Legislating in the Dark
Chicago Studies in American Politics
A SERIES EDITED BY BENJAMIN I. PAGE, SUSAN HERBST, LAWRENCE R. JACOBS, AND ADAM J. BERINSKY
Also in the series:
Who Governs? Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation by James N. Druckman and Lawrence R. Jacobs
Trapped in Americas Safety Net: One Familys Struggle by Andrea Louise Campbell
Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control by Amy E. Lerman and Vesla M. Weaver
How the States Shaped the Nation: American Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout, 19202000 by Melanie Jean Springer
The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending by Rebecca U. Thorpe
Changing Minds or Changing Channels? Partisan News in an Age of Choice by Kevin Arceneaux and Martin Johnson
Trading Democracy for Justice: Criminal Convictions and the Decline of Neighborhood Political Participation by Traci Burch
White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making by Nicholas Carnes
How Partisan Media Polarize America by Matthew Levendusky
The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration by Natalie Masuoka and Jane Junn
Political Tone: How Leaders Talk and Why by Roderick P. Hart, Jay P. Childers, and Colene J. Lind
The Timeline of Presidential Elections: How Campaigns Do (and Do Not) Matter by Robert S. Erikson and Christopher Wlezien
Learning while Governing: Expertise and Accountability in the Executive Branch by Sean Gailmard and John W. Patty
Electing Judges: The Surprising Effects of Campaigning on Judicial Legitimacy by James L. Gibson
Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians Policies and Performance by Gabriel S. Lenz
The Social Citizen: Peer Networks and Political Behavior by Betsy Sinclair
the submerged state: how invisible government policies undermine american democracy by Suzanne Mettler
Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race by Joe Soss, Richard C. Fording, and Sanford F. Schram
Why Parties? A Second Look by John H. Aldrich
News That Matters: Television and American Opinion, updated edition by Shanto Iyengar and Donald R. Kinder
Selling Fear: Counterterrorism, the Media, and Public Opinion by Brigitte L. Nacos, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, and Robert Y. Shapiro
Obamas Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-racial America by Michael Tesler and David O. Sears
Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate by Gregory Koger
In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq by Adam J. Berinsky
Us against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion by Donald R. Kinder and Cindy D. Kam
The Partisan Sort: How Liberals Became Democrats and Conservatives Became Republicans by Matthew Levendusky
Democracy at Risk: How Terrorist Threats Affect the Public by Jennifer L. Merolla and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister
Agendas and Instability in American Politics, 2nd edition by Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones
The Private Abuse of the Public Interest by Lawrence D. Brown and Lawrence R. Jacobs
The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations before and after Reform by Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller
Same Sex, Different Politics: Success and Failure in the Struggles over Gay Rights by Gary Mucciaroni
Legislating in the Dark
Information and Power in the House of Representatives
JAMES M. CURRY
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
JAMES M. CURRY is assistant professor of political science at the University of Utah. In 2011 and 2012, he was an APSA Congressional Fellow in the office of Illinois congressman Daniel Lipinski.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN -13: 978-0-226-28168-1 (cloth)
ISBN -13: 978-0-226-28171-1 (paper)
ISBN -13: 978-0-226-28185-8 (e-book)
DOI : 10.7208/chicago/9780226281858.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Curry, James M., author.
Legislating in the dark : information and power in the House of Representatives / James M. Curry.
pages cm (Chicago studies in American politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-28168-1 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-226-28171-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-226-28185-8 (ebook) 1. United States. Congress. House. 2. Legislative bodiesUnited States. I. Title. II. Series: Chicago studies in American politics.
JK 1319. C 89 2015
328.73072dc23
2015008521
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI / NISO Z 39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
For Jill, Louise, and Henry
Contents
This book was born in the summer of 2007 within the close quarters of a House Appropriations subcommittee office in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC. There I experienced the efforts of committee leaders and their staff to craft and manage a bill, and then navigate it through subcommittee, committee, and the House floor. It matured in 2012 during my time as an American Political Science Association congressional fellow. In the only slightly less cramped quarters of a members office, I lived the battle to help my boss legislate. This book would not have been possible without these experiences and the generosity of the people I worked for and alongside. To Deborah Bilek, Bob Bonner, Frank Carrillo, Karyn Kendall, and Dale Oakthe majority staff of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Governmentand to Congressman Dan Lipinski and his impressive staff, Jason Day, Eric Lausten, Sofya Leonova, Brian Oszakiewski, Frank Pigulski, Jennifer Sypolt, John Veysey, and Nathaniel Zimmer, I am forever indebted.
I am no less in debt to the thirty-two anonymous members of Congress and congressional staffers who took time out of their busy schedules to talk with an inquisitive political scientist. For all the ways this book may appear critical of the United States Congress, it is not a criticism of the individuals who serve and work there. Members of Congress and their staffs are among the hardest-working people I know. Their jobs are stressful, grueling, and often demoralizing, and as a reward they earn the publics ire. Yet I have no doubt that if more people had the opportunity to experience their world as I have, their public approval would be much higher.
My debts extend well beyond Capitol Hill. The University of Maryland and the University of Utah were stimulating intellectual homes as I conducted this research. At both, numerous supportive colleagues and faculty offered feedback and advice. At Maryland an early attempt at this research benefited greatly from presentation at the American Politics Workshop, where I received a tremendous amount of helpful feedback. At Utah I have continued to profit from generous institutional support, including Matt Haydons invaluable research assistance.
Along the way, a number of people from these institutions and elsewhere provided important commentary and advice, including Michael Bailey, Jeff Biggs, Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Chris Foreman, Matt Green, Thad Hall, Laurel Harbridge, Paul Herrnson, Irwin Morris, Tracy Sulkin, and Jeffrey Taylor. I am especially indebted to Peri Schwartz-Shea, who read and commented on multiple drafts. Her advice focused my attention on things I had not even perceived as important and shaped how I view and understand my own research and the way it is presented in this book. Sarah Binder too gave instrumental feedback and posed several challenging questions at a crucial stage in this project. She also suggested the books title, which is undoubtedly superior to anything I could have given it.
