Inside Congressional Committees - by Maya Kornberg

About the Book

Maya L. Kornberg examines the legislative process beyond voting patterns, emphasizing the crucial role of congressional committee hearings. Demonstrating that Congress is not as dysfunctional as is often claimed, this book also suggests timely reforms based on these findings that can strengthen Congress.

Book Synopsis

It is widely believed that Congress has broken down. Media accounts present the storied legislature as thoroughly gridlocked, paralyzed by partisan rancor. Political scientists find that Congress is passing fewer laws and spending less time on legislative work. Which parts of a supposedly dysfunctional legislature continue to function?

Maya L. Kornberg examines the legislative process beyond voting patterns, emphasizing the crucial role of congressional committee hearings. In committees, lawmakers hear from expert witnesses, legislators revise and discuss bills before bringing them to a vote, and the public has an opportunity to engage with Congress. Kornberg scrutinizes the inner workings of committees--the different types of witnesses who testify, the varied hearings Congress holds, and the distinct effects that committee work has on congresspeople. She deploys original mixed-methods datasets that span from insider interviews to sentiment analysis examining the language used in hearings. Kornberg evaluates how committees operate and the conditions affecting their performance, finding that committee work can be more deliberative and productive than the politics of the Congress floor.

Through a comprehensive exploration of who committees hear from and how they listen, this book demonstrates that Congress is not as dysfunctional as is often claimed. Inside Congressional Committees also suggests timely reforms based on these findings that can strengthen Congress.

Review Quotes

Kornberg's book is well-written and easy to read while demonstrating the continued importance of qualitative research to aid our understanding of factors that can be difficult to observe and measure, but are nonetheless important.-- "Congress and the Presidency"

Everyone loves to hate Congress for being dysfunctional, polarized, and weak. Kornberg's elegant study asks us to think twice. She carefully examines how congressional committees actually channel expertise and discourse, why that matters, and where to focus any efforts to make it better.--William J. Antholis, CEO of the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia

Kornberg significantly increases our understanding of how congressional committee hearings are structured, who testifies at them, what those witnesses say, and what impact the hearings have. This book is a must-read for scholars of Congress.--Josh Chafetz, Georgetown University

Maya L. Kornberg has produced a rich, informative, and beautifully written study of the internal operations of the contemporary Congress. Inside Congressional Committees is a refreshingly balanced perspective, one that offers a nuanced understanding of Congress's strengths, weaknesses, and complex institutional realities.--Frances E. Lee, Princeton University

This creative and impressive book shines a welcome light on the political underbelly of committees in the U.S. Congress. Marshalling a remarkable array of evidence, Kornberg pinpoints the roles of norms and relationships in sustaining committees as arenas of bipartisan problem solving. She advances a nuanced, clear-eyed view of the potential and pitfalls of today's committees.--Sarah Binder, George Washington University

About the Author

Maya L. Kornberg leads research for the Elections and Government Program at NYU Law's Brennan Center for Justice. She holds a PhD in politics from Oxford University and has worked on democratic governance issues at universities, nonprofits, international development organizations, and think tanks. She is also lead author and researcher of the 2022 Global Parliamentary Report, a joint project of the United Nations Development Program and the Inter-Parliamentary Union examining civic engagement in the work of more than eighty parliaments.