The Institutional Foundations of Committee Power

"Committees and their jurisdictions constitute a division and- specialization-of-labor in a legislature. Committees are alleged to be powerful in their respective jurisdictions because they can (i) veto changes in the status quo (ex ante veto power) and (ii) initiate changes in the status quo (proposal power). The authors demonstrate that these are insufficient to sustain committee power because committee non-members have strategies available to mitigate ex ante veto power (e.g. discharge petition) and to alter committee proposals (e.g. amendments). What, then, accounts for committee power? Much of the
\ntraditional legislative literature alludes to the notion of 'deference,' viz., that legislators…