How Empiricism, Experience & Democratic Norms Evolve in Legislative Institutions

• In Event: American Political Development

Abstract

Many conventional accounts of the founding of American government emphasize the influence of great political philosophers and theorists in the development of core features of the Constitution and the structure of its most representative branch – the U.S. Congress. Yet the framers granted future generations of legislators the responsibility and agency to structure the legislative branch to respond to changing needs. This project examines what influences policymakers’ beliefs about the structure of institutions, and how such influences have changed over time in response to broader political, cultural, social, and economic shifts. It seeks to reconcile competing views among scholars about the enduring influence of political philosophers, partisanship, ideology, and learning, among others, in the structure of American government. How do legislators develop – and change – their attitudes on democratic and anti-democratic rules and procedures? How do legislators weigh competing factors in their decision to support or oppose changes to legislative structures, including their own partisan motivations, professional career experience, expertise, electoral and constituent demands, and democratic norms? This project will examine several historical and contemporary case studies of reform in the U.S. House and Senate, including the 2017-2018 Joint Select Committee on Budget & Appropriations Process Reform, the 1992 Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, 1945 Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, and the 1967 Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. I will leverage significant primary source data, including archival documents and interviews, to identify and analyze how members justify their support for specific legislative structures, and trace the evolution of ideas about legislative structures over the 20th and 21st centuries. The findings have significant theoretical and normative implications for legislative development today, including the arguments likely to be most effective at persuading members to support reforms to improve legislative capacity, responsiveness, and representation.

Author

• Emily Baer, University of New Hampshire