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Chapter 7 scrutinizes how Congress’s internal resources impact the quantity and quality of information received by committees. Amid concerns over diminishing congressional capacity and the waning role of support agencies, the chapter explores the repercussions of downsizing initiatives – such as the elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) – on committee information channels. Employing a difference-in-differences research design, the study reveals a stark decline in technical and scientific witnesses invited by committees heavily reliant on internally produced information post-OTA elimination. The findings underscore the critical role of robust congressional capacity in summoning research-based witnesses, emphasizing its pivotal significance in ensuring legislators’ access to vital scientific and technical insights.
This Element examines congressional party election agendas, asking first how they originate and what priorities within the party they strategically represent and, second, how they shape post-election legislative activity and policymaking. After surveying post-1980 agenda efforts, it focuses on two prominent cases, the Republican Contract with America (1994) and the Democratic New Direction for America (2006). Using archived records and other qualitative evidence, it shows that both agendas were leadership-driven but were developed in lengthy and relatively inclusive processes. Quantifying agenda content, it demonstrates that the parties strategically skewed agenda promises toward select segments of the caucus, as measured in bill introduction priorities, and the promises echoed leadership messaging from speeches and floor motions in the Congress before the election. After winning a majority, both parties shifted the House's legislative activity sharply toward agenda priorities, but the impact on policy outcomes was substantially constrained.
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