Michigan’s Republican-dominated Legislature opened its lame-duck session last month amid claims that it was ready to take actions similar to what its counterparts in Wisconsin and North Carolina had done: Cripple Democratic opponents who had won crucial state posts and limit voters who had pushed policy changes.

The lawmakers adjourned on Friday, but they left their rivals less hobbled than many had expected.

By the end of a session marked by frequent protests, state lawmakers had passed bills that restricted the rule-making authority of the incoming Democratic administration led by Gretchen Whitmer, the governor-elect, and that prevented the disclosure of “dark money” donors who bankroll thinly veiled political campaigns by nonprofit advocacy groups.

On Thursday, they enacted two bills aimed at bolstering the Legislature’s authority — one that made it more difficult for voters to pass laws or constitutional amendments through ballot initiatives, and another that gave lawmakers the automatic right to intervene in any suit challenging a law or legislative action.

The latter move appeared aimed at reining in the power of Ms. Whitmer and the newly elected attorney general, Dana Nessel, also a Democrat, to manage state legal affairs without interference.