Synonyms
Definition
Legislative power is the capacity of a legislative chamber or actors within that chamber to thwart, encourage, or compel actions by others.
Introduction
Power is a difficult concept to define and possibly even harder to measure. This dilemma has been extensively documented (March 1966). But power is essential to the work of a legislature. So the difficult task of defining and measuring does not absolve us from the need to discuss legislative power. In this discussion, we explore first the nature of legislative power within the chamber, including its distribution among legislators and the resources that give rise to individual legislators’ power. Then we address the external uses of legislative power, first to check the executive branch and then more broadly in a network of actors including legislators, other government actors, interest groups, and voters.
The Nature of Legislative Power
Power in general comes in two overarching...
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References
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Sarbaugh-Thompson, M. (2016). Legislative Power. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2528-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2528-1
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
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