Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Members of Congress Are Politicians, Not Experts
- 2 Committee Hearings and Information Provision in Congress
- 3 Who Testifies in Congress? New Data on Congressional Hearings and Witnesses
- 4 Not All Information Is Equal
- 5 When Committees Seek Out Information for Policy Development
- 6 How Control of Government Shapes Information Exchange
- 7 Congressional Capacity and the Search for Specialized Information
- 8 Conclusion
- Appendix A
- References
- Index
7 - Congressional Capacity and the Search for Specialized Information
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Members of Congress Are Politicians, Not Experts
- 2 Committee Hearings and Information Provision in Congress
- 3 Who Testifies in Congress? New Data on Congressional Hearings and Witnesses
- 4 Not All Information Is Equal
- 5 When Committees Seek Out Information for Policy Development
- 6 How Control of Government Shapes Information Exchange
- 7 Congressional Capacity and the Search for Specialized Information
- 8 Conclusion
- Appendix A
- References
- Index
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.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hearings on the HillThe Politics of Informing Congress, pp. 122 - 139Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024