Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T13:07:39.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Legislative Matching Game: Committee Matching and Effective Legislating in the States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Clint S. Swift Open the ORCID record for Clint S. Swift [Opens in a new window]
Clint S. Swift*
Affiliation:
The University of the South, Sewanee, TN, USA
*
Clint S. Swift, The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383-1000, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I argue that the value of a particular set of committee assignments for a legislator is dependent on that legislator's policy interests. By this, I mean that “good” assignments will match committee policy jurisdictions with member policy priorities. I develop this concept of committee-agenda matching and present a measure of this match for legislators in 12 state lower chambers. After some brief measure validation, I present a substantive application, demonstrating that this match poses serious consequences for individual legislator's ability to shepherd their bills through the legislative process.

Keywords

parties in legislaturesparties and interest groupslegislative politicslegislative behaviorlegislator preferenceslegislative committees
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 234 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019

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

Adler, E. Scott, and John, S. Lapinski. 1997. “Demand-Side Theory and Congressional Committee Composition: A Constituency Characteristics Approach.” American Journal of Political Science 41 (3): 895–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, E. Scott, and John, D. Wilkerson. 2008. “Intended Consequences: Jurisdictional Reform and Issue Control in the House of Representative.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 33 (1): 85–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, E. Scott, and Wilkerson, John D.. 2013. Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, William D., Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., and Sinclair-Chapman, Valeria. 2003. “The Keys to Legislative Success in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 28 (3): 357–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anzia, Sarah F., and Jackman, Molly C.. 2012. “Legislative Organization and the Second Face of Power: Evidence from U.S. State Legislatures.” The Journal of Politics 75 (1): 210–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnello, Michelle A., and Bratton, Kathleen A.. 2007. “Bridging the Gender Gap in Bill Sponsorship.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 32:449–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battista, James C. 2006. “Committee Theories and Committee Votes: Internal Committee Behavior in the California Legislature.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 6 (2): 151–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battista, James C. 2009. “Why Information? Choosing Committee Informativeness in U.S. State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 34 (3): 375–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bickel, Robert. 2007. Multilevel Analysis for Applied Research: It's Just Regression! New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., and Grant, J. Tobin. 1999. “All in a Day's Work: The Financial Rewards of Legislative Effectiveness.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 24 (4): 511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Haynie, Kerry L.. 1999. “Agenda Setting and Legislative Success in State Legislatures: The Effects of Gender and Race.” The Journal of Politics 61 (3): 658–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Charles S. 1972. “Freshman Committee Assignments and Re-election in the United States House of Representatives.” American Political Science Review 66 (3): 996–1007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Charles S. 1976. “Motivations for Congressional Committee Preferences: Freshmen of the 92nd Congress.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 1:201–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Charles S., 1985. “U.S. Senate Committee Assignments: Preferences, Motivations, and Success.” American Journal of Political Science 29 (4): 789–808.Google Scholar
Bullock, Charles S. and Sprague, J.. 1969. “A Research Note on the Committee Reassignments on Southern Democratic Congressmen.” Journal of Politics 31:493–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Wendy K. Tam, and Fowler, James H.. 2010. “Legislative Success in a Small World: Social Network Analysis and the Dynamics of Congressional Legislation.” The Journal of Politics 72:124–135.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and McCubbins, Matthew D.. 1993. Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and McCubbins, Matthew D.. 2005. Setting the Agenda: Responsible Party Government in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and Terry, William C.. 2008. “Legislative Productivity in the 93d-105th Congresses.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 33 (4): 603–618..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crombez, Christophe, Groseclose, Tim and Krehbiel, Keith. 2006. “Gatekeeping.” The Journal of Politics 68 (2): 322–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Lawrence. 1991. Leadership in Committee: A Comparative Analysis of Behavior in the U.S. Senate. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenno, Richard F. 1973. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Fowler, James H. 2006. “Connecting the Congress: A Study of Cosponsorship Networks.” Political Analysis 14:456–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, Wayne L. 1962. “Influence and Interaction in a State Legislative Body.” The American Political Science Review 56 (4): 953–960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, Wayne L. 1985. “Leadership, Party Caucuses, and Committees in U.S. State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 10 (2): 243–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, Wayne L. 1989. The Legislative Committee Game. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Frantzich, Stephen. 1979. “Who Makes Our Laws? The Legislative Effectiveness of Members of the U. S. Congress.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 4 (3): 409–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, Patricia, and Hedlund, Ronald D.. 1993. “The Functions of Committee Change in State Legislature.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (4): 911–929.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, Thomas W. and Krehbiel, Keith. 1990. “Organization of Informative Committees by a Rational Legislature.” American Journal of Political Science 34:531–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gertzog, Irwin N. 1976. “The Routinization of Committee Assignments in the U.S. House of Representatives.” American Journal of Political Science 20 (4): 639–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groseclose, Tim, and King, David. 2001. “Committee Theories, Reconsidered.” In Congress Reconsidered, eds. Dodd, Lawrence C., and Oppenheimer, Bruce I.. CQ Press. 191–216.Google Scholar
