ABSTRACT
At stake are the relative powers of the executive and legislative branches of the government in this tug of war over how much independence federal bureaucrats should have. You will play as either a government agency or a congressional committee tasked with monitoring an agency. These institutions want different things and try to outdo each other in a principal–agent interaction that results in lots of opportunities for both conflict and compromise. The negotiated outcomes that agencies and committees reach yield political capital, which can in turn be spent strategically to improve one’s standing in the public’s eye and move players that much closer to victory.
