Executive Vetoes: Testing Presidency versus President-Centered Perspectives of Presidential Behavior.

Abstract

In this article we investigate and compare the theoretical perspectives of presidency-centered versus president-centered accounts of executive veto use—a form of institutional conflict between the executive and legislative branches. We argue that constitutional arrangements between Congress and the executive branch, as well as enduring institutional relationships, better explain this form of institutional conflict than differences between specific presidential admin istrations. Using a disaggregated monthly analysis of presidential vetoes from 1954 to 1992, we compare a series of event count models. We found considerable evidence that presidential vetoes result largely from institutional arrangements and cycles that are beyond the control of individual administrations. In addition, we found little consistent evidence that differences between specific presidents account for executive reliance on the veto when taking institutional relationships into account. Consequently, we provide additional support for the presidency-centered theoretical perspective of executive behavior.