is a new condition on preferences, manipulability, that holds in rich policy spaces, including spatial settings and distribution problems. Our findings therefore establish that, despite the sophistication of voters and the absence of commitment power, the agenda setter is effectively a dictator.
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U2 - 10.1257/aer.20221578
DO - 10.1257/aer.20221578
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85175647915
SN - 0002-8282
VL - 113
SP - 3090
EP - 3128
JO - American Economic Review
JF - American Economic Review
IS - 11
ER -