UNDERSTANDING CONGRESSIONAL REFORM - LESSONS FROM THE 70S

The effects of the procedural reforms that the House of Representative s enacted in the early 1970s might lend insight into the possible effe cts of the procedural changes enacted by the Republican Congress in 19 95. While the reforms of the 1970s and 1995 are not similar in detail, both sets of changes increased the power of the majority leadership o ver its members. Professors Gely and Zardkoohi offer a model that cons iders the effects of 1970s institutional changes on the voting behavio r of individual members of Congress. The authors argue that their mode l provides a useful framework with which to assess the possible implic ations of the 1995 reforms.