Imperial Governance and the Growth of Legislative Power in America
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232085 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sean Gailmard (0000-0002-1742-5879, University of California, Berkeley, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 912-925 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12601 |
| OpenAlex | W3164933164 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 31 |
The power of assemblies in the British new world grew far beyond the bounds intended at their creation. Although the British crown instructed royal governors to use legal powers to restrain assemblies, they were unsuccessful. I develop a formal model to account for this. In this model colonial assemblies can challenge the agenda setting powers of colonial governors. “Strong” governors withstand these challenges easily; “weak” ones prefer to capitulate. The crown wishes to retain only strong governors; however, it observes only policy outcomes but not the resolution of challenges to the governor's agenda power. In equilibrium, the crown cannot distinguish between a strong governor holding agenda power against a tough assembly, and a weak governor conceding agenda power to a moderate one. Weak governors therefore avoid conflict with the assembly, yet conceal their weakness from the crown. But the assembly observes the governor's concessions, and challenges weak governors even more in the future. This creates a dynamic path of growing assembly power. The model provides a strategic logic of endogenous institutional change, and one of the most important institutional developments in American history: the growth of legislative power
Colonialism · Corporate governance · Economics · Elite · Governor · Law and economics · Legislature · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Engineering · Law · Public Administration
The economy of British America, 1607-1789
The Evolution of American Legislatures
States of Credit
The Transformation of the U.S. Senate
Managerial Incentive Problems
Reversal of Fortune
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Resolve in International Politics
Of Rule and Revenue
Imperial Politics, English Law, and the Strategic Foundations of Constitutional Review in America
Controversies between Royal Governors and their Assemblies in the Northern American Colonies
L’éruption patriote
Political resource allocation, controlled agendas, and the status quo
The Quest for Power
Constitutions and Commitment
Peripheries and Center
The Provincial Governor in the English Colonies of North America
Emergence of Legislative Institutions
The history of government from the earliest times
The Politics of Blame
The Declining Talent Pool of Government
History Lessons
A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change
Representative Government in Evolution
Building a New Imperial State
Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes
The Origins of American Politics
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2024 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |