Legislative hostage-taking

Giovanni Andreottola and Barton E. Lee

European Economic Review, 2025, vol. 180, issue C

Abstract: Legislative hostage-taking — whereby the minority party refuses to pass a bipartisan policy unless another divisive or contentious policy also passes — has become a frequent occurrence, especially in American politics. We develop a dynamic model of legislative bargaining and electoral politics to provide insights into why hostage-taking occurs, which policies are held hostage, and which policies are demanded as ransom. Our key insight is that (credible) hostage-taking can only occur if the divisive policy benefits the voter. Furthermore, when hostage-taking occurs, it benefits the voter. However, these benefits are potentially tempered if parties can engage in policy design. In particular, hostage-taking can generate a perverse incentive for the majority party to engage in money burning to shield themself from the minority party’s hostage-taking.

Keywords: Legislative hostage-taking; Bargaining; Policy bundling; Omnibus legislating; Gridlock (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 P0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:180:y:2025:i:c:s0014292125002338

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105183

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