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bargaining time entails a major opportunity cost. Most obvious is the case of a country
threatened by nuclear weapons: the speed of such weapon and the amount of destruction it
causes generate a cost such that very little time, if any, can be devoted to negotiations. It
becomes clear here that it is bargaining rigidities, in other words the inability to reach an
agreement instantly, that make the situation escalate. Time is essential in any military
situation and bargaining can often become a luxury that leaders cannot take the risk to afford.
The existence of bargaining rigidities is, in fact, implicitly recognized in most democratic
constitutions where crisis situations threatening the security of the country usually call for
extraordinary measures in which the executive branch is given exceptional power. Crises
demand quick responses for which single leaders as opposed to deliberative bodies are better
suited.
ii. Bargaining
costs
Agreements need to be negotiated, and not everything can be delegated to outsiders such as
ambassadors. Thus, agreements need to be ratified by the parliament in most democracies.
Yet, policy analysis and bargaining within the states’ various institutions takes time and has a
cost. “Decisions are not a free good. Governmental resources for policy analysis and decision-
making are costly and in short supply. Individuals and organizations seek to conserve those
resources for the most urgent and pressing matters. […] Efficiency dictates considerable
policy continuity.” (Chayes and Chayes 1993). Existing models, however, “include no
scarcity of the type that makes holding another vote or implementing a new policy expensive”
(Lupia and McCubbins 2005). Yet, parliaments and executive committees, among other,
cannot always meet because of temporal and energy constraints. Constant re-negotiations are
costly and sometimes impossible. Again, the existence of procedures such as the fast track
procedure for trade agreements in the United States illustrates the importance of bargaining
rigidities and the need to address them.
Convention