The Congressional Endgame : Interchamber Bargaining and Compromise / Josh M. Ryan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ryan, Josh M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislation--United States.

Legislation.

Congress.

bicameralism.

conference committees.

party power.

polarization.

Local Subjects:

Congress.

bicameralism.

conference committees.

party power.

polarization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Congress is a bicameral legislature in which both the House and Senate must pass a bill before it can be enacted into law. The US bicameral system also differs from most democracies in that the two chambers have relatively equal power to legislate and must find ways to resolve their disputes. In the current landscape of party polarization, this contentious process has become far more chaotic, leading to the public perception that the House and Senate are unwilling or unable to compromise and calling into question the effectiveness of the bicameral system itself. With The Congressional Endgame, Josh M. Ryan offers a coherent explanation of how the bicameral legislative process works in Congress and shows that the types of policy outcomes it produces are in line with those intended by the framers of the Constitution. Although each bargaining outcome may seem idiosyncratic, the product of strong leadership and personality politics, interchamber bargaining outcomes in Congress are actually structured by observable institutional factors. Ryan finds that the characteristics of the winning coalition are critically important to which chamber "wins" after bargaining, with both conference committees and an alternative resolution venue, amendment trading, creating policy that approximates the preferences of the more moderate chamber. Although slow and incremental, interchamber negotiations serve their intended purpose well, The Congressional Endgame shows; they increase the odds of compromise while at the same time offering a powerful constraint on dramatic policy changes.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Does Bicameralism Work in the Modern Congress?

Chapter 2. Postpassage Resolution in Historical and Contemporary Context: Process, Procedures, and Controversies

Chapter 3. A Bargaining Theory of Postpassage Resolution

Chapter 4. Bargaining Frequency and the Use of Conference Committees or Amendment Trading

Chapter 5. Conferee Discretion and Bill Failure in Conference Committees

Chapter 6. Conference Committees and Policy Change after Passage

Chapter 7. Bill Failure and Policy Change as a Result of Amendment Trading

Chapter 8. Conclusion: Postpassage Resolution and Legislative Outcomes

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 22. Okt 2019)

ISBN:

9780226582375

022658237X

OCLC:

1056952141