logroll v : work toward the passage of some legislation by exchanging political favors such as trading votes

Logrolling is a colorful phrase that refers to trading favors, a synonym to quid pro quo.

For example, it may describe vote trading by legislative members to obtain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member.

The term is also used for similar activities in academics, notably the "cross quoting" of papers in order to drive up reference counts.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia describes as "mutual praise by authors of each other's work."

A suggested origin is the old custom of neighbors assisting each other with the moving of logs. If two neighbors had cut a lot of timber which needed to be moved, it made more sense for them to work together to roll the logs—"If you'll help me roll my logs, I'll help you roll yours."

Another derivation is from the sport by the same name in which two contestants try to topple each other into the water by standing on a log. Each must keep up with the other or risk taking a spill, so it appears to be cooperative.

Spy Magazine ran a feature entitled "Logrolling in Our Time" that cited suspicious or humorous examples of mutually admiring book jacket blurbs by pairs of authors.

Private Eye magazine regularly draws attention to alleged logrolling by authors in "books of the year" features published by British newspapers and magazines.

See Also

• Blog roll

References