Minority Committee Chairs and Agenda Setting in the U.S. Congress

• In Event: Race, Representation, and Institutions

Abstract

Congressional scholarship has generally acknowledged the power of committees in the lawmaking process. While this power has ebbed and flowed overtime, committees continue to have an important impact on the legislative process. Committee chairs, in particular, serve as important powerholders. Although they are beholden to the demands of party leaders, they nonetheless have a good deal of autonomy over what committees do and the issues they consider. Still, little is known about committee chairs and what shapes these decisions. We seek to fill this gap by considering if and how a chair’s racial/ethnic identity shapes the kinds of issues the committee considers and the actions it takes on them. We show that racial/ethnic minorities use their power as committee chairs to expand the congressional agenda to include issues prioritized by minority communities. Our findings speak to the substantive benefits of electing descriptive representatives to the U.S. Congress.

Author

• Jennifer Garcia, Oberlin College