Regulating Slavery: Deck-Stacking and Credible Commitment in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

@article{citeulike:2741674, abstract = {In 1850, Congress delegated federal judicial powers to a new bureaucracy that was devoted to capturing escaped slaves in free states and returning them to their owners. The Fugitive Slave Act was an attempt to enhance the credibility of a commitment made in the Constitution\&\#39;s Article IV \&\#167; 2, which had gone unenforced for more than half a century. This article demonstrates how Congress engaged in deck-stacking, engineering the administrative structure and judicial procedures of the fugitive slave rendition process in ways that favored slave-holding interests. Analysis of votes by members of Congress on final passage of the act and amendments to the act demonstrate the political influences on choices of process. I demonstrate that regional (free versus slave state), partisan (Whig versus Democrat), and electoral (Free Soil party support) calculations all play a role in determining the likelihood of a legislator voting for the antislavery position. Moreover, political conflict was muted when amendments dealt mainly with structural issues, but was amplified when the amendment\&\#39;s content was procedural.}, author = {Basinger, Scott J. }, citeulike-article-id = {2741674}, issn = {8756-6222}, journal = {Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization}, keywords = {american-politics, bureaucracy}, month = {October}, pages = {307--342}, posted-at = {2008-05-01 04:51:17}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {Regulating Slavery: Deck-Stacking and Credible Commitment in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850}, url = {http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oup/jleorg/2003/00000019/00000002/art00307}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2741674 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2741674 TI - Regulating Slavery: Deck-Stacking and Credible Commitment in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 JF - Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization SP - 307 EP - 342 PB - Oxford University Press SN - 8756-6222 N2 - In 1850, Congress delegated federal judicial powers to a new bureaucracy that was devoted to capturing escaped slaves in free states and returning them to their owners. The Fugitive Slave Act was an attempt to enhance the credibility of a commitment made in the Constitution's Article IV § 2, which had gone unenforced for more than half a century. This article demonstrates how Congress engaged in deck-stacking, engineering the administrative structure and judicial procedures of the fugitive slave rendition process in ways that favored slave-holding interests. Analysis of votes by members of Congress on final passage of the act and amendments to the act demonstrate the political influences on choices of process. I demonstrate that regional (free versus slave state), partisan (Whig versus Democrat), and electoral (Free Soil party support) calculations all play a role in determining the likelihood of a legislator voting for the antislavery position. Moreover, political conflict was muted when amendments dealt mainly with structural issues, but was amplified when the amendment's content was procedural. KW - american-politics KW - bureaucracy AU - Basinger, Scott PY - 2003/10// UR - http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oup/jleorg/2003/00000019/00000002/art00307 ER -