At the last minute: the use of the prime minister's power to amend the agenda during a crisis

Coalition management is challenging, especially during the agenda-setting stage. The prime minister has to balance the priorities of the coalition partners, ministers from her party, and broader government priorities. To meet this challenge, the prime minister has agenda-setting power. Most research has studied the agenda-setting power during periods of stability. This paper asks how a crisis affects prime ministers' use of agenda-setting power by looking at the use of one discretionary agenda-setting rule: amending the agenda at the last minute. We use unique data from Israeli cabinet meetings over a period of 21 years and three crises, comparing prime ministers' last-minute changes to the agenda. We find that prime ministers are less inclined to change the agenda at the last minute during crises, and when they do so, this power is often, but not exclusively, deployed for crisis management. These findings suggest that crisis decreases the pressures exerted by prime ministers' party members and coalition partners, allowing prime ministers more latitude to promote their priorities without recourse to manipulation. The findings underscore the importance of coalition dynamics, coalition management, and agenda setting for crisis management.