Final answer:
Logrolling is a legislative practice involving vote trading among legislators to pass a package of otherwise unrelated laws for mutual benefit. This can lead to pork barrel spending, where government funds are used for local projects to benefit legislators' districts. A majority, such as 51% of legislators, is required to pass such bills.
Step-by-step explanation:
Logrolling is a legislative practice where agreements are made between legislators, involving vote trading, to garner support for a bill. The concept involves groups of legislators agreeing to vote for a package of otherwise unrelated laws that they each favor, thus ensuring that each legislator's desired project gets supported by the others in the group. This practice can lead to what is known as pork barrel spending, wherein government funds are allocated to local projects that are primarily designed to bring money to a representative's district, with the goal being mutual benefit rather than the pursuit of a broad national interest.
For instance, if a legislator proposes a bill to build a new bridge or hospital in their own district, it might not receive support from others. However, with logrolling, if a majority of legislators agree to support each other's projects, they can collectively pass a bill with each of their individual projects included. This ultimately needs the support of a majority vote, which is often just over half, such as 51% in the U.S. Congress.
The related concept of median voter theory suggests that politicians will aim their policies to match the preferences of the median voter, which sometimes results in support for logrolling activities that can sway median voter support.