Book description
Is the United States Congress dead, alive, or trapped in a moribund
cycle? When confronted with controversial policy issues, members of
Congress struggle to satisfy conflicting legislative, representative,
and oversight duties. These competing goals, along with the pressure
to satisfy local constituents, cause members of Congress to routinely
cede power on a variety of policies, express regret over their loss of
control, and later return to the habit of delegating their power. This
pattern of institutional ambivalence undermines conventional wisdom
about congressional party resurgence, the power of oversight, and the
return of the so-called imperial presidency.
In Congressional Ambivalence, Jasmine Farrier examines Congress's
frequent delegation of power by analyzing primary source materials
such as bills, committee reports, and the Congressional Record.
Farrier demonstrates that Congress is caught between abdication and
ambition and that this ambivalence affects numerous facets of the
legislative process.
Explaining specific instances of post-delegation disorder, including
Congress's use of new bills, obstruction, public criticism, and
oversight to salvage its lost power, Farrier exposes the tensions
surrounding Congress's roles in recent hot-button issues such as
base-closing commissions, presidential trade promotion authority, and
responses to the attacks of September 11. She also examines shifting
public rhetoric used by members of Congress as they emphasize, in
institutionally self-conscious terms, the difficulties of balancing
their multiple roles. With a deep understanding of the inner workings
of the federal government, Farrier illuminates a developing trend in
the practice of democracy.
""Jasmine Farrier builds on her earlier work to
thoughtfully explore this fundamental issue: why do members of
Congress seem uninterested or unable to protect their legislative
powers? The result is not merely a weak Congress. In failing to defend
their institutional interests, lawmakers undermine the system of
checks and balances that helps safeguard individual rights and
liberties and makes self-government possible."--Louis Fisher,
author of Presidential War Power" --
Jasmine Farrier, associate professor of political science at the
University of Louisville, is the author of Passing the Buck: Congress,
the Budget, and Deficits. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
