Executive compliance with parliamentary powers under authoritarianism: Evidence from Jordan

Abstract

When are executives in authoritarian regimes more likely to comply with formal legislative powers? Building from theories of authoritarian power-sharing, we argue that executives will be more likely to respect legislative prerogatives when protests or elite organization increase the ability of legislators to undermine the executive's political position. We evaluate this argument by analyzing novel protest and legislative data in Jordan between 2010 and 2015. In line with our expectations, we find that parliamentary queries were more likely to receive the required response from the cabinet during months of higher protest activity and when they were submitted by MPs from Jordan's only well-organized opposition bloc in the parliament. This study extends the burgeoning scholarship on authoritarian legislatures by contributing to understanding of executive-legislative interactions under autocracy and providing new insights into the conditions under which these legislatures are more likely to influence decision-making processes.