Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T23:16:26.324Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Destruction of Issue Monopolies in Congress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Bryan D. Jones ,
Frank R. Baumgartner  and
Jeffery C. Talbert
Bryan D. Jones
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Frank R. Baumgartner
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Jeffery C. Talbert
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scholars studying congressional committees have noted the potential for members to seek membership on particular committees, leading to bias. Underpinning this line of scholarship is what might be termed a theory of comparative committee statics, characterized by a cross-sectional empirical approach. We present a new approach that focuses on the dynamics of jurisdictional control. By following a series of issues through the committee hearing process, we show that there is indeed significant issue bias in particular committee venues. However, we also find that new committees often claim jurisdiction over issues as they are redefined in the political process. The degree of jurisdictional monopoly enjoyed by different committees has been overlooked in the literature on this topic in spite of its importance in determining the nature of representation of interests in Congress.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 657 - 671
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1991. “Agenda Dynamics and Policy Subsystems.” Journal of Politics 53:1044–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Berry, Jeffrey M. 1989. “Subgovernments, Issue Networks, and Political Conflict.” In Remaking American Politics, ed. Harris, Richard and Milkis, Sidney. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. Pp. 239–60.Google Scholar
Bosso, Christopher J. 1987. Pesticides and Politics: The Life Cycl of a Public Issue. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, Roger H. 1981. “Subcommittee Government: New Channels for Policymaking.” In The New Congress, ed. Mann, Thomas E. and Ornstein, Norman J.. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Google Scholar
Davidson, Roger H. 1989. “Multiple Referral of Legislation In the U.S. Senate.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 14:375–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, Roger H., and Oleszek, Walter J.. 1977. Congress against Itself. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Davidson, Roger H., Oleszek, Walter J., and Kephart, Thomas. 1988. “One Bill, Many Committees: Multiple Referrals in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 13:3–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Del Sesto, Steven L. 1980. “Conflicting Ideologies of Nuclear Power: Congressional Testimony on Nuclear Reactor Safety.” Public Policy 28:39–70.Google Scholar
Dion, Douglas. 1992. “The Robustness of Structure-induced Equilibrium.” American Journal of Political Science 36:462–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falco, Mathea. 1989. Winning the Drug War: A National Strategy. New York: Priority.Google Scholar
Fenno, Richard. 1973. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Fritschler, A. Lee. 1989. Smoking and Politics. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall.Google Scholar
Gujarati, Damodar N. 1988. Basic Econometrics. 2d ed. New York: McGraw–Hill.Google Scholar
Hall, Richard L. 1992. “Measuring Legislative Influence.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:205–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Richard L. 1993. “Participation, Abdication, and Representation in Congressional Committees.” In Congress Reconsidered, 5th ed., ed. Dodd, Lawrence C. and Oppenheimer, Bruce I.. Washington: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Hall, Richard L., and Evans, C. Lawrence. 1990. “The Power of Subcommittees.” Journal of Politics 52:335–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Richard L., and Grofman, Bernard. 1990. “The Committee Assignment Process and the Conditional Nature of Committee Bias.” American Political Science Review 84:1149–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Richard, and Wayman, Frank. 1990. “Buying Time: Moneyed Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional Committees.” American Political Science Review 84:797–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, John Mark. 1991. Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919–1981. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh. 1978. “Issue Networks in the Executive Establishment.” In The New American Political System, ed. King, Anthony. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Google Scholar
Hinckley, Barbara. 1971. Stability and Change in Congress. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Hinckley, Barbara. 1975. “Policy Content, Committee Membership, and Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science 19:543–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, John E., and Kingdon, John W.. 1992. “Ideology, Interest Group Scores, and Legislative Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 36:805–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins-Smith, Hank C., Clair, Gilbert K. St., and Woods, Brian. 1991. “Explaining Change in Policy Subsystems: Analysis of Coalition Stability and Defection over Time.” American Journal of Political Science 35:851–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, John. 1984. Econometric Methods. 3d ed. New York: McGraw–Hill.Google Scholar
Jones, Charles O. 1975. Clean Air. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Charles O. 1979. “American Politics and the Organization of Energy Decision Making.” Annual Review of Energy 4:99–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Charles O., and Strahan, Randall. 1985. “The Effect of Energy Politics on Congressional and Executive Organization in the 1970s.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 10:151–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, David C. 1991. “Congressional Committee Jurisdictions and the Consequences of Reforms.” Presented at the annual meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar
