Trends in Congressional and Support Agency Staffing

May 23, 2016
Lee Drutman and Steven Teles’ article, “A New Agenda for Political Reform,” include charts showing the decline in the number of staff….(Read more at Washington Monthly). This… Read More

First Meeting of LBCWG Draws 50+ Attendees

May 19, 2016
Rep. John Sarbanes speaks. Also pictured: Kevin R. Kosar and Lee Drutman. More than 50 staffers, think-tankers, and academics attended the inaugural meeting of the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group. Read More

To Be Effective Legislators, Members of Congress Need Expert Resources of Their Own

May 19, 2016
Professor James Curry (University of Utah) is the author of Legislating in the Dark: Information and Power in the House of Representatives (University of Chicago Press, 2015). He writes: “Public… Read More

Does Congress Need More Political Dynamism?

May 19, 2016
Public perceptions aside, is our legislature, in fact, a stolid governance body? Well, yes and no. In short, the House is very dynamic; the Senate…not so much. The… Read More

Survey of Working Group Participants

May 17, 2016
The Working Group’s research agenda will be informed by the interests of meeting attendees and followers of Legislative Branch Working Group. Thus, to gauge your views on Congress and… Read More

The Growing Conservative Case for Strengthening Congress

May 9, 2016
Now, a few thinkers on the conservative side are coming around to the view that cutting congressional funding to prove a point turns out to be at best pointless, and… Read More