Go to next abstracteric schickler and john sides
Intergenerational
Warfare:
The Senate Decentralizes Appropriations
Legislative Studies Quarterly
XXV:551-75
Most
accounts portray the 1890–1910 period of congressional history as an exemplary
instance of highly centralized party government. However, we contend that this
interpretation obscures other important forces driving institutional development
during this time. In 1899, the Senate approved a rule change dispersing
jurisdiction over appropriations bills. This change added a significant
centrifugal element to the Senate committee system. Taking advantage of new
evidence, in particular a petition circulated by supporters of the reform, we
assess competing explanations for the appropriations decentralization. We find
that junior senators’ demands for increased access to power played an
important role in this change. By contrast, partisan considerations played an
insignificant role. The 1899 reform indicates the relevance of a causal variable
that scholars have typically ignored: “intergenerational warfare” among
members of Congress who differ in seniority level. Sectional differences were
another key motivation for decentralization. This change, therefore, not only
forces a reevaluation of the depiction of the turn-of-the-century Senate as a
highly centralized institution, but also suggests the multiple kinds of
coalitions that drive congressional development.