The Congressional Caucus of Today

1915 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilder H. Haines
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Direct Control ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Legislative Action ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rules Committee ◽  
New System ◽  
Preceding Session

The convening of the 64th congress makes timely a brief discussion of the organization and operation of the Democratic caucus system in the house of representatives during the last two congresses; since the Democratic party remains in control of the present congress, it is to be presumed that the past caucus system will be continued in substantially the same form.The caucus system used in the 62d and 63d congresses was adopted by the Democrats, upon their accession to control of the house in 1910, to replace Cannonism, which had become of ill repute among the voters, and which had been partly over-thrown at the preceding session. The unwieldy size of the house, as well as the exigencies of party, required some extra-legal machinery to coördinate and direct the action of the members; the substitute chosen by the Democratic leaders was an adaptation of the senate caucus, formerly known as Aldrichism. The essence of Cannonism had been the control of the house by the speaker through his power of appointment of committees and his domination of the rules committee, backed by the power of the majority party caucus; the essence of the new system is direct control of legislative action by the caucus itself.

Caucus Governance and the Emergence of the Organizational Cartel, 1861–1891

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery A. Jenkins ◽  
Charles Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Antebellum Era ◽  
The Family ◽  
Organizational Arrangement

This chapter examines the emergence of the organizational cartel based on caucus decision making during the period 1861–1891. It considers how the caucus-induced, organizational arrangement solved the lingering instability that had often plagued speakership decisions during the antebellum era. It also shows how the binding party caucus on organizational matters institutionalized and evolved into an equilibrium institution, with both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party embracing the practice of keeping the organization of the House of Representatives “in the family” rather than risking potential complications on the floor. In short, the majority party had finally become an organizational cartel. The chapter explains how the organizational cartel allowed the majority party to control the election of the Speaker and other House officers, as well as the more general makeup of the chamber.

New US Trade Policy: A Turning Point?

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Maria Fabiana Jorge
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Trade Policy

Trade agreements on intellectual property (IP) became a useful tool for patent holders to increase their exclusive marketing rights around the world. Bilateral agreements have gradually increased the standards of protection beyond those of the TRIPS agreement creating a growing imbalance between the rights of IP holders on one side and those of consumers and the generic industry, on the other. After the Democratic Party became the majority party in the US Congress in January 2007, the new leadership of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives forced the US Trade Representative to reopen the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Peru, Panama and Colombia, the ratification of which was pending, and introduced substantial changes to the final texts to reduce the negative effects on access to medicines posed by the original agreements. This seems to mark a significant turning point but all will depend on how these governments implement the FTAs into their national laws and on whether they actually take advantage of this opportunity. Will other governments follow the leadership shown by the Ways and Means Committee?

Majority Party Leadership and the Committee System in the House of Representatives

1974 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1593-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis P. Westefield
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Leadership Strategy ◽  
Explicit Theory

In this paper one party leadership strategy with respect to the committee system of the House is examined. Building on several relatively clear concepts such as compliance, quality of assignment, expectation, scarcity, and exchange, a very elementary, yet explicit, theory is constructed. It is shown that the leaders pursue a strategy of accommodation. The leaders increase the number of positions on those committees prized by the members in order to guarantee a steady supply of resources to gain leverage with the members. But a steady increase in the supply of positions reduces the scarcity of positions and hence their value to the leaders. Thus, a consequence of the strategy is the need periodically to reorganize or make adjustments in the committee system.

Subverting the Organizational Cartel: Explaining Cross-Party Leadership Selection in U.S. State Houses

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-483
Author(s):  
Matthew N. Green
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
State Legislatures ◽  
State Level ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Leadership Selection ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Party Ideology ◽  
Level I ◽  
Selection Of

In the U.S. House of Representatives, the majority party constitutes an organizational cartel that monopolizes the selection of chamber leaders. But in state legislatures, that cartel power is sometimes circumvented by a bipartisan bloc that outvotes the leadership preferences of a majority of the majority party. Drawing from an original data set of instances of cross-party organizational coalitions at the state level, I use statistical analysis to test various hypotheses for when these coalitions are more likely to form. The analysis reveals that party ideology does not adequately explain the violation of these cartels; rather, violations depend on the costs associated with keeping the party unified and the benefits that come from selecting the chamber’s top leadership post. This finding underscores the potential vulnerability of organizational cartels and suggests that governing parties are strategic when deciding how fiercely to defend their cartel power.

Will the Republicans Retake the House in 2010?

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (04) ◽  
pp. 639-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred G. Cuzán
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Similar Model ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Successful Model ◽  
Midterm Elections

Historically, statistical models for forecasting the outcome of midterm elections to the United States House of Representatives have not been particularly successful (Jones and Cuzán 2006). However, in what may have been a breakthrough, most models correctly predicted that the Democrats would re-emerge as the majority party in 2006 (Cuzán 2007). One successful model was estimated using 46 elections, beginning with 1914 (only the second time that 435 representatives, the present number, were elected). The model was relatively simple, making use of national-level variables only (Cuzán and Bundrick 2006). Using a similar model, I generated a forecast for the 2010 midterm election.

Lessons from a DC10 Crash, American Airlines, Flight 191, Chicago, Illinois

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank J. Baker ◽  
Jacek B. Franaszek
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Aircraft Accidents ◽  
Absolute Increase ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
New System

With the development and deployment of commercial jet aircraft in the mid 1950's, airline travel has become commonplace throughout the world. A rapid increase in the numbers of aircraft, airline routes, and flying time has occurred. New technology has added sophisticated and complicated gear to aircraft and their support systems. Every new system has the potential for failure and to some extent additional components increase the risk of technological breakdown. The increased chance of technological breakdown favors an increase in aircraft accidents. Fortunately, development and utilization of sophisticated redundant electronic and mechanical improvements aimed specifically at improving safety have also occurred. The results of these changes over the past twenty-five years has been a decreasing rate of accidents per mile flown. Due to the tremendous increase in flying, however, the absolute numbers of accidents associated passenger morbidity and mortality have risen (1). For the health care system, the major impact has resulted from the absolute increase in aircrash victims.Aircraft accidents have regularly produced mass casualty incidents with the number of victims ranging from a few to several hundred. Aircraft accidents can be divided into essentially four types: mid-air crashes (so called “hard impact”); crashes on takeoff; crashes on landing; and on-ground accidents (“soft impact”). Mid-air accidents are frequently away from population centers and usually there are no survivors. The medical impact therefore is minimal. Accidents occurring on takeoff, landing, and on the ground, occur at or close to airports, and the nature of the accident is such that there may be many victims (1).

US Republicans will eye 2020 ‘red wave’

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Voter Identification ◽  
Midterm Elections

Significance She was originally appointed in April when Thad Cochran resigned and will serve to January 2021. The win means the Republicans will have 53 Senate seats for 2019-21, a net gain of two after the November 6 midterm elections. However, the Democrats will be the House of Representatives majority party. Impacts Democrat-led states will pass laws to protect voters’ voting rights. Republican-led states will push voter identification-related laws. Preparing for 2020, Congress Republicans could distance themselves from Trump, running different political messaging.

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