Veto players are institutions with power to block policy change

Evidence

Scholars who compare policymaking institutions across countries have developed the concept of “veto players” to describe one dimension of structural bias toward policy stasis. A veto player refers to an institution or actor in the policymaking system with the power to get in the way of policy change . — Nathan Kelly and Jana Morgan, How US Policymaking Institutions…, 65

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the core analytic term ‘veto player’ used throughout comparative institutional analysis.
• XREF: Connects to Tsebelis’s veto player theory and broader comparative politics literature on gridlock. — connects to: U.S. political institutions structurally hinder majority-driven policy change. — Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics:…, 106; Senatorial courtesy gives home-state senators effective veto power over district court appointments — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 467