King, David C. 1992. “Committee Jurisdictions and Institutional Change in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1990. “Are Congressional Committees Composed of Preference Outliers?” American Political Science Review 84:149–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith, and Rivers, Douglas. 1988. “The Analysis of Committee Power: An Application to Senate Voting on the Minimum Wage.” American Journal of Political Science 32:1151–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith, Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1987. “Why Are Congressional Committees Powerful?” American Political Science Review 81:929–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maass, Arthur. 1951. Muddy Waters: The Army Engineers and the Nation's Rivers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masters, Nicholas. 1961. “House Committee Assignments.” American Political Science Review 55:345–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musto, David. 1987. The American Disease. Exp. ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Niskanen, William A. 1971. Bureaucracy and Representative Government. Chicago: Aldine–Atherton.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Charles W. 1990. Time Series Analysis: Regression Techniques. 2d ed. Beverly Hills: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redford, Emmette S. 1960. “A Case Analysis of Congressional Activity: Civil Aviation, 1957–58.” Journal of Politics 22:228–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redford, Emmette S. 1969. Democracy in the Administrative State. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Riker, William H. 1980. “Implications from the Disequilibrium of Majority Rule for the Study of Institutions.” American Political Science Review 74:432–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riker, William H. 1982. Liberalism against Populism. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.Google Scholar
Riker, William H. 1983. “Political Theory and the Art of Heresthetics.” In Political Science: The State of the Discipline, ed. Finifter, Ada. Washington: American Political Science Association.Google Scholar
Riker, William H. 1984. “The Heresthetics of Constitution-Making: The Presidency in 1787, with Comments on Determinism and Rational Choice.” American Political Science Review 78:1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riker, William H. 1986. The Art of Political Manipulation. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Riley, Dennis. 1990. “Of Subgovernments and Issue Networks: Just One More Time.” Presented at the Southern Political Science Association Meeting, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E. E. 1960. The Semi-sovereign People. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Schneider, Judy. 1980. “Multiple Referrals and Jurisdictional Overlaps, House of Representatives, 94th and 95th Congress.” In U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Committees. Final Report. 96th Cong., 2d sess., H. Rept. 96–866.Google Scholar
Sharp, Elaine B. 1991. “Interest Groups and Symbolic Policy Formation: The Case of Anti-drug Policy.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington.Google Scholar
Sharp, Elaine B. N.d. “Agenda Setting and Policy Results: Lessons from Three Drug Policy Episodes.” University of Kansas. Typescript.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A. 1978. The Giant Jigsaw Puzzle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A. 1979. “Institutional Arrangements and Equilibrium in Multidimensional Voting Models.” American Journal of Political Science 23:27–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1987. “The Institutional Foundations of Committee Power.” American Political Science Review 81:85–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1977. Models of Discovery. Boston: Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1983. Reason in Human Affairs. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1985. “Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.” American Political Science Review 79:293–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, Barbara. 1988. “The Distribution of Committee Positions in the U.S. Senate: Explaining Institutional Change.” American Journal of Political Science 32:276–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, Barbara. 1989. The Transformation of the U.S. Senate. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Steven S., and Deering, Christopher. 1990. Committees in Congress. Washington: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
VanDoren, Peter M. 1990. “Can We Learn the Causes of Congressional Decisions from Roll-Call Data?” Legislative Studies Quarterly 15:311–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VanDoren, Peter M. 1991. Politics, Markets, and Congressional Policy Choices. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weart, Spencer. 1988. Nuclear Fear: A History of Images. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry R. 1989. “Floor Behavior in the U.S. Congress: Committee Power under the Open Rule.” American Political Science Review 83:795–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkerson, John. 1991. “Analyzing Committee Power: A Critique.” American Journal of Political Science 35:613–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Woodrow. 1956. Congressional Government. Cleveland: Meridian Books.Google Scholar
Young, Garry, and Cooper, Joseph. 1993. “Multiple Referral and the Transformation of House Decision Making.” In Congress Reconsidered, 5th ed., ed. Dodd, Lawrence C. and Oppenheimer, Bruce I.. Washington: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.