The Evolving Congress
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113TH CONGRESS " ! S. PRT. 2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 113–30 THE EVOLVING CONGRESS COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION UNITED STATES SENATE DECEMBER 2014 PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6012 Sfmt 6012 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE congress.#13 THE EVOLVING CONGRESS VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6019 Sfmt 6019 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE 1 113TH CONGRESS " ! S. PRT. 2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 113–30 THE EVOLVING CONGRESS COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION UNITED STATES SENATE DECEMBER 2014 PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 89–394 PDF WASHINGTON : 2014 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5012 Sfmt 5012 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE congress.#13 VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5012 Sfmt 5012 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE LETTER OF SUBMITTAL CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Washington, DC, November 12, 2014. Hon. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, Chairman, Committee on Rules and Administration, U.S. Senate DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am pleased to submit the study entitled ‘‘The Evolving Congress,’’ which was prepared by the Congressional Research Service. This compendium of 22 reports was written by staff of the Gov- ernment and Finance Division during the CRS centennial year. It is a fitting contribution by the Service whose mission is not only to analyze the domestic and international issues that impact the legislative agenda but also to advise on the future organization and operations of Congress and the institution’s policymaking process. The goal of this project is to inform the legislative debate moving forward by examining how and why Congress evolved over the pre- vious decades to where it is today. In addition to the analysts and information professionals who prepared the various pieces that make up ‘‘The Evolving Congress,’’ the project was coordinated and reviewed by Government and Fi- nance Division staff, including Pamela Jackson, Walter J. Oleszek, John Haskell, Michael L. Koempel, Matthew E. Glassman, James Saturno, and Robert Jay Dilger. I trust the committee will find the study thought provoking and valuable as you consider issues of congressional operations. It should also serve the wider audience of congressional scholars and all those interested in the history and processes of the First Branch. Sincerely, Dr. MARY MAZANEC, Director. (iii) VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE PREFACE For 100 years, the Congressional Research Service has been charged with providing nonpartisan and authoritative research and analysis to inform the legislative debate in Congress. This has in- volved a wide range of services, such as written reports on issues and the legislative process, consultations with Members and their staff, seminars on policy and procedural matters, and congressional testimony. In recent years, CRS has expanded its service by pro- viding a wider range of electronic products and enhancing its Web site to facilitate ease of Member and staff use. For this congressional committee print, the Government and Fi- nance Division at CRS took a step back from its intensive day-to- day service to Congress to analyze important trends in the evo- lution of the institution—its organization and policymaking proc- ess—over the last many decades. Changes in the political land- scape, technology, and representational norms have required Con- gress to evolve as the Nation’s most democratic national institution of governance. The essays in this print demonstrate that Congress has been a flexible institution that has changed markedly in recent years in response to the social and political environment. In assessing Congress, it is also important to be mindful of what has not changed. For one thing, the institution has always been subject to criticism, as described by Walter Oleszek in one of the two overview pieces in Part I of this committee print, ‘‘The Evolv- ing Congress: Overview and Analysis of the Modern Era.’’ Often the criticism centers around so-called ‘‘gridlock’’ on major issues. But it bears mentioning that the constitutional design, another constant, militates against speed and efficiency and in favor of de- liberation. That Congress is not moving fast enough on certain issues to sat- isfy certain observers overlooks the fact that, historically, major legislation has almost always taken time to enact. Civil rights and Medicare both required debate and deliberation stretching over multiple Congresses before enactment. Today, the big policy de- bates are every bit as complex as those were, and in some respects may be more so given rapidly evolving technologies and the inter- national dimension of so many issues. Cybersecurity, environment challenges, fiscal pressures from entitlements, and immigration re- form, to name a few, present daunting challenges to lawmakers in the coming years. Partisanship is also a constant. Indeed the current level of par- tisanship that is often decried—characterized by the relative ideo- logical homogeneity within the two parties along with the ideolog- ical distance between them—is by no means unprecedented. It is also true that contemporary polarization is a reflection of a prin- (v) VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE vi cipled struggle over the proper role of the Federal Government. A serious debate is taking place in Congress that reflects disagree- ment and unease throughout the country, and there is nothing ‘‘wrong’’ or ‘‘broken’’ about that debate. However, this era of strong partisanship is likely no more perma- nent than others in the past. New issues and new movements in- evitably disrupt the status quo in the country, the Congress, and the party system. Witness the impact of the rise of the Progressives early in the 20th century, changes in the composition of both par- ties as a result of the civil rights movement, and controversial Su- preme Court decisions in the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond, as well as the effect of the tax revolt in the late 1970s. After Walter Oleszek’s piece, Michael Koempel looks broadly at how the job of a Member has evolved in the last half century. He addresses the dramatic changes in the information environment, resulting in increased demands from constituents; the social changes that have profoundly affected the context of representa- tion; and the way the campaign environment—increased costs and fundraising pressures—has evolved. These changes, together with the evolution of the party coalitions and the environment of par- tisanship described by Oleszek, have led to a different context for the consideration of legislation. Koempel describes how the roles of party leaders and committees in both Chambers have evolved; even the way legislation is handled on the floors of the two Chambers is different in important ways now than it was 30, 40, or 50 years ago. The message: the life of Members, with respect to both their legislative and representational roles, has changed in irrevocable ways since the 1960s and 1970s. Part II of the print, ‘‘The Members of Congress,’’ building on Oleszek’s and Koempel’s contributions, includes several reports de- scribing specific aspects of the life of a Member of Congress. Mat- thew Glassman considers how social media may affect Members in the performance of their representative role. Mark Oleszek takes a different tack in assessing the life of a Member, by investigating the nature of relationships in the Senate over the last 30 years. He finds that collaborative relationships are central to lawmaking but that opportunities to work together have decreased in recent years. Jennifer Williams, Ida Brudnick, and Jennifer Manning examine the changing demographics of the congressional membership, a membership that is much more diverse than previously, but which still is not representative of the Nation in significant ways. Brudnick separately details how congressional staffing has evolved over time, with implications for how Members do their work. Kevin Coleman and Sam Garrett write about the changing envi- ronment in congressional election campaigns in recent decades. They note in detail the differences in the campaign context 50 years ago or so and now, but ultimately conclude that the fun- damentals of campaigns are the same—candidates still need to identify, communicate with, and motivate potential voters. New technologies and other innovations in electioneering are merely means to the same end. Jessica Gerrity analyzes the public’s view of Congress over the last 40 years. She concludes that Congress’ consistently low popu- larity is, in part, due to factors beyond its control, but at the same VerDate Aug 31 2005 10:50 Nov 14, 2014 Jkt 089394 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 H:\DOCS\EVOLVING\89394.TXT KAYNE vii time may have systemic consequences. At the end of this group of reports, Jacob Straus wades into the question of measuring the productivity of one Congress against another. His contribution is that glib representations of a given Congress’ productivity, or lack thereof, not only ignore methodological complexities, but also gen- erally fail to consider that any such judgments are inherently value-laden.