Question

The House of Representatives is considering two linked pieces of legislation: A and B. The Senate will not pass either A or B by itself, but it will pass them together. Two hundred representatives weakly support A and strongly oppose B. Two hundred weakly support B and strongly oppose A. The remaining 35 representatives weakly support both bills. The Speaker of the House is determining weather or not to combine them together (so that representatives can only vote for both A and B together), so submit them to the house as separate.

(a) What outcome is expected if the bills are combined?

(b) What outcome is expected if the bills are separated?

(c) What outcome is socially optimal if the preferences of the representatives represent the preferences of society?

(d) Explain how this relates to preference intensity.

Answer 1

a) Four hundred representatives oppose one of the bills strongly and support the other only weakly, while 35 support both bills; if they are combined, they would fail by a vote of 400–35.

b) Each bill has 235 supporters and 200 opponents; if kept separate they will both pass.

c) Combining the bills, forcing representatives to weigh the issues against each other, provides more information about which preference they have more intensely

d) Because most of them support one and oppose the other, a vote on the combined bill reveals which preference is stronger.