Congressional Policymaking During Recessions in the Post War Era

• In Event: Poster Session: Public Administration; Public Policy; & State Politics and Policy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Public Policy

Abstract

This paper is part of a larger project that explores the politics of economic policymaking in Congress during recessions. Analyst have long held that due to the nature of congressional representation, Congress for the most part tends to serve narrow particular interest instead of general, more diffuse interest (see, inter alia, Bryce 1888; Mayhew 1974; Fiorina 1989; Lee 2005). But what has been the record during recessions? Scholars argue that in order to claim credit for its benefits, members of Congress will reach for policies laden with particularistic benefits during a recession (Mayhew 1974, 128). Does Congress respond to a national problem by passing legislation that provides benefits to certain districts or to certain organized interest?

This paper uses an original dataset and Arnold’s (1990) analytical scheme to examine congressional policymaking during recessions in the post war era. It finds that in the first part of the post war years, Congress passed policies filled with either geographic benefits or group benefits during recessions. From 1946 to 1960, Congress primarily used categorical grants and procurement contracts to direct benefits to congressional districts. From 1961 to 1980, in contrast, Congress primarily used transfer payments and loans to direct benefits to various groups and organized interest. Since 1980, Congress when responding to a recession has passed policies filled with group benefits and policies laden with both general benefits and group benefits. Additionally, Congress at times has directed an overwhelming majority of benefits to general, more diffuse interest. Using regression analysis, this paper demonstrates that among a variety of factors, changes in the organizational structure of Congress help explain these patterns. The findings in this paper further our understanding of congressional policymaking in the post war era and the behavior of Congress in the post war era.

Author

• Scott Newsome, University of California, Santa Cruz