On the other hand, if they know that the opposition will defeat it, they can propose anything even if they would oppose it in actually without a second thought.
And if that’s the case, it could backfire if the opposition knows that the proposing party doesn’t really want it, they could give them some votes for it in battleground districts and make the proposing party vote to defeat it’s own proposal.
I am aware of a case where this happened and backfired. Mussolini didn’t want Ethiopia to join the League of Nations back in the period between WW1 and 2 because he intended to invade them, but was playing politics with France and Britain. France supported Ethiopia joining while Britain opposed it, so Italy declared support for Ethiopia joining to look good with France while expecting Britain to succeed in blocking them from joining. Instead, Britain backed down when they saw Italy throw in support, so Ethiopia was accepted into the League of Nations. Which didn’t do them much good because Mussolini invaded anyways and the League didn’t do anything other than a few sanctions followed by falling apart once they lost all credibility.
On the other hand, if they know that the opposition will defeat it, they can propose anything even if they would oppose it in actually without a second thought.
And if that’s the case, it could backfire if the opposition knows that the proposing party doesn’t really want it, they could give them some votes for it in battleground districts and make the proposing party vote to defeat it’s own proposal.
Fair point. I’m curious, do you know of anywhere this has happened/is happening?
I am aware of a case where this happened and backfired. Mussolini didn’t want Ethiopia to join the League of Nations back in the period between WW1 and 2 because he intended to invade them, but was playing politics with France and Britain. France supported Ethiopia joining while Britain opposed it, so Italy declared support for Ethiopia joining to look good with France while expecting Britain to succeed in blocking them from joining. Instead, Britain backed down when they saw Italy throw in support, so Ethiopia was accepted into the League of Nations. Which didn’t do them much good because Mussolini invaded anyways and the League didn’t do anything other than a few sanctions followed by falling apart once they lost all credibility.