Policy Content of Legislative Vetoes and Success of Presidential Activism Under Semi‐Presidentialism

ABSTRACT The power to veto legislation and return it to parliament is one of the most prominent presidential powers and a major source of presidential activism. Until now, research has mostly focused on the frequency of presidential vetoes—that is, how often presidents use veto power. However, we still know relatively little about the determinants of veto success, especially under semi‐presidential republics. We argue that categorizing legislative vetoes according to their policy content introduces an important dimension to research on the success of presidential activism. This article employs the case of Lithuania, where presidents have the power of an amendatory veto. We find that the content of vetoes is partially important: technical vetoes have significantly higher chances of being successful.