Cultivating Congress

Constituents, Issues, and Interests in Agricultural Policymaking

by William P. Browne

Series: Studies in Government and Public Policy

Sales Date: April 26, 1995

320 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in

Paperback
9780700607013
Published: April 1995

$29.95

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Congress in the mid-1990s remains the object of voter discontent. Public outcries against special interests and unresponsive incumbents have amplified an already pervasive skepticism toward Beltway politics. And while Congress continues to conduct its business, William Browne argues that it is no longer business as usual.

Browne opens up the inner sanctums of Congress to reveal how that institution’s daily operations—i.e., its policymaking processes—have changed dramatically. He argues that Congress is no longer dominated by party and committee power-brokers, large organized interest groups, or intrusive federal agencies. Instead, he contends, congressional members are driven largely by grassroots issues and constituent interests.

This shift occurred in response to reforms that diluted the congressional seniority system and empowered the rank-and-file to exert greater influence in policymaking. More members now generate more issues much earlier in that process, resulting in a greater diversity of views in previously entrenched policy domains, but also greater disorganization and less predictability.

Those changes are nowhere more apparent than in the ever shifting arena of agricultural policymaking, which, as the single largest contributor to our GNP, remains a central part of American politics. As agriculture has become more fragmented, globalized, and environmentally aware, agricultural policymaking has grown increasingly complex. In the process, a cacophony of constituent policy demands has altered the way congressional members “play the game.” Browne reveals exactly how that new game is played.

Based on nearly 450 interviews with members of Congress, their staff, agency administrators, and lobbyists, Browne’s study is timed to appear during the 1995 Congressional debates over a major new agriculture bill. His book should become a major resource—for congressional staff, journalists, political scientists, economists, lobbyists, and policy administrators—for understanding those debates.

"In all, Cultivating Congress provides a complex and interesting picture of agriculture policymaking that challenges ‘what everyone knows’ about farm politics."—Congress & the Presidency
"His analysis is remarkably comprehensive, particularly in its examination of the role of individual members and their staffs in the policy-making process. This is an excellent book that will find a well deserved place in the literature of congressional policy making, interest groups, and agricultural policy."—Political Science Quarterly
"An important contribution to the literature on interest groups, networks, iron triangles, policy domains, policy dynamics, committees, congressional staffs, and Congress-agency and district-Washington relationships."—Perspectives on Political Science
"As a whole, Cultivating Congress is an excellent book."—Public Administration and Management
"Will appeal to agricultural economists and historians, political scientists, and those who wish to understand more fully how Congress functions."—Choice
"Browne’s volume is must reading for those interested in agriculture policy, and should be high on the list of scholars interested in congressional and interest group politics."—Policy Currents
"What a superb book—not only about how agricultural policy is made but also about fundamental changes in the way Congress now works, irrespective of policy domain. No one has a more complete fix on how Washington works today than Bill Browne. His book is a real winner."—James T. Bonnen, past president, American Agricultural Economics Association
"Browne provides a remarkable and incisive analysis and guide to the new world of a post-reform Congress. This unique and engaging book is directly relevant and useful to any observer of Congress. It is simply the best analysis of the fundamental changes now engulfing agricultural and rural development policy."—Louis Swanson, editor of Agricultural Policy and the Environment
"An ambitious and excellent book that vividly reflects Browne’s remarkable access to members of Congress, their staffs, and other players in the agricultural policy domain. It will be widely read by students, scholars, and activists."—Frank Baumgartner, coauthor of Agendas and Instability in American Politics
"Cultivating Congress is an indispensable tool for understanding how Congress works. Browne has done a brilliant job. For those with particular interest in agriculture, this book is invaluable."—Cornelia Butler Flora, coeditor of Rural Policies for the 1990s
"A major contribution to the literature. Browne sees things with fresh eyes, his insights are substantial and useful, and his basic findings on ‘local concerns’ are very important."—Burdett Loomis, coeditor of Interest Group Politics and author of The New American Politician