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Peer-Reviewed Article

The Politics of the Slippery Slope

Giri Parameswaran, Gabriel Sekeres, and Haya Goldblatt. Journal of Politics 87(2): 709-723, 2025.

Paper Appendix DOI

Abstract

Slippery slope arguments, the idea that otherwise beneficial reforms should be rejected lest they beget further undesirable ones, are ubiquitous in political discourse. We provide a learning-based policy-feedback mechanism to explain why slippery slope dynamics arise. Additionally, we provide conditions under which, in equilibrium, sophisticated agents will successfully manipulate policy to either induce or prevent a slippery slope dynamic.

Figures

Violations of single-peakedness
Figure 1: Violations of single-peakedness.
Standard policy dynamics
Figure 2: Standard policy dynamics.
Policy dynamics with instabilities
Figure 3: Policy dynamics with instabilities.

Citation

Parameswaran, Giri, Gabriel Sekeres, and Haya Goldblatt. 2025. "The Politics of the Slippery Slope." Journal of Politics 87(2): 709-723. doi: 10.1086/732965.

BibTeX 
@article{parameswaranSekeresGoldblatt2025,
  author = {Giri Parameswaran and Gabriel Sekeres and Haya Goldblatt},
  year = {2025},
  title = {The Politics of the Slippery Slope},
  journal = {Journal of Politics},
  volume = {87},
  number = {2},
  pages = {709--723},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1086/732965}
}