The creation of temporary, independent advisory bodies that give advice to Congress, is an important yet under-investigated area of congressional delegation. With variations to fit the circumstances, lawmakers entrust commissions to accomplish diverse goals, such as coping with increases in the scope and complexity of legislation, forging consensus, drafting legislation, finessing institutional obstacles, coordinating strategy, and promoting party unity.

Campbell investigates why and when Congress formulates policy by commissions rather than by the normal legislative process. He shows that many variables go into the decision to entrust those bodies to render non-partisan recommendations. According to lawmakers and their staff, the three primary justifications for choosing to delegate to commission include expertise, workload, and avoidance. Which of these three dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding a particular issue and the nature of the policy problem. The logic of delegation to each of the three commission types is different. Which reason dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding the issue and the nature of the legislative policy problem. Scholars, students, and other researchers involved with Congress, American government, and public policy will find the study of particular interest.

In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, a growing number of observers and practitioners have called for a re-examination of our national security system. Central to any such reform effort is an evaluation of Congress. Is Congress adequately organized to deal with national security issues in an integrated and coordinated manner? How have developments in Congress over the past few decades, such as heightened partisanship, message politics, party-committee relationships and bicameral relations, affected topical security issues? This volume examines variation in the ways Congress has engaged federal agencies overseeing our nation's national security as well as various domestic political determinants of security policy.

While the president is the commander in chief, the US Congress plays a critical and underappreciated role in civil-military relations - the relationship between the armed forces and the civilian leadership that commands it. This unique book edited by Colton C. Campbell and David P. Auerswald will help readers better understand the role of Congress in military affairs and national and international security policy. Contributors include the most experienced scholars in the field as well as practitioners and innovative new voices, all delving into the ways Congress attempts to direct the military. This book explores four tools in particular that play a key role in congressional action: the selection of military officers, delegation of authority to the military, oversight of the military branches, and the establishment of incentives - both positive and negative - to encourage appropriate military behavior. The contributors explore the obstacles and pressures faced by legislators including the necessity of balancing national concerns and local interests, partisan and intraparty differences, budgetary constraints, the military's traditional resistance to change, and an ongoing lack of foreign policy consensus at the national level. Yet, despite the considerable barriers, Congress influences policy on everything from closing bases to drone warfare to acquisitions. A groundbreaking study, Congress and Civil-Military Relations points the way forward in analyzing an overlooked yet fundamental government relationship.

Unlike leadership in the House of Representatives, the nature of Senate leadership continues to remain a mystery to so many. Due to the absence of an "operator's manual," leaders have had to use their individual skills, intelligence, and personalities to lead the Senate, which means they each have had their own unique leadership style. How have Senate majority leaders advanced their agendas in this traditionally egalitarian institution, a chamber like no other legislative body, where they must balance the rights of 99 independent senators with the collective needs of their party? Featuring a foreword by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Leadership in the U.S. Senate offers students a comprehensive and contemporary examination of three different eras in the evolution of the Senate. Collectively, contributions written by those who have served the senators offer insight into how different Senate leaders have operated, chronicle changes in Senate life over the past four decades, and describe how they have changed the institution. The chapters cover: How leadership styles are shaped by both individualism and party goals Eight biographical perspectives from Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) The political context of the Senate during which the respective majority leader served Individual leadership style and performance in office Contributions individuals made to the institution while serving as majority leaders This book paves the way for political scientists and others to examine the topic of Senate leadership.

While the president is the commander in chief, the US Congress plays a critical and underappreciated role in civil-military relations - the relationship between the armed forces and the civilian leadership that commands it. This unique book edited by Colton C. Campbell and David P. Auerswald will help readers better understand the role of Congress in military affairs and national and international security policy. Contributors include the most experienced scholars in the field as well as practitioners and innovative new voices, all delving into the ways Congress attempts to direct the military. This book explores four tools in particular that play a key role in congressional action: the selection of military officers, delegation of authority to the military, oversight of the military branches, and the establishment of incentives - both positive and negative - to encourage appropriate military behavior. The contributors explore the obstacles and pressures faced by legislators including the necessity of balancing national concerns and local interests, partisan and intraparty differences, budgetary constraints, the military's traditional resistance to change, and an ongoing lack of foreign policy consensus at the national level. Yet, despite the considerable barriers, Congress influences policy on everything from closing bases to drone warfare to acquisitions. A groundbreaking study, Congress and Civil-Military Relations points the way forward in analyzing an overlooked yet fundamental government relationship.

