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Participation and Purpose in Committee Decision Making

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  • Hall, Richard L.

Abstract

Participation in committee decision making is an important form of legislative behavior but one we know little about. I develop a model of committee participation and test it using data drawn from staff interviews and records of the House Committee on Education and Labor. The analysis confirms that congressmen are purposive actors, but it also shows that different interests incite participation on different issues and that motivational effects vary in predictable ways across legislative contexts. If members are purposive, however, they also face a variable set of opportunities and constraints that structure their ability to act. Members and especially leaders of the reporting subcommittee, for instance, enjoy advantages in terms of information, staff, and lines of political communication. At the same time, freshman status entails behavioral constraints despite the reputed demise of apprenticeship in legislative life. Understanding such patterns of interest and ability, I conclude, should permit us to illuminate several larger questions regarding decision making and representation in a decentralized Congress.

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  • Hall, Richard L., 1987. "Participation and Purpose in Committee Decision Making," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 105-127, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:81:y:1987:i:01:p:105-127_19
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    Cited by:

    1. Ronald N. Johnson & Gary D. Libecap, 2003. "Transaction Costs and Coalition Stability under Majority Rule," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 193-207, April.
    2. Berry, Christopher R. & Fowler, Anthony, 2018. "Congressional committees, legislative influence, and the hegemony of chairs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 1-11.
    3. Ekor, Maxwell & Katz, Menachem & Iweala, Ola, 2014. "Estimating Legislative Effectiveness in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 107696, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Stavins, Robert & Keohane, Nathaniel & Revesz, Richard, 1997. "The Positive Political Economy of Instrument Choice in Environmental Policy," RFF Working Paper Series dp-97-25, Resources for the Future.
    5. William Browne & Won Paik, 1997. "Initiating home-style issues in a postreform Congress," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 14(1), pages 81-95, March.

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