Committee characteristics and re-election margins: An empirical investigation of the US House

Models of legislative organization frequently begin with the premise that the committee system serves the re-election interests of incumbent legislators. Attempts to substantiate this notion empirically have been unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the notion lives on, nourished by a stylized characterization of the committee system. In the standard model committees have jurisdictional monopolies over specialized policy areas and legislators gravitate toward those committees that deal most closely with the policy concerns of their constituents. Contrary to this simplifying characterization, the degree of monopoly control and policy specialization varies across standing committees in the us congress. Some committees have wide jurisdictions and attract members with diverse policy preferences. Jurisdictional overlap and resulting turf battles are common aspects of congressional sessions. We suggest here that these realities warrant a re-opening of the empirical investigation into the link between electoral success and committee characteristics. Our findings indicate that assignment to a committee with a relatively high degree of monopoly control increases a member's vote share, and that assignment to a narrowly focused (specialized) committee does not.     

Utopian visions of schizophrenic adolescents

Twenty-four normal and 24 hospitalized schizophrenic adolescents described an ideal society for an imaginary island. The normals usually tried to establish a functional democracy. The schizophrenics seemed more sensitive to basic biological needs, but their main goal was to create a personal paradise, a place in which every need and desire would be met. In their search for paradise, the schizophrenics often introduced themes that had a Jungian, archetypal flavor — e.g., themes from antiquity, God, sex, homes, animals, opposites (such as love and hate), birth, and death.Received his Ph.D. in human development from the University of Chicago. Main interests are in developmental theory and schizophrenia.Main interest is in clinical psychology.     

The growth of political ideas and their expression among young activists

Two studies were conducted. In the first, developmental information was gathered on young people's efforts to construct and elaborate on an ideal society. The subjects were 54 white middle-class boys, equally divided among 8–, 11–, and 16-year-olds. The interview protocols suggested a typology consisting of (1) a personalistic, nongovernmental construction of society, based on the child's own life space, with a concern for biological needs such as food and shelter; (2) a construction of specific but unrelated governmental institutions; (3) a better-organized conception of how institutions are interrelated; (4) a commitment to abstract principles. In the second investigation, the task and typology were applied to the study of high school left-wing activists and nonactivists –93 in all. The activists were not clearly more committed to abstract principles, although they were entertaining utopian possibilities of a society with few laws. But the surprising finding was the activists' resemblance to the youngest children (type I); they too constructed a personalistic society potentially within their own life space and were concerned with biological life-supportive issues.Study I in this paper — carried out by the second author was part of a doctoral dissertation, Conceptions of the Political Regime in the Years 8 to 16, submitted to the Department of Political Science, the University of Chicago, 1971. Study II was done by the first author. The coding manuals for Study I and Study II are available on request from the authors.Received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago and took a clinical internship at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Main interest is in developmental theory and political attitudes.Received Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Main interest is in political theory.