The elections of 1998 bear out the thesis of this book: so far, the Republicans in Congress are operating more like an old minority party than the new majority party they've become. Still, Congress has changed under Republican leadership and the Republicans have changed, too. This volume of original essays by leading congressional scholars explores the impact of the Republican majority on Congress with attention to the history of the institution and party characteristics present and future. For students and scholars alike, the new majority of an old minority provides a laboratory for political analysis that demonstrates lasting effects. As Republicans learn to govern, the country will no doubt learn something, too.

The elections of 1998 bear out the thesis of this book: so far, the Republicans in Congress are operating more like an old minority party than the new majority party they've become. Still, Congress has changed under Republican leadership and the Republicans have changed, too. This volume of original essays by leading congressional scholars explores the impact of the Republican majority on Congress with attention to the history of the institution and party characteristics present and future. For students and scholars alike, the new majority of an old minority provides a laboratory for political analysis that demonstrates lasting effects. As Republicans learn to govern, the country will no doubt learn something, too.

Unlike leadership in the House of Representatives, the nature of Senate leadership continues to remain a mystery to so many. Due to the absence of an "operator's manual," leaders have had to use their individual skills, intelligence, and personalities to lead the Senate, which means they each have had their own unique leadership style. How have Senate majority leaders advanced their agendas in this traditionally egalitarian institution, a chamber like no other legislative body, where they must balance the rights of 99 independent senators with the collective needs of their party? Featuring a foreword by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Leadership in the U.S. Senate offers students a comprehensive and contemporary examination of three different eras in the evolution of the Senate. Collectively, contributions written by those who have served the senators offer insight into how different Senate leaders have operated, chronicle changes in Senate life over the past four decades, and describe how they have changed the institution. The chapters cover: How leadership styles are shaped by both individualism and party goals Eight biographical perspectives from Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) The political context of the Senate during which the respective majority leader served Individual leadership style and performance in office Contributions individuals made to the institution while serving as majority leaders This book paves the way for political scientists and others to examine the topic of Senate leadership.

Why did congressional Republicans obsessively pursue the impeachment of President Bill Clinton when the 1998 midterm elections and public opinion polls suggested that the majority of Americans opposed it? Some claimed indignation over perjury, others outrage over immorality. But as Nicol Rae and Colton Campbell show, the driving force behind the impeachment was nothing less than the intensifying partisanship of American politics.

Impeaching Clinton offers a fascinating case study of how the American political system operated during the 1990s and of the critical factors underpinning the political process. It particularly examines the congressional aspect of the drama to show that the Lewinsky affair was simply a trigger--that the context for impeachment had been set over the course of two decades of partisan warfare.

Drawing on new interviews with six of the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee in 1998, Rae and Campbell reexamine why the House Republicans acted in defiance of electoral rationality on the impeachment issue, demonstrating that they took their cues from the voting party faithful rather than from the nation's centrist citizenry. The authors unravel the web of partisan politics to reveal how the pattern of events was determined, from the decision to open an impeachment inquiry to the eventual acquittal of the president.

Rae and Campbell also look at the Judiciary Committee proceedings from the perspective of the Democratic minority, who helped shape media coverage and public opinion and the eventual Senate outcome. They show how the Senate was able to bring closure to this highly polarizing proceeding.

Overdramatized by the media, the Clinton impeachment process was nevertheless the most extreme manifestation of partisan warfare in our time. The authors' special contribution here is to greatly expand our understanding not only of a particular constitutional crisis but also of a dynamic that still prevails in congressional politics today.

In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, a growing number of observers and practitioners have called for a re-examination of our national security system. Central to any such reform effort is an evaluation of Congress. Is Congress adequately organized to deal with national security issues in an integrated and coordinated manner? How have developments in Congress over the past few decades, such as heightened partisanship, message politics, party-committee relationships and bicameral relations, affected topical security issues? This volume examines variation in the ways Congress has engaged federal agencies overseeing our nation's national security as well as various domestic political determinants of security policy.