| Description |
1 online resource (266 p.) |
| Contents |
Cover -- Backdoor Lawmaking: Evading Obstacles in the US Congress -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1. Introduction -- Back-Channel Policymaking -- Overview of the Argument -- Scholarly Perspectives on the Relationship between Congress and the Bureaucracy -- The Congressional-Bureaucratic Relationship: Keystone of the Washington Establishment -- "Congress is a 'they' not an 'it'" -- The Tip of the Iceberg: The Focus on Visible Policymaking -- The Freedom of Information Act and Back-Channel Communications Dataset |
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Organization of the Book -- Conclusion -- 2. A Theory of Back-Channel Policymaking -- Conventional Wisdom about Policymaking -- Why the Bureaucracy? -- A Theory of Legislative Constraints -- The Formal and Informal Constraints of Congress -- The Constraints of the Public Record -- The Advantages of Back-Channel Policymaking -- The Limits of Back-Channel Policymaking -- A Framework of Back-Channel Policymaking -- Conclusion -- 3. The Freedom of Information Act and the War against Transparency -- The Freedom of Information Act -- FOIA Challenges and Agency (Un)Responsiveness |
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The Back-Channel Communication Dataset -- Congressional Correspondence Logs -- Coding Procedures -- Variation in Contact Type across Agencies -- Inter-Branch Contact across Time -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Back-Channel Policymaking Codebook -- Compiling the Dataset -- Coding Procedures -- Policy -- Non-Policy/Casework -- Grant Requests -- 4. The Nature of Inter-Branch Policy Communication -- Agency Policymaking and Rulemaking -- Where Do Rules Come From? How Legislators Shape the Rulemaking Agenda -- Outside the Rules -- Shaping the Content of Regulations |
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Procedural Politicking and the Pace of Rulemaking -- Information -- Enforcement -- Back-Channel Policymaking in Practice -- Are Policy Contacts Substitutes for or Complements to Legislation? -- Conclusion -- 5. Misconceptions about Inter-Branch Relations -- The Prevalence of Policy Appeals -- Is This Policymaking? Measurement Validation and Misconceptions about Inter-Branch Communication -- Is This Cheap Talk? -- Is This Deceptive Credit Claiming or Earnest Policymaking? -- Is This Oversight? -- Placebo Test: Is This Constituency Service by Another Name? -- Evaluating Inter-Branch Communication |
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Placebo Test -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- 6. The Bureaucracy: Congress's Backdoor to Policy Influence -- Who Uses the Backchannel? -- Do Legislators Strategically Shift Venues? -- Exploiting the Separation of Powers -- Confronting the Administration in the US House of Representatives -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Analysis Examining Ideological Extremity and Inter-Branch Communication -- 7. Back-Channel Representation -- Measuring Cross-Pressures -- Labor Policy -- Homeland Security Policy -- Energy Policy -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- 8. Congressional Access and Influence in the Bureaucracy |
| Summary |
Civics textbooks focus on how Congress makes policy through the legislative process, but the reality is that members of Congress have limited opportunities to advance their policy priorities. In fact, less than five percent of the bills that are introduced in Congress become law. What strategies do lawmakers have for navigating obstacles in Congress? In this book, Melinda N. Ritchie reveals how members of Congress use the federal bureaucracy as a backdoor for policymaking. Drawing on an original dataset constructed from records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Ritchie traces the |
| Notes |
Description based upon print version of record |
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Inter-Branch Retaliation |
| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780197670507 |
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0197670504 |
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