The Landscape of Lawmaking

30 August 2024, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed at the time of posting.

Abstract

Lawmaking is not about enacting bills. It is about enacting policies. We portray bills as necessary vehicles for the advancement of policy ideas. To survive, a policy must be incorporated into a successful bill. But bills and policies are not the same thing. Central to our argument is the legislative hitchhiker – a policy proposal first proposed in one bill that is subsequently incorporated into another bill. Drawing on text as data methods, we demonstrate the value and feasibility of viewing lawmaking from a policy progress rather than bill progress perspective.

Keywords

Text as Data
Legislative Studies
Congress

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