EXPLAINING GOVERNMENT PRODUCTIVITY

This article revises our understanding of the conditions under which t he federal government produces important legislation. I reevaluate and only mildly vindicate Mayhew's findings about the effect public opini on has on the productivity of the federal government. By revealing the size of the nation's debt to be an important determinant of productiv ity, however, I suggest that Mayhew's work overlooked the relationship between fiscal conditions and policy output. I also examine empirical ly the claims of Krehbiel's theoretical work about gridlock.