Congress Overwhelmed

Timothy M. LaPira is associate professor of political science at James Madison University. He is coauthor, with Herschel F. Thomas, of Revolving Door Lobbying. Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation think tank. He is the author of The Business of America Is Lobbying. Kevin R. Kosar is vice president of policy at the R Street Institute think tank in Washington, DC, where he directs its Alcohol Policy Program. He is the author of Moonshine and Whiskey, both published by Reaktion Books.

“Congress Overwhelmed brings together a strong set of congressional scholars addressing some of the most important issues facing the institution today. It will appeal not just to other scholars but also to observers of Congress, such as members of the media, staffers, and anyone working in and around Capitol Hill. The book offers an honest assessment of existing congressional limitations and how Congress can become more productive and functional."

• 1              Overwhelmed: An Introduction to Congress’s Capacity ProblemTimothy M. LaPira, Lee Drutman, and Kevin R. Kosar  Part 1    The Foundations of Congressional Capacity2              Capacity for What? Legislative Capacity Regimes in Congress and the Possibilities for ReformLee Drutman and Timothy M. LaPira3              The Decline in Congressional CapacityMolly E. Reynolds4              How Congress Fell Behind the Executive BranchPhilip A. Wallach  Part 2    Knowledge and Expertise in Congress5              The Congressional Capacity Survey: Who Staff Are, How They Got There, What They Do, and Where They May GoAlexander C. Furnas, Lee Drutman, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Timothy M. LaPira, and Kevin R. Kosar6              What Do Congressional Staff Actually Know?Kristina C. Miler7              How Committee Staffers Clear the Runway for Legislative Action in CongressCasey Burgat and Charles Hunt8              Legislative Branch Support Agencies: What They Are, What They Do, and Their Uneasy Position in Our System of GovernmentKevin R. Kosar  Part 3    The Politics of Capacity in the Legislative Process9              Still Muddling Along? Assessing the Hybrid Congressional Appropriations ProcessPeter Hanson10           Congress and the Capacity to Act: Overcoming Gridlock in the Senate’s Amendment ProcessJames Wallner11           The Issue Dynamics of Congressional CapacityJonathan Lewallen, Sean M. Theriault, and Bryan D. Jones12           Congressional Capacity and ReauthorizationsE. Scott Adler, Stefani R. Langehennig, and Ryan W. Bell13           How Experienced Legislative Staff Contribute to Effective LawmakingJesse M. Crosson, Geoffrey M. Lorenz, Craig Volden, and Alan E. Wiseman14           Capacity in a Centralized CongressJames M. Curry and Frances E. Lee15           Congressional Capacity and Bipartisanship in CongressLaurel Harbridge-Yong  Part 4    Capacity and the Politics of Reform16           Lessons from the History of ReformRuth Bloch Rubin17           Dodging Dead Cats: What Would It Take to Get Congress to Expand Capacity?Anthony Madonna and Ian Ostrander  AcknowledgmentsNotesReferencesList of ContributorsIndexOnline appendixes are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/congressionalcapacity/.