Studying Changes in the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives: Electorial Forces and Majority Control

本项目研究了在环境中的变化之间的关系 美国众议院立法程序规则 选举环境。 规则的起源在 国会具有重大的理论意义。 许多研究 国会记录了历史性规则变化的发生 而其他人则创造了理论模型， 制度规则对决定有独立影响 政策成果在会议厅。 此外， 在国会层面，美国政党认为， 政党的变化是对美国议程变化的回应。 这个项目探索和测试的程度， 选民也引起了众议院规则的变化， 应对不断变化的选举需求。 具体而言，该项目 测试选举影响之间的关系， 制度变革：不会直接发生重大规则变化 在联盟发生迅速而重大的变化之后， 组成两大政党， 分裂他们并主导政治。 测试这个假设需要创建一个数据库， 在美国众议院提出的规则修改。 一个主要产品的 项目将建立一个数据库， 从第一届到第一届众议院规则的变化 第一百届国会。 数据将不会收集的大小和 众议院各政党的凝聚力，因为 其他地方可用。 主要数据来源是《联合国日刊》， 国会每届会议的众议院。 的 第十六届至第一百届国会的期刊是 主要研究者所在机构提供。 所收集的数据将与大学间 哥伦比亚大学政治和社会研究联合会 密歇根 该数据库将使进一步的研究， 大大加深了我们对这一主题的理解。

This project investigates the relationship between changes in the rules of legislative procedure of the U.S. House of Representatives and the electoral environment. The genesis of rules changes in the Congress is of significant theoretical interest. Many studies of Congress have chronicled the occurrence of historic rules changes in the House while others have created theoretical models of why institutional rules have an independent effect on the determination of policy outcomes within the chamber. In addition, students of American political parties, at the congressional level, have argued that party change was responsive to changes in the American agenda. This project explores and tests the degree to which the changes in the electorate also caused changes in the rules of the House as a response to changing electoral demands. Specifically, the project tests the following relationship between electoral influences and institutional change: major rules changes will not occur directly after rapid and major alterations take place in the coalitions that make up the two major political parties and in the issues that divide them and dominate politics. Testing this hypothesis requires the creation of a database on proposed rules changes in the U.S. House. A major product of the project will be the creation of a database concerning proposed changes of the rules in the House from the First through the One Hundredth Congress. Data will not be collected on the size and cohesion of the political parties in the House since that is available elsewhere. The primary data source is the Journal of the House of Representatives for each session of Congress. The Journals for the Sixteenth through the Hundredth Congress are available at the host institution of the Principal Investigator. The data collected will be archived with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. This database should enable further research which will enhance substantially our understanding of the topic.