Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Preface
- PART I COSTLY CONSIDERATION
- PART II SENATE PROCEDURE AND CONSIDERATION COSTS
- 4 Committees and Senate Agenda Setting
- 5 Scheduling Bills in the Senate
- 6 The Effects of Filibusters
- 7 The Disposition of Majority and Minority Amendments
- 8 Killing Amendments with Tabling Motions and Points of Order
- 9 The Effects of Amendments
- PART III TESTING THE COSTLY-CONSIDERATION THEORY
- Appendix A Relaxing the Model's Assumptions
- Appendix B Last Actions and Coding Amendment Disposition
- Works Cited
- Index
4 - Committees and Senate Agenda Setting
from PART II - SENATE PROCEDURE AND CONSIDERATION COSTS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Preface
- PART I COSTLY CONSIDERATION
- PART II SENATE PROCEDURE AND CONSIDERATION COSTS
- 4 Committees and Senate Agenda Setting
- 5 Scheduling Bills in the Senate
- 6 The Effects of Filibusters
- 7 The Disposition of Majority and Minority Amendments
- 8 Killing Amendments with Tabling Motions and Points of Order
- 9 The Effects of Amendments
- PART III TESTING THE COSTLY-CONSIDERATION THEORY
- Appendix A Relaxing the Model's Assumptions
- Appendix B Last Actions and Coding Amendment Disposition
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Congressional scholars often emphasize procedural and agenda-setting differences between the House and Senate. The chambers' committee systems, however, are broadly similar. Moreover, the Senate majority party advantage at the committee stage is recognized – though not emphasized – as part of the conventional view of the Senate.
This chapter thus differs from those that follow inasmuch as it is not about presenting evidence contesting the conventional view. Rather, we provide an overview of Senate committee procedures and literature related to various aspects of committee behavior, then present data illustrating the legislative results of committee action. It is like the other chapters, however, in that it is focused on presenting the sources of the majority party's consideration cost advantage.
We begin by briefly summarizing the processes for making committee appointments and selecting committee chairs. The next section examines bill introduction and referral, and is followed by a section about committee action on bills, with particular emphasis on the powers of chairs. In the final section, we present data comparing the proportion of each committee's referred bills sponsored by senators of each party with the proportion of each committee's reported bills sponsored by senators of each party. We show not only that the majority party repeatedly sponsors proportions of referred bills greater than its share of Senate seats, but also that the proportion of majority-sponsored bills reported from committee is even more disproportionate to the majority's share of the chamber's seats.
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- Agenda Setting in the U.S. SenateCostly Consideration and Majority Party Advantage, pp. 62 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011