36
resolutions are still around the 30% in their probabilities of passage. Communications, as
it Ccin be seen, have a substantively higher rate; nevertheless, they still are a small part of
the sample. Considering that chances of getting a bill passed are not high overall; the
question of why a legislator should submit these pieces becomes crucial. It has been
stated that targeted pieces of legislation are likely to improve politicians' reputations
and facilitate their career goals. But what happens if these politicians cannot
systematically show any result to their constituents?
Table 3.3: Rate of Passage of Legislation -1983-2007
By Kind of Bill
|
Type of Bill |
Passed |
Not Passed |
Total |
|
Executive Decrees |
869 |
1,528 |
2,397 |
|
36.25 |
63.75 |
100 | |
|
National Laws_____ |
3,049 |
43,916 |
46,965 |
|
6.49 |
93.51 |
100 | |
|
Communications |
13,089 |
7,752 |
20,841 |
|
62.8 |
37.2 |
100 | |
|
Declarations________ |
17,818 |
31,376 |
49,194 |
|
36.22 |
63.78 |
100 | |
|
Resolutions________ |
17,115 |
40,750 |
57,865 |
|
29.58 |
70.42 |
100 | |
|
"Non-Public Bills" |
48,022 |
79,878 |
127,900 |
|
37.55 |
62.45 |
100 | |
|
Total ____________ |
51,940 |
125,322 |
177,262 |
|
29.3 |
70.7 |
100 |
Source: Official Statistics of the Camara the Diputados
My intuition is that submission of that legislation does not necessarily imply an
expectation of passage. Since no real barriers to the submission of bills do exist20,
inflating the number of submitted bills give legislators some capital to show to their
20 See Doring (1995) for an excellent review of the many restrictions for the introduction of private bills
worldwide.