How presidents legislate: agenda control and policy success in Costa Rica

Presidents around the world have access to a wide range of legislative powers—veto power, decree power, and exclusive bill introduction powers. However, an important but often overlooked power is the ability to control the legislative agenda during extraordinary sessions where the president decides which bills the legislature will consider. In this paper, the Author examines whether the president’s ability to set the legislative agenda increases the probability that his or her bills become law - detailing the case of Costa Rica, where agenda control is one of the few legislative powers available to the president.

The paper provides the following findings:

• Costa Rican presidents have agenda-control power over the policymaking process via their ability to invoke extraordinary legislative sessions and specify which bills the assembly should focus on during the special session
  
• In Costa Rica, those in the president’s party have a vested interest in rallying behind the president to secure future political appointments and continue their political careers and those not in the president’s party, supporting the president’s priorities is still important because it provides leverage for legislators to secure presidential support for their initiatives
  
• The president may have strong support from legislators in his political party, which will help bills make their way through the policymaking process. In addition he can control the timing of bill introduction.

The paper provides the following conclusions

• By placing bills on the agenda in extraordinary sessions, the president can force the legislature to examine his bills and increase their chances of passage before the end of the legislature’s and president’s term in office
  
• In addition greater copartisan support in the legislature and higher presidential popularity increase the likelihood that the president will pass his policy agenda while the timing of bill sponsorship can help and hurt policy passage
  
• The ability to set the legislative agenda gives presidents an important advantage in getting their policy agendas passed.