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AP MicroeconomicsGame Theory & Information

Logrolling

Logrolling is vote trading in which legislators swap support across bills so each can pass a measure they care intensely about.

Because simple majority voting ignores the intensity of preferences, legislators trade votes: 'I'll back your project if you back mine.' Explicit logrolling is direct vote-swapping, while implicit logrolling bundles many provisions into one bill (an omnibus). It can improve outcomes by letting intensity be expressed, but it often funds special-interest projects whose total cost exceeds their benefit, a classic public-choice inefficiency.

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