Constituency Characteristics and the "Guardian" Model of Appropriations Subcommittees, 1959-1998

• Published in: American journal of political science Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 104 - 114
• Main Author: Adler, E. Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin, Tex University of Wisconsin Press 01-01-2000; University of Texas Press for Midwest Political Science Association, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Appropriations; Budget appropriations; Committees; Committees (1959-98); Congressional committees; Constituencies; Constituency; Constituents; House of Representatives; Jurisdiction; Legislators; Legislature; Legislatures; Monte Carlo simulation; Parliamentary committees; Political behavior; Political institutions; Political parties; Political partisanship; Political theory; Politicians; Subcommittees; U.S.A; United States
• ISSN: 0092-5853; 1540-5907
• DOI: 10.2307/2669296

In this paper I examine the composition of ten House Appropriations subcommittees from 1959 1998 and explore the extent to which these subcommittees are comprised of members who have specific constituency needs for the benefits supplied by programs under their jurisdiction. Congressional scholars have suggested several different patterns for the constituency bias of these panels, and I study whether we can confirm or reject portions of the "guardian" and "claimant" models of Appropriations subcommittee composition. Using extensive data on the district characteristics of all legislators for nearly 40 years, along with a Monte Carlo simulation technique for examining difference in medians, I find that several Appropriations subcommittees are composed of members with disproportionately high need for the benefits under their control. I also find that while there was a shift toward more "advocacy" on these panels in the early 1960s, there have been few changes in this trend since. The Republican takeover of Congress in 1995 only marginally altered the group of subcommittees that attracted high need members. The findings of this study lend some credence to distributive notions of congressional committee composition.