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Legislative Process and the Mirroring Principle

In: Handbook of New Institutional Economics

Author

Listed:
  • Mathew D. McCubbins

    (University of California)

Abstract

At the center of all democratic governments are legislatures. In all legislatures, members compete for access to a variety of valuable resources, such as floor time and committee or cabinet positions. The internal distribution of these resources fundamentally shapes the legislative process, and by extension, determines which individuals or coalitions can influence legislative outcomes. In this paper, I argue that, within a given legislature, the distribution of legislative influence tends to mirror the external checks and balances in the polity as a whole. In other words, as Lijphart (1984) has argued, just as polities with little separation of purpose (i.e., with limited diversity of interests and factions) tend to have more unitary governmental institutions than do polities with greater separation of purpose (which tend toward institutions that create separation of powers), so too will internal legislative institutions reflect the separations of purpose and power within a polity. This law of organization is referred to as the mirroring principle.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathew D. McCubbins, 2008. "Legislative Process and the Mirroring Principle," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 6, pages 123-147, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-540-69305-5_7
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-69305-5_7
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