The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns (Contents)

Part 1 — Legal Foundations: How and Why U.S. Government Shutdowns Exist Part 2 – The U.S. Budget Process and…

Part 1 — Legal Foundations: How and Why U.S. Government Shutdowns Exist

1.1 Constitutional and statutory roots In the United States, Congress holds the power of the purse under Article I of…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 2 – The U.S. Budget Process and Timeline: How Shutdown Risk Builds

2.1 Overview of the Federal Budget Cycle The United States operates on a fiscal year running from 1 October to…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 3 – Historical Overview of U.S. Government Shutdowns (1976–2025)

3.1 Before the “modern” shutdown era From the post-1974 budget reforms through the late 1970s, funding gaps occurred but agencies…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 4 – Who Gets Paid During a Government Shutdown

4.1 Overview When a shutdown begins, the question of who receives pay and who must keep working without pay becomes…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 5 – Economic and Social Impacts of Government Shutdowns

5.1 Introduction Every U.S. government shutdown ripples far beyond Washington, D.C. While rooted in fiscal law and political dispute, the…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 6 – Why the United States Experiences Government Shutdowns (and Other Nations Do Not)

6.1 Introduction The phenomenon of government shutdowns is unique to the United States. Most advanced democracies experience political stalemates and…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 7 – How Other Nations Handle “Near-Shutdowns” and Budget Deadlocks (Comparative Case Studies)

Big picture: outside the U.S., core public services keep running during budget crises. Countries build in caretaker rules, automatic or…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 8 – Causes, Tactics, and the Political Economy of Shutdowns

8.1 Why shutdowns happen (root causes) 8.2 The playbook (tactics used by negotiators) 8.3 Who wins and who loses (distributional…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 9 – Federal “Playbooks” During a Lapse: Continuity Rules and Agency Contingency Plans

9.1 Introduction A U.S. government shutdown does not mean the entire state collapses. Instead, a complex system of continuity planning…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 10 – Solutions & Reforms: Ending or Preventing Future Shutdowns

10.1 What’s already been done (post-2019) 2025 wrinkle: a White House/OMB memo briefly argued back-pay isn’t automatic without a fresh…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 11 – Timeline & Trend Data (1976–2025): Every Funding Gap at a Glance

Aim: give you a compact, data-led picture of when funding gaps and shutdowns happened, how long they lasted, and what…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 12 – Social and Psychological Effects: Workers, Households, and Public Trust

12.1 Introduction Government shutdowns are more than fiscal events — they are human stress tests that reveal the vulnerability of…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 13 – Market and Global-Finance Reactions to U.S. Government Shutdowns

13.1 Introduction Although U.S. government shutdowns are domestically driven political events, their ripple effects reach global financial markets, given the…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 14 – Comparative Case Studies of Budget Crises (How Services Keep Running Outside the U.S.)

Core finding: other systems turn a budget impasse into a political event (caretaker government, election, coalition deal) while services continue…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 15 – Theoretical Models: Veto Players, Brinkmanship, and Bargaining Under Shutdown Risk

Aim: connect shutdown dynamics to core theories in political science and economics, so we can explain (not just describe) why…

The Political Economy of U.S. Government Shutdowns

Part 16 – Future Digital Resilience: AI, Automation, and Keeping Services Running During Funding Lapses

Aim: a practical, future-facing blueprint to minimise harm when appropriations lapse—without breaching the Antideficiency Act (ADA)—by using automation, continuity engineering,…