Legislative Error and the “Politics of Haste
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6099360 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Lewallen (0000-0002-2772-1807, The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author), Jonathan Lewallen |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 239-243 |
| Publication date | 2016-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1049096516000135 |
| OpenAlex | W2339725332 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 5 |
Legislative error is an important and understudied element of the policy process. Even simple clerical mistakes—if unnoticed before enactment—can lead to ambiguity about a law’s meaning, spark political battles concerning rulemaking and implementation, and involve the courts in statutory interpretation. Understanding how and why error occurs can help us better understand how political institutions are intertwined in the design, enactment, and implementation of public policy. This article analyzes the sources of legislative error using data on corrected legislation in the US Senate from 1981 to 2012. The author finds that Senate drafting error is related to unified control of Congress and new majority parties, inexperienced committee members, and committee workload. In addition to bringing in different perspectives and preferences, elections can affect a legislature’s ability to draft clear, error-free statutes
Ambiguity · Law and economics · Legislation · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Rulemaking · Sociology · Statute · Statutory interpretation · Statutory law · Computer Science · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Legal Language and Interpretation · Public Administration
| Citations per year | 0.29 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2022 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |