How Committees Shape Legislative Behavior: An Examination of Interests and Institutions

Abstract

Whether institutional position or legislators’ interests drive legislative behavior is a central question in the congressional literature. This article focuses on the committee system in the House of Representatives and leverages the distinction between committee requests and assignments to shed new light on this debate. There is strong evidence that institutional position is largely responsible for increased legislative activity in relevant policy areas. However, there are limits to the institutional advantages of membership and its influence. The benefits of membership do not accrue to legislators immediately, and during their first term, legislators’ expressed interest increases their activity. By their second term, the power of the institution balances out these differences of interest. Legislators’ interests also play an important role in more costly behavior, like passing legislation. Legislators adapt to their institutional position, but they also remain true to the issues they believed deserved their attention when they first entered Congress.