ABSTRACT
Political science demands that we draw lessons from these earlier events, treating them as data to test theories of how political processes work. This book defines gridlock and explains why gridlock has been so prevalent over the past thirty years, despite the changing cast of characters in the White House and on Capitol Hill. By narrowly focusing on preferences, supermajority institutions, and the status quo of present policies, the chapter explores the role of the parties, leadership, committee decisions, the press, and special interests in the day-to-day maneuvering that makes up the US policy process. The chapter focuses on legislator preferences and uses median voter and supermajority institutional analyses to show where gridlock comes from, given the new budget-centered policy regime. When "deadlock" or "gridlock" has been broken, it is largely because an election has dramatically shifted the distribution of preferences in Congress.
