Within Slippery Slope
What Actually Makes the Slope Slippery?
A stronger warning explains the mechanism that could make later steps easier after the first decision.
On this page
- Lowering the cost of later decisions
- Changing attitudes and political momentum
- Turning vague fears into testable claims
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Introduction
Many slippery slope arguments are dismissed because they seem to leap from a modest first step to a dramatic future outcome without explaining how the transition would occur. Eugene Volokh’s contribution was to shift the discussion away from metaphor and towards mechanism. Instead of asking whether a feared outcome is imaginable, he asks what concrete processes could make an initial decision increase the likelihood of a later one. This move matters because it turns slippery slope claims from vague warnings into propositions that can be examined, challenged, and supported with evidence. A slope is not persuasive simply because someone predicts disaster; it becomes analytically interesting when there is a plausible mechanism connecting one decision to the next. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
What Actually Makes the Slope Slippery?
Volokh argues that slippery slope arguments should be evaluated by identifying the real-world pathways through which decision A might increase the probability of decision B. Rather than treating slopes as rhetorical devices, he presents them as hypotheses about institutional behaviour, public opinion, legal reasoning, and political incentives. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
This approach changes the key question. Instead of asking, “Could this eventually lead somewhere worse?”, the question becomes, “What specific force would make the later step easier than it is today?” If no such force can be identified, the warning is weak. If a force can be identified and measured, the argument becomes stronger and more testable. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
Lowering the Cost of Later Decisions
One of Volokh’s most influential mechanisms is the cost-lowering slippery slope. The idea is straightforward: once society accepts one policy, the practical, political, or legal costs of adopting a broader version may fall. The later decision no longer starts from scratch. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
Several processes can reduce those costs:
- Administrative infrastructure already exists. Agencies, procedures, and enforcement systems created for the first policy can be expanded rather than invented anew.
- Legal precedents accumulate. Courts and lawmakers can point to earlier decisions as justification for moving further.
- Political resistance weakens. Opponents who lost the first battle may have fewer resources or less credibility in subsequent debates.
- Information costs decline. Policymakers gain experience with the initial policy and become more comfortable extending it.
These claims are testable because they generate observable predictions. Researchers can examine whether later proposals relied on earlier precedents, whether administrative systems were reused, or whether political opposition became less effective after an initial change. The mechanism does not guarantee movement down the slope, but it specifies why movement might become easier. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L… [Reason.com]reason.comIntroduction to Thinking About…1 Jun 2022 — The Article aims to describe the real-world paths that the metaphors represent—to provide…
Changing Attitudes and Political Momentum
A second category of mechanisms focuses on changes in public beliefs and social norms. Volokh argues that an initial decision may alter how people evaluate related proposals in the future. What once seemed unacceptable can begin to appear ordinary. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
This is not merely a claim about persuasion. It is a claim about measurable shifts in attitudes. If acceptance of policy A causes voters, judges, legislators, or interest groups to view policy B more favourably, then the first decision has changed the political environment in which later decisions are made. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
Several pathways can contribute:
- Normalisation effects. Repeated exposure reduces the sense that a policy is unusual or alarming.
- Preference adaptation. Citizens revise their views after observing that predicted harms from the first step did not occur.
- Coalition building. New interest groups emerge with incentives to advocate for broader versions of the policy.
- Political signalling. Acceptance of one proposal may communicate that underlying principles have gained legitimacy.
These mechanisms are also testable. Opinion polling, election results, legislative voting patterns, and public discourse can reveal whether attitudes changed after an initial decision. Instead of assuming an inevitable slide, the analyst can look for evidence of shifting preferences and political momentum. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L… [NYU]law.nyu.eduLaw PATERNALIST SLOPESRizzoby DG Whitman · Cited by 102 — And as Eugene. Volokh has argued, slippery slopes are closely connected to phe- nomena such as “bound…
The Equal-Treatment Dynamic
Volokh places particular emphasis on what he calls equality-based or precedent-based pressures. Once a rule is justified for one case, decision-makers may find it difficult to deny apparently similar cases later. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
The mechanism operates through consistency. Suppose lawmakers create an exception to a general rule. Future advocates may argue that another group is relevantly similar and therefore deserves the same treatment. Courts often confront such arguments because legal systems place value on treating like cases alike. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
What makes this mechanism testable is that it leaves documentary evidence. Judicial opinions, legislative debates, and policy reports frequently explain later expansions by citing earlier decisions and appealing to consistency. Analysts can therefore investigate whether a feared extension actually relied on equal-treatment reasoning or whether other factors drove the change. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L…
Turning Vague Fears into Testable Claims
Volokh’s framework is valuable because it changes the standards by which slippery slope arguments are judged. A warning becomes stronger when it can answer specific empirical questions:
- What mechanism links the first decision to the later one?
- How much does the first decision increase the probability of the second?
- What evidence from comparable cases supports the prediction?
- What countervailing forces could stop the process?
- Have similar mechanisms operated in other legal or political contexts?
