The Uncovered Set and the Limits of Legislative Action

Ivan Jeliazkov Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine,Irvine, CA Itai Sened Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO We present a simulation technique for sorting out the size,shape, and location of the uncovered set to estimate the setof enactable outcomes in "real-world" social choice situations,such as the contemporary Congress. The uncovered set is a well-knownbut underexploited solution concept in the literature on spatialvoting games and collective choice mechanisms. We explain thissolution concept in nontechnical terms, submit some theoreticalobservations to improve our theoretical grasp of it, and providea simulation technique that makes it possible to estimate thisset and thus enable a series of tests of its empirical relevance.