Slides

1. POL 375
Spring 2018

8.  Standing Committees
 Permanent Committees
 Major Policy Areas (e.g. Budget, Judiciary)
 Select or Special Committees
 Temporary Committees (e.g. investigations)
 Focused on narrow issues
 Joint Committees
 Both House and Senate membership
 Conference Committees
 Resolve House and Senate versions of passed legislation

10.  Division of Labor
 Smaller, more specialized groups
 Select Bills to Advance in Legislative Process
 Hold Public Hearings and Investigations

11.  DistributiveTheory
 Policy Expertise  Re-Election
 Allocative Representation (“Bring Home Bacon”)
 InformationalTheory
 Policy Expertise  Judgments In Society
 Goal: Formulate Solutions to Societal Problems
 PartisanTheory
 Committees represent party caucuses
 Members support party program / agenda

13.  Member Goals
 Re-Election
 Good Public Policy
 Power and Prestige
 Environmental Constraints
 Party Leaders
 Other Members
 Interest Groups
 President and Executive Branch

14.  Good Public Policy
 Education and Workforce, Judiciary
 Re-Election
 Agriculture, Armed Services,Transportation
 Power and Prestige
 Appropriations, Ways and Means, Rules

16.  Party with majority in each chamber (GOP)
also has majority of seats on committees
 Committee Chair chosen from majority party
 Ranking Member chosen from minority party
 Committee membership divided in proportion
to percentage of control in House and Senate
 All committees have subcommittees

17.  Members of Congress fight for certain chair
positions.
 Committee chairs often have great power—
though not as much as they used to.
 Certain committees are more prestigious
 Each member of Congress can only serve on
a limited number of committees.

18. INSTRUCTIONS
With your group, determine which House and Senate
committee (and if possible, subcommittee) would have
jurisdiction in each of the described scenarios.