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The Committee System of the United States Congress

The Committee System of the United States Congress Agenda IV.B.3 Gerhard Casper* INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY OF TYPES OF COMMITTEES Intent on showing the American constitutional system "as it looks in operation," the young Woodrow Wilson asserted that the United States had a system of "congressional government" and that Congress delegated not only its legislative but also its deliberative functions to its standing committees. While Wilson himself was soon t o abandon the first of these propositions, the second continues to be valid, at least to a certain degree. As stated by one contemporary student of the congressional committee system, committees "matter", but they differ in "their influence in congressional decision mak­ ing, their autonomy, their success on the chamber floor, their expertise, the control exercised by their chairmen, and their domination by the executive branch." While the actualities of political rule in the United States during a given historical period may most accurately be characterized as congressional government, executive dominance, as plebiscitarian, or as reflecting the desires of special interest groups and elites, for purposes of understanding the Congress and its committee system, it is nevertheless indispensable to use as one's starting point the constitutional doctrine of checks and balances. However similar in some important respects the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Comparative Law Oxford University Press

The Committee System of the United States Congress

American Journal of Comparative Law , Volume 26 (suppl_1) – Dec 1, 1978

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1978 by The American Society of Comparative Law, Inc.
ISSN
0002-919X
eISSN
2326-9197
DOI
10.1093/ajcl/26.suppl1.359
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Agenda IV.B.3 Gerhard Casper* INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY OF TYPES OF COMMITTEES Intent on showing the American constitutional system "as it looks in operation," the young Woodrow Wilson asserted that the United States had a system of "congressional government" and that Congress delegated not only its legislative but also its deliberative functions to its standing committees. While Wilson himself was soon t o abandon the first of these propositions, the second continues to be valid, at least to a certain degree. As stated by one contemporary student of the congressional committee system, committees "matter", but they differ in "their influence in congressional decision mak­ ing, their autonomy, their success on the chamber floor, their expertise, the control exercised by their chairmen, and their domination by the executive branch." While the actualities of political rule in the United States during a given historical period may most accurately be characterized as congressional government, executive dominance, as plebiscitarian, or as reflecting the desires of special interest groups and elites, for purposes of understanding the Congress and its committee system, it is nevertheless indispensable to use as one's starting point the constitutional doctrine of checks and balances. However similar in some important respects the

Journal

American Journal of Comparative LawOxford University Press

Published: Dec 1, 1978

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