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7 - Congressional Capacity and the Search for Specialized Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2024

Pamela Ban
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Ju Yeon Park
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Hye Young You
Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey
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Summary

Chapter 7 scrutinizes how Congress’s internal resources impact the quantity and quality of information received by committees. Amid concerns over diminishing congressional capacity and the waning role of support agencies, the chapter explores the repercussions of downsizing initiatives – such as the elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) – on committee information channels. Employing a difference-in-differences research design, the study reveals a stark decline in technical and scientific witnesses invited by committees heavily reliant on internally produced information post-OTA elimination. The findings underscore the critical role of robust congressional capacity in summoning research-based witnesses, emphasizing its pivotal significance in ensuring legislators’ access to vital scientific and technical insights.

Type
Chapter
Information
Hearings on the Hill
The Politics of Informing Congress
, pp. 122 - 139
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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