The Politics of Obstruction: Holds in the U.S. Senate
نویسندگان
چکیده
A defining feature of the modern U.S. Senate is obstruction. Almost all pieces of legislation considered in the Senate are affected either directly or indirectly by obstruction. Obstruction takes many forms in the modern Senate, but one of the most prevalent, yet least studied is the hold. Using a newly created dataset on Republican Senate holds from the 99th through 104th Congresses we cast light on hold practices in this era for the first time. We use these data to develop and test expectations regarding who places holds and the success of holds in defeating legislation. Our results suggest that a variety of factors including timing, party status, and a senator’s voting record affect both the prevalence of holds and their success in blocking legislation in the Senate.
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