A TEST OF CONGRESSIONAL DOMINANCE OVER ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES - THE CASE OF THE US-FOREST-SERVICE

Objective. This study examines the ''congressional dominance'' model t hat is popular in the policy process literature. The purpose is to det ermine its explanatory power when the model is extended to include bot h the House and the Senate (rather than the current fascination with j ust the Senate), acting through both the appropriations and the oversi ght processes, in contrast to the literature's focus on so-called ''in dependent'' regulatory commissions. Methods. Using measures of legisla tor preferences and agency output, this research uses multiple regress ion to detect congressional influences on U.S. Forest Service outputs. Results. While congressional preferences do have detectable influence on Forest Service outputs, the overall influence (as indicated by mod el R(2)) is practically nonexistent. Conclusions. The results call the ''congressional dominance'' model into question, indicating that futu re efforts aimed at explaining policy outcomes would do well to extend the examination to include other actors in the process.