veto players

Question 1

veto player (individual or collective)

Answer 1

actors whose agreement is necessary to change the status quo (current policy)

Question 2

change in the status quo requires…?

Answer 2

unanimous decision of all veto players

Question 3

a player (i) is a veto player if…?

Answer 3

N (number of players in political game) - i is a losing coalition
OR
if all winning coalitions include i

Question 4

2 types of veto players

Answer 4

1. institutional
2. partisan

Question 5

institutional veto players

Answer 5

formally defined by the law
example: legislation to be approved by the president, the house & the senate (1 individual, 2 collective)

Question 6

partisan veto players

Answer 6

generated by the political game
example: majority party, parties in a coalition

Question 7

circular indifference curves

Answer 7

individual is indifferent between all the alternatives in a given radius of her ideal point

Question 8

assumption of circular indifference curves

Answer 8

same intensity of preferences in each issue (care about tax rates as much as healthcare)

Question 9

winset of the status quo

Answer 9

the set of policies that can beat the status quo in a vote

Question 10

relationship between veto player and w(sq)?

Answer 10

w(sq) is the set of alternatives closer to their ideal point than sq

Question 11

relationship between w(sq) and multiple veto players?

Answer 11

w(sq) is the intersection of the indifference curves of all of them

Question 12

relationship between more veto players and size of w(sq)

Answer 12

negative; all veto players have to agree on a new policy to replace sq

Question 13

stricter voting rules…?

Answer 13

causes a larger number of veto players

Question 14

stricter voting rules TEND to…?

Answer 14

reduce size of the w(sq)

Question 15

size of w(sq) ALWAYS…?

Answer 15

DECREASES or STAYS THE SAME with addition of a new veto player (never expands)

Question 16

unanimity core

Answer 16

the set of policies that cannot be defeated if decisions are taken by unanimity

Question 17

what does unanimity core depend on?

Answer 17

location of the veto players’ ideal points

Question 18

how does adding more veto players affects the unanimity core?

Answer 18

tends to EXPAND the unanimity core

Question 19

policy stability

Answer 19

difficulty of a system in changing the status quo; probability of policy change

Question 20

a bigger w(sq) indicates…?

Answer 20

less stable system (many policies that can beat the sq)

Question 21

a bigger unanimity core indicates…?

Answer 21

more stable system (there are more points that cannot be changed)

Question 22

how does the addition of a new veto player tend to affect policy stability?

Answer 22

either INCREASES stability or leaves the situation UNCHANGED, but never reduces stability

Question 23

the larger the number of veto players…?

Answer 23

the more stable the system will be

Question 24

the bigger the distance between the veto players…?

Answer 24

the more stable the system (for a given SQ)

Question 25

starting from a given sq, if one of the veto players moves to a more distant/extreme policy position, it causes…? (2)

Answer 25

1. smaller w(sq)
2. bigger unanimity core