These questions transform a slippery slope claim from a rhetorical flourish into a causal hypothesis. A critic can examine the evidence, test the assumptions, and identify weak links in the chain. Likewise, supporters of a policy can respond by showing that safeguards, institutional barriers, or political realities interrupt the proposed mechanism. [PhilPapers]philpapers.orgEugene Volokh. In Hugh LaFollette, The International Encyclopedia of Ethics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell (2013). @incollection…Read more…
Why This Matters for Identifying the Fallacy
Volokh’s analysis does not prove that slippery slope arguments are usually correct. Instead, it shows why treating every slippery slope warning as a fallacy is too simple. Some warnings rest on identifiable mechanisms that can be investigated; others merely assert that disaster will follow without explaining why. [Harvard Law School]hls.harvard.edueugene volokh of the volokh conspiracy discusses slippery slope arguments videoHarvard Law SchoolEugene Volokh, of The Volokh Conspiracy, discusses slippery…4 Oct 2011 — Eugene Volokh, professor at UCLA School of…
The practical lesson is that the presence of a slope argument is not the end of analysis but the beginning. The crucial task is to identify the mechanism. If the speaker cannot explain how the first decision lowers costs, changes attitudes, creates precedent, or generates political momentum, the argument remains speculative. If those mechanisms can be specified and supported with evidence, the claim moves from a logical fallacy towards a serious empirical prediction. [UCLA School of Law]www2.law.ucla.eduUCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L… [Reason.com]reason.comCost-Lowering Slippery Slopes as Multi-Peaked…Jun 9, 2022 — Cost-lowering slippery slopes, it turns out, are a special case of a broad…
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Endnotes
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Source: www2.law.ucla.edu
Link: https://www2.law.ucla.edu/Volokh/slippery.pdfSource snippet
UCLA School of LawThe Mechanisms of the Slippery Slopeby E Volokh — 92 See Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, A Penumbra Too Far, 1o6 HARV L...
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Source: reason.com
Link: https://reason.com/volokh/2022/06/01/slippery-slope-june-an-introduction-to-thinking-about-slippery-slope-arguments/Source snippet
Introduction to Thinking About...1 Jun 2022 — The Article aims to describe the real-world paths that the metaphors represent—to provide...
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Source: reason.com
Link: https://reason.com/volokh/2022/06/09/cost-lowering-slippery-slopes-as-multi-peaked-preferences-slippery-slopes/Source snippet
Cost-Lowering [Slippery Slopes]({{ 'slippery-slope/' | relative_url }}) as Multi-Peaked...Jun 9, 2022 — Cost-lowering slippery slopes, it turns out, are a special case of a broad...
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Source: law.nyu.edu
Title: Law PATERNALIST SLOPES
Link: https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/ECM_PRO_060953.pdfSource snippet
Rizzoby DG Whitman · Cited by 102 — And as Eugene. Volokh has argued, slippery slopes are closely connected to phe- nomena such as “bound...
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Source: philpapers.org
Link: https://philpapers.org/rec/VOLSSASource snippet
Eugene Volokh. In Hugh LaFollette, The International Encyclopedia of Ethics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell (2013). @incollection...Read more...
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Source: hls.harvard.edu
Title: eugene volokh of the volokh conspiracy discusses slippery slope arguments video
Link: https://hls.harvard.edu/today/eugene-volokh-of-the-volokh-conspiracy-discusses-slippery-slope-arguments-video/Source snippet
Harvard Law SchoolEugene Volokh, of The Volokh Conspiracy, discusses slippery...4 Oct 2011 — Eugene Volokh, professor at UCLA School of...
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Source: www2.law.ucla.edu
Link: https://www2.law.ucla.edu/Volokh/slipperyshorter.pdfSource snippet
(This is a condensed version of an article published at. 116 Harv. L. Rev. 1026 (2003)). THE MECHANISMS OF THE SLIPPERY SLOPE...Read more...
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Title: Slippery Slope
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Can you outsmart the slippery slope fallacy? - Elizabeth Cox...
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EUGENESinger. Songwriter. Producer. Arranger. Loves electronics. Energetic. Releasing tracks on Wall Of Sound UK, Kronos Records and Disc...
Additional References
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Eugene, OR Website | Official WebsiteThe City of Eugene--a great city for the arts and outdoors. Eugene, Oregon is consistently ranked on...
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slope argumentsA helpful analysis of some of the causal mechanisms has been given by Volokh. An important factor is that in a group (e.g...
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Rules, Theories, and Slippery Slopesby MJ Rizzo · Cited by 113 — 4 Eugene Volokh has produced a wide- ranging study of various possible s...
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THE MECHANISMS OF THE SLIPPERY SLOPE Eugene VolokhLooking For THE MECHANISMS OF THE SLIPPERY SLOPE Eugene Volokh? Read THE MECHANISMS OF...
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This essay is adapted from his article "The Mechanisms of the. Slippery Slope," recently published in the...
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Jan 2000. Eugene Volokh. Volokh presents four cyberspace speech controversies that involve an interesting modern body of...Read more...
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The mechanisms of the slippery slopeThe mechanisms of the slippery slope. Eugene Volokh. Harvard Law Review, vol. 116, no. 4, 2003, pp. 1...
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!7 Jun 2023 — Eugene Volokh, at the University of California, Los Angeles, thinks that rushing to call every slippery-slope argument a fa...
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ssrn.comInternet, freedom of speech and slippery slope argumentAbstract: Eugene Volokh, a renowned advocate of protection of [free speech]({{ 'free-speech/' | relative_url }})...
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Eugene (given name)Eugene is a common masculine given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (eugenēs), "noble", literally "well-born"...
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