Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
Backdoor Lawmaking : Evading Obstacles in the US Congress, Paperback / softback Book

Backdoor Lawmaking : Evading Obstacles in the US Congress Paperback / softback

Paperback / softback

Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours

Description

Civics textbooks focus on how Congress makes policy through the legislative process, but the reality is that members of Congress have limited opportunities to advance their policy priorities.

In fact, less than five percent of the bills that are introduced in Congress become law.

Even the most tenacious legislators are confronted by bicameralism, partisan gridlock, chamber procedures, leadership's control of the agenda, and the diverse interests of 534 other members of Congress.

What strategies do lawmakers have for navigating these challenges?

In this book, Melinda N. Ritchie reveals how members of Congress use the federal bureaucracy as a backdoor for policymaking.

Today, more law in the United States is made by unelected bureaucrats through federal agency regulations than with congressional statute.

Ritchie argues that the bureaucracy's growing role in policymaking offers lawmakers a discreet way to represent controversial interests outside of the formal constraints of Congress.

Lawmakers overcome obstacles in the legislative process by substituting agency regulations for legislation and pressuring agencies to make policy changes that would not pass Congress. Drawing on an original dataset constructed from records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Ritchie traces the interactions between members of Congress and federal agencies to illustrate how these communications function as part of a lawmaker's overarching strategy for policymaking. Original and timely, Backdoor Lawmaking explains how members of Congress exploit the separation of powers and evade the lawmaking process established in the US Constitution.

Information

Save 4%

£19.99

£19.19

Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information