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Knowledge, Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress
Author(s) -
Curry James M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
legislative studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.728
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1939-9162
pISSN - 0362-9805
DOI - 10.1111/lsq.12219
Subject(s) - legislation , legislature , house of representatives , legislative process , power (physics) , order (exchange) , political science , set (abstract data type) , process (computing) , public administration , law , sociology , public relations , business , computer science , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
Scholars, practitioners, and observers typically portray committee influence as rooted in traditional congressional processes and practices, which are thought to provide committees with powerful opportunities to block and shape legislative proposals. The erosion of regular order processes suggests these traditional processes cannot underlie committee power in the contemporary Congress. Drawing on a mixed‐methods approach of interviews with congressional staff and an original data set of every amendment offered on the floor of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, I find that absent these traditional process norms, committees in the contemporary Congress can rely on their specialized knowledge and expertise to influence the behavior of their colleagues and shape the legislation that passes.