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OverviewCivics textbooks focus on how Congress makes policy through the legislative process, but the reality is that members of Congress have limited opportunities to advance their policy priorities. In fact, less than five percent of the bills that are introduced in Congress become law. Even the most tenacious legislators are confronted by bicameralism, partisan gridlock, chamber procedures, leadership's control of the agenda, and the diverse interests of 534 other members of Congress. What strategies do lawmakers have for navigating these challenges? In this book, Melinda N. Ritchie reveals how members of Congress use the federal bureaucracy as a backdoor for policymaking. Today, more law in the United States is made by unelected bureaucrats through federal agency regulations than with congressional statute. Ritchie argues that the bureaucracy's growing role in policymaking offers lawmakers a discreet way to represent controversial interests outside of the formal constraints of Congress. Lawmakers overcome obstacles in the legislative process by substituting agency regulations for legislation and pressuring agencies to make policy changes that would not pass Congress.Drawing on an original dataset constructed from records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Ritchie traces the interactions between members of Congress and federal agencies to illustrate how these communications function as part of a lawmaker's overarching strategy for policymaking. Original and timely, Backdoor Lawmaking explains how members of Congress exploit the separation of powers and evade the lawmaking process established in the US Constitution. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Melinda N. Ritchie (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Assistant Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University)Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc Dimensions: Width: 23.60cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 15.60cm Weight: 0.404kg ISBN: 9780197670491ISBN 10: 0197670490 Pages: 272 Publication Date: 28 September 2023 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables 1. Introduction 2. A Theory of Back-Channel Policymaking 3. The Freedom of Information Act and the War against Transparency 4. The Nature of Inter-Branch Policy Communication 5. Misconceptions about Inter-Branch Relations 6. The Bureaucracy: Congress's Backdoor to Policy Influence 7. Back-Channel Representation 8. Congressional Access and Influence in the Bureaucracy 9. Conclusion Notes IndexReviews13/03/2023 Main NY C Sales A 11/09/2023 19.99 JPB JPA JPP This book lifts the veil on one aspect of the reality of lawmaking in the US...Ritchie's book is an instructive read. * David Glass, Law Society Gazette * Author InformationMelinda N. Ritchie is Assistant Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. Her research interests include American political institutions, US Congress, bureaucratic politics, and the impact of separation of powers on policymaking. From 2007 to 2009, she worked in the office of New York congressman Brian Higgins. Her work has appeared in Political Behavior, the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the American Journal of Political Science. In 2020, she received the Emerging Scholar Award in Legislative Studies from the American Political Science Association. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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