Informal Congressional Caucuses and Agenda Setting
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3192379 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan Webb Hammond (American University), Daniel P Mulhollan (Congressional Research Service), Arthur G Stevens (Centre College, Danville, KY) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 583-605 |
| Publication date | 1985-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Western Political Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-4078 • E-ISSN: 2325-8675 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591298503800407 |
| OpenAlex | W2029478006, W4232261801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 5 |
gressional caucuses as voluntary associations of members of Congress, without recognition in chamber rules or line item appropriations, which seek to have a role in the policy process. These groups have standard organizational attributes: a name, a membership list, leadership, and staffing arrangements. State delegations are informal groups if they have been accorded formal House recognition as Legislative Service Organizations.' In this paper we focus on caucuses and agenda setting. We identify caucus agenda setting activity, and specify further the nature of that activity by examining the following questions: Is caucus activity directed to some agendas but not to others (e.g., the congressional but not the administrative agenda)? Is caucus activity directed to certain types of issues but not others (e.g., discretionary but not nondiscretionary)?2 What factors affect caucus agenda activity - caucus leadership, membership, the nature of the issues of concern to the caucus? Is there systematic variation among different types of caucuses in setting or maintaining agendas? Data Ninety-five semifocused, open-ended interviews conducted during the 95th-98th Congresses with staff directors and top-level staff of the informal groups form the primary source of data for the study. The interviews cover the purposes, members, organization, and activities of each group, staffing, relationship to other actors and group involvement in policy and congressional operations. Thirty additional interviews with members of ConNo-nl: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Congressional Research Service. We are grateful to several anonymous reviewers and to Dean Mann for very helpful suggestions on a previous version of this article
Business · Caucus · Focus group · Legislative process · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Service (business) · Sociology · Staffing · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
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The Constituency Motivations of Caucus Membership
The Social Utility of Informal Institutions
Use of ‘Dear Colleague’ Letters in the US House of Representatives
The rise and fall of legislative service organisations in the United States Congress
Regime Type and Diaspora Politics
The adoption of women’s legislative caucuses worldwide
When good trouble sparks agenda change
The Grit in the Oyster? Women’s Parliamentary Organizations and the Substantive Representation of Women
Information Infrastructures for Black-Interest Advocacy in Congress
| Citations per year | 0.47 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1996 - 2023 (28) |
| Highly cited | No |