Institutional Veto Players

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Institutional Veto Players

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Key Concepts

• Federalism: Division of powers between central and regional governments.

• Bicameralism: Legislature consists of two chambers.

• Constitutionalism: Governance according to rule of law through a constitution.

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Federalism

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Distinction in Federalism

• Federalism in Structure: Refers to the constitutional arrangement of power.

• Federalism in Practice: Refers to how power is decentralized in reality.

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Structural Components of Federalism

1. Geopolitical Division: Differentiation of territories.

2. Independence: Each level has autonomy.

3. Direct Governance: Governmental authority direct from each level.

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Federal vs. Unitary States

• Federal State: Power is constitutionally divided allowing independent authority in specific policy domains (e.g., United States, Brazil).

• Unitary State: Central authority without constitutional division of powers.

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Variation in Federalism

• Congruent Federalism: Territorial units share similar demographic characteristics.

• Incongruent Federalism: Demographic differences exist among territorial units.

• Example: United States and Brazil exhibit congruent federalism.

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Devolution vs. Federalism

• Devolution: Unitary states grant temporary powers to subnational governments without constitutional rights to powers.

• Example: India with constitutional articles allowing federal government to alter state boundaries.

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Example of Devolution

• India: National legislature has power to change state boundaries and appoint governors during emergencies.

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Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Federalism

• Symmetric Federalism: All units have equal powers.

• Asymmetric Federalism: Some units have more power than others.

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Federalism and Centralization

• Whether a state is federal or unitary is a constitutional question.

• Decentralization indicates where actual policymaking takes place.

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Decentralization

• Definition: Distribution of strengthening policymaking power to regional governments.

• Tax revenue share indicates decentralization.

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Tax Revenue Centralization

• Greater share of tax revenue going to central government indicates less decentralization.

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Revenue Centralization Chart

• Comparative analysis of various countries' central government share of tax revenue; identifies trends between unitary and federal systems.

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Two Dimensions of Federalism

• Holding-Together Federalism: Central government decentralizes to mitigate secessionist pressures.

• Coming-Together Federalism: Voluntary pooling of sovereignty among previously sovereign polities.

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Advantages of Federalism

1. Aligns policy closely with citizen preferences.

2. Enhances government accountability.

3. Fosters state competition for good governance.

4. Allows for policy experimentation.

5. Creates checks and balances.

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Disadvantages of Federalism

1. Leads to policy duplication and contradictions.

2. Heightens collective action problems.

3. Downward harmonization in competitive states.

4. Amplifies existing inequalities.

5. Facilitates blame shifting, reducing accountability.

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Bicameralism Introduction

• Unicameral: Single assembly legislature.

• Bicameral: Two chambers; 40% of countries use this model.

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Bicameral Systems

• Congruent Bicameralism: Similar composition in both chambers.

• Incongruent Bicameralism: Different compositions.

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Methods of Upper House Selection

1. Heredity

2. Appointment

3. Indirect elections

4. Direct elections

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Role of Legislative Chambers

• Lower Chamber: Represents all citizens equally.

• Upper Chamber: Often represents geographic subnational units, especially in federations.

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Malapportionment Issue

• Definition: Unequal political representation as constituencies vary in population.

• Impacts voting power and electoral fairness.

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Malapportionment Statistics

• Data indicates levels of malapportionment in upper chambers; examples include U.S. and Switzerland with high malapportionment.

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Bicameral Symmetry

• Symmetric Bicameralism: Equal powers between chambers.

• Asymmetric Bicameralism: Unequal powers in legislative authority.

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Two Dimensions of Bicameralism

• Quadrant analysis illustrates strength of bicameralism and political compositions across various countries.

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Historical Context of Bicameralism

• Rooted in mixed government concept, advocating diverse representation.

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Emergence of Republicanism

• Shift towards representing the populace instead of social classes in governance.

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Role of Bicameralism in Federal States

• Lower chamber = popular will; Upper chamber = territorial representation.

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Upper Chamber Characteristics in Unitary States

• Often lacking power and informed by appointed members for wisdom and experience.

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Arguments for Bicameralism

1. Protects federal interests and preferences.

2. Enhances the quality of legislation in unitary states.

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Constitutionalism Defined

• Constitutionalism: Commitment to rule of law and governance per constitutional provisions.

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Role of Constitution

• Establishes state authority structures, powers, duties, and rights.

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Types of Constitutions

• Codified: Written in single document.

• Uncodified: Multiple documents, can be written or unwritten.

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Constitution Classification

• Entrenched: Requires special procedures for amendment.

• Unentrenched: Can be modified easily.

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Ideal Types of Constitutions

1. Legislative Supremacy: No constitutional review.

2. Higher Law Constitution: Involves constitutional review and a bill of rights.

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Constitutional Review Explained

• Authority to invalidate conflicting laws/decisions.

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Constitutional Courts

• Special tribunals for constitutional review; distinct from regular judiciary.

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New Constitutionalism Trend

• Global shift towards higher law constitutions.

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Variations in Constitutional Justice

• Differences in review types, timing, and jurisdiction among countries.

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Review Types

• Abstract Review: No legal case needed; legislation evaluated separately.

• Concrete Review: Legislation assessed with regard to specific cases.

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Review Timing

• A Priori: Before enacting laws.

• A Posteriori: After laws are enacted.

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Jurisdiction of Review

• Centralized: One court conducts review.

• Decentralized: Multiple courts interpret the constitution.

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Veto Player Theory Overview

• Conceptualizes political institutions based on configuration of veto players.

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Veto Players Defined

• Individuals/collective actors needed for changing the political status quo.

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Types of Veto Players

• Institutional Veto Players: Defined by the constitution.

• Partisan Veto Players: Defined by political dynamics.

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Institutions as Veto Players

• Federalism, bicameralism, and constitutionalism create barriers to altering political status quo.

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Effects of Veto Player Configuration

1. Greater policy stability.

2. Smaller policy shifts.

3. Less variation in size of policy shifts.

4. Weaker agenda-setting power.

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Reminder on Key Concepts

• Indifference Curve: Represents preference consistency among alternatives.

• Winset of Status Quo: Alternatives preferred over the status quo by veto players.

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Application of Veto Player Theory

• Example illustrated with variations in policy outcomes based on veto player configurations.

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Impact of Winset Size

• Small winset = high policy stability; Large winset = potential for significant policy shifts.

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Variance in Policy Shifts

• Small winset = consistent small policy shifts; Large winset = variety in policy shift sizes.

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Agenda-Setting and Winset

• Small winset limits the agenda-setting power; larger winset allows more significant shifts.

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Effects of Veto Players on Winset

• Increasing veto players often leads to smaller winset or none at all.

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Visualization of Veto Player Impact

• Diagrams illustrating the relationship between number of veto players and winset size:

  • Display of winsets with two vs. three veto players.

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Ideological Distance and Winset

• Similar vs. dissimilar ideological positions influence the size of the winset significantly.

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Joint Determinants of Winset Size

• Winset size is influenced by both the number of veto players and the ideological distance among them.

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Reevaluation of Institutions

• Federalism, bicameralism, constitutionalism can be reexamined through the lens of veto player theory.

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Implications of High Veto Player Count

• Characterized by:

  • Stability in policy.

  • Smaller and less variable policy shifts.

  • Weak agenda-setting capabilities.

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Consequences of Stability

• In parliamentary systems: Encourages instability.

• In presidential systems: May lead to broader regime instability.