Groseclose, Tim, and Stewart, Charles. 1998. “The Value of Committee Seats in the House, 1947-91.” American Journal of Political Science 42 (2): 453–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Richard L. 1992. “Measuring Legislative Influence.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17 (2): 205–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, Keith E. 1980. “U.S. State Legislative Committee Decisions: Similar Results in Different Settings.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 5:31–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, Keith E. 1982. “Consistency between Committee and Floor Voting in U.S. State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 7 (4): 473–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, Keith E. 1983. “Patterns of Influence among Committees, Agencies, and Interest Groups.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 8 (3): 379–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, Keith E., Hedlund, Ronald D., and Martorano, Nancy. 2006. “Measuring State Legislative Committee Power: Change and Chamber Differences in the 20th Century.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 6 (1): 88–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbridge, Laurel. 2015. Is Bipartisanship Dead? Policy Agreement and Agenda-setting in the House of Representatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasecke, Edward B., and Mycoff, Jason D.. 2007. “Party Loyalty and Legislative Success: Are Loyal Majority Party Members More Successful in the U.S. House of Representatives?” Political Research Quarterly 60 (4): 607–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedlund, Ronald D. 1989. “Entering the Committee System: State Committee Assignments.” The Western Political Quarterly 42 (4): 597–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedlund, Ronald D., and Patterson, Samuel C.. 1992. “The Electoral Antecedents of State Legislative Committee Assignments.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17 (4): 539–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaydel, Alana and Taylor, Andrew. 2003. “Are Women Legislators Less Effective? Evidence from the U.S. House in the 103rd-105th Congress.” Political Research Quarterly 56 (1).Google Scholar
King, David C. 1997. Turf Wars: How Congressional Committees Claim Jurisdiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkland, Justin H. 2011. “The Relational Determinants of Legislative Outcomes: Strong and Weak Ties between Legislators.” The Journal of Politics 73:887–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klarner, Carl, Berry, William, Carsey, Thomas, Jewell, Malcolm, Niemi, Richard, Powell, Lynda, and Snyder, James. 2013. “State Legislative Election Returns (1967-2010).” Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], Ann Arbor..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klingdon, J. W. 1984. Agendas, Alternative, and Pulbic Policy. Little Brown.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad. 2005. Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad. 2006. “The Limited Impact of Term Limits: Contingent Effects on the Complexity and Breadth of Laws.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 6 (4): 410–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makse, Todd. 2014. “Majority Party Change and Committee Jurisdictions in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 39 (3): 387–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maltzman, Forrest. 1997. Competing Principals: Committees, Parties, and the Organziation of Congress. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masters, Nicholas A. 1961. “Committee Assignments in the House of Representatives.” The American Political Science Review 55 (2): 345–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, Donald R. 1960. U.S. Senators and Their World. Random House.Google Scholar
Meyer, Katherine. 1980. “Legislative Influence: Toward Theory Development through Causal Analysis.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 5 (4): 563–585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miquel, Gerardo P., and Snyder, James M.. 2006. “Legislative Effectiveness and Legislative Careers.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 31:347–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Michael K., and Thomas, Sue. 1991. “Explaining Legislative Success in the U.S. Senate: The Role of the Majority and Minority Parties.” The Western Political Quarterly 44 (4): 959–970.Google Scholar
Munger, Michael C. 1988. “Allocation of Desirable Committee Assignments: Extended Queues versus Committee Expansion.” American Journal of Political Science 32 (2): 317–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overby, L. Marvin, and Thomas, A. Kazee. 2000. “Outlying Committees in the Statehouse: An Examination of the Prevalence of Committee Outliers in State Legislatures.” The Journal of Politics 62 (3): 701–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overby, L. Marvin, Kazee, Thomas A., and David, W. Prince. 2004. “Committee Outliers in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 29 (1): 81–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia and Skrondal, Anders. 2012. Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling Using Stata. 3rd ed. Stata Press.Google Scholar
Ray, Bruce A., and Smith, Steven S.. 1984. “Committee Size in the U.S. Congress.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 9:679–695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocca, Michael S., and Gordon, Stacy B.. 2010. “The Position-Taking Value of Bill Sponsorship in Congress.” Political Research Quarterly 63:387–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohde, David W., and Shepsle, Kenneth A.. 1973. “Democratic Committee Assignments in the House of Representatives: Strategic Aspects of a Social Choice Process.” The American Political Science Review 67 (3): 889–905.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth. 1978. The Giant Jigsaw Puzzle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth and Weingast, Barry R.. 1987. “The Institutional Foundations of Committee Power.” The American Political Science Review 81:85–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth and Weingast, Barry R.. 1994. “Positive Theories of Congressional Institutions.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 19:149–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shor, Boris, and McCarty, Nolan. 2011. “The Ideological Mapping of American Legislatures.” American Political Science Review 105:530–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Steven S., and Deering, Christopher J.. 1983. “Changing Motives for Committee Preferences of New Members of the U.S. House.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 8 (2): 271–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 1992. “Challenger Quality and Voting Behavior in US Senate Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:531–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2007. “Measuring State Legislative Professionalism: The Squire Index Revisited.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7:211–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2017. “A Squire Index Update.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 17 (4): 361–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Charles and Groseclose, Tim. 1999. “The Value of Committee Seats in the United States Senate, 1947-91.” American Journal of Political Science 43 (3): 963–973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sulkin, Tracy. 2011. The Legislative Legacy of Congressional Committees. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volden, Craig, and Wiseman, Alan E.. 2014. Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, W. 1885. Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics. United States: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry R., and Marshall, William. 1988. “The Industrial Organization of Congress: Or, Why Legislatures, like Firms, Are not Organized as Markets.” Journal of Political Economy 96:132–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissert, Carol S. 1991a. “Determinants and Outcomes of State Legislative Effectiveness.” Social Science Quarterly 72 (4): 797–806.Google Scholar
Weissert, Carol S. 1991b. “Issue Salience and State Legislative Effectiveness.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16 (4): 509–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westefield, Louis P. 1974. “Majority Party Leadership and the Committee System in the House of Representatives.” The American Political Science Review 68 (4): 1593–1604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Swift supplementary material

Additional Materials

Download Swift supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 290 KB