THE CONTINUING SEARCH FOR PARTY INFLUENCE IN CONGRESS - A VIEW FROM THE COMMITTEES

The search for party influence in the U.S. Congress has focused on flo or voting patterns. By shifting the focus of attention to the committe e setting, this paper shows that previous measures of party influence have generally underestimated the strength of parties in Congress and have invariably presented a simplified version of their activity. Meas ures of party conflict, unity, and success in four House committees sh ow that, in the differentiated committee system, parties structure vot ing differently across decision-making environments and are stronger t han on the floor. In the legislative environment of the 1980s, voting patterns in all committees and on the floor converged toward partisans hip, even as electoral and organizational indicators of party remained relatively weak.