Legislators, leaders, and lawmaking: the U.S. House of Representatives in the postreform era

Abstract

Although Congress has never been popular, it has in recent years been the subject of particularly relentless and bitter criticism: gridlock is the central problem plaguing American government, say many, and Congress is to blame. According to Barbara Sinclair, the contemporary political environment has made legislating extraordinarily difficult. Huge deficits and, until 1993, deep policy differences between the president and congressional majorities have complicated already difficult choices. In this context, Sinclair asks, how has House not only performed its legislative functions but also managed to enhance its role in the American political system? In Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking Sinclair traces the emergence during the 1980s House majority party leadership that is highly active and deeply involved in multiple aspects of legislative process, but one that leads by means of a participatory and inclusive style. Drawing on extensive interviews with House members, staffs, and informed observers, she describes the changing role of the leadership from the prereform period, through the immediate post reform years, to the present. The reforms of the 1970s, Sinclair argues, combined with the constraints of the 1980s political environment to give effective leadership an importance in the legislative process unprecedented in the modem era. As a result, the book's focus on party leadership provides a vantage point for understanding the legislative process in the House and the major changes that process has undergone in the last several decades.