Committees in Congress

by Deering, Christopher J.

• ISBN13: 9780871878182
• ISBN10: 0871878186
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-05-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

Providing a comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and status of committees and committee systems in both the House and Senate, this edition carries on the book's tradition of comprehensive coverage, empirical richness, and theoretical relevance in its discussion of these essential and distinguishing features of our national legislature. While the second edition focused on the &BAD:"post-reform&BAD:" committee systems, addressed the shifts in the internal distribution of power, and hinted at the forces that had already begun to undermine the power of committees, this edition updates that analysis and looks at the reforms that evolvied under the Republicans. It offers complete coverage of the rules and structural changes to the House and Senate committee systems. It extends its discussion of committee power and influence in the context of the &BAD:"Contract with America,&BAD:" Republican reforms, and the inter-party warfare on Capitol Hill.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes	xi	(4)
Preface	xv
Chapter 1 COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS	1	(24)
Perspectives on Committee Power	2	(3)
Conditions Shaping the Role of Committees	5	(1)
Forms of Committee Power in Congress	6	(5)
Types of Committees	11	(7)
Sources of Committee Procedure and Structure	18	(2)
Variation and Change in the Committee Systems	20	(5)
Chapter 2 EVOLUTION AND CHANGE IN COMMITTEES	25	(33)
Development of the Modern Committee Systems	26	(4)
Committee Government: 1947-1964	30	(3)
Reform: 1965-1980	33	(9)
Postreform Committees (1981-1995): Decentralization and Individualism	42	(5)
Republican Rule and the 104th Congress	47	(5)
Committees and Parties in Congress	52	(6)
Chapter 3 MEMBER GOALS AND COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS	58	(66)
The Importance of Committee Assignments	60	(3)
Member Goals in the House	63	(15)
Member Goals in the Senate	78	(8)
Jurisdictions, Agendas, and Environments	86	(10)
The Committee Assignment Process	96	(12)
The Distribution of Preferences	108	(16)
Chapter 4 INSIDE COMMITTEES: LEADERS, SUBCOMMITTEES, AND STAFF	124	(59)
Committee Leaders	125	(25)
Subcommittees	150	(12)
Committee Staff	162	(6)
Patterns of Subcommittee Orientation	168	(3)
The Rise and Decline of Subcommittee Government	171	(12)
Chapter 5 COMMITTEES IN THE POSTREFORM CONGRESS	183	(54)
Agenda and Partisan Change	183	(2)
Managing the Agenda	185	(17)
Committees on the Floor	202	(13)
Conference Committees	215	(10)
Perspectives on Committee Power Revisited	225	(12)
Index	237