Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-fnpn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T06:08:15.234Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

If It Ain't Broke Bad, Don't Fix It A Lot

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

C. Lawrence Evans  and
Walter J. Oleszek
C. Lawrence Evans
Affiliation:
College of William and Mary
Walter J. Oleszek
Affiliation:
Congressional Research Service
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The House of Representatives is one of the most dynamic of governmental institutions. Formally and informally, the House regularly revises its rules, procedures, practices, and structures to adapt and adjust to, among other things, membership and workload changes. Absent its capacities for reform, the House would soon find itself unable to meet the diverse challenges of the day. Generally, the House's reorganization imperative is driven by the constant influx of new lawmakers who bring fresh perspectives on how the House should work; typically, they want to make changes in the status quo.

Type
Research Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 31 , Issue 1: 30th Anniversary Issue , March 1998 , pp. 24 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The authors thank Ron Rapoport for his helpful review of this article.

References

Connor, George E., and Oppenheimer, Bruce I. 1993. “Deliberation: An Untimed Value in a Time Game.” In Congress Reconsidered, 5th ed., ed. Dodd, Lawrence C. and Oppenheimer, Bruce I.. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Doubrava, Dave. 1985. “House Democrats Huddle Over Plans.” The Washington Times, March 1, A4.Google Scholar
Hibbing, John R., and Thiess-Morse, Elizabeth. 1995. Congress as Public Enemy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 1997. Civility in the House of Representatives: A Background Report. Philadelphia: Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Jones, Charles O. 1994. “Radical Change in Makeup of Congress Will Occur Regardless of Reform Efforts.” Roll Call, August 8, 30.Google Scholar
Mann, Thomas E., and Ornstein, Norman J. 1993. Renewing Congress, A Second Report. Washington, DC: The American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
McInnis, Mary, ed. 1966. We Propose: A Modern Congress. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. 1974. Committee Reform Amendments of 1974. 93rd Cong., 2d sess., H. Rept. 916, pt. II.Google Scholar
U.S. Congress. Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. 1993. Committee Structure. 103rd Cong., 1st sess., April 29.Google Scholar
Uslaner, Eric. 1993. The Decline of Comity in Congress. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar