THE DESTRUCTION OF ISSUE MONOPOLIES IN CONGRESS

Scholars studying congressional committees have noted the potential fo r members to seek membership on particular committees, leading to bias . Underpinning this line of scholarship is what might be termed a theo ry of comparative committee statics, characterized by a cross-sectiona l empirical approach. We present a new approach that focuses on the dy namics of jurisdictional control. By following a series of issues thro ugh the committee hearing process, we show that there is indeed signif icant issue bias in particular committee venues. However, we also find that new committees often claim jurisdiction over issues as they are redefined in the political process. The degree of jurisdictional monop oly enjoyed by different committees has been overlooked in the literat ure on this topic in spite of its importance in determining the nature of representation of interests in Congress.