Precongressional Careers and Committees: The Impact of Congruence

Abstract

We explore the impact that precongressional careers have on the behavior of new members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Does a former doctor act differently in the House than a former state legislator, lawyer, or businesswoman? Is the former doctor more productive as a new member if assigned to a committee that utilizes his or her perceived and actual experiences in the medical field? We posit that new members who are assigned to committees that align with their career experiences are more active legislators and obtain legislative expertise more quickly than other new members of Congress (MCs), with implications for their future political ambition. To explore these claims, we collected an extensive dataset of the precongressional career experiences of first and second term MCs from the 101st-113th Congresses (1989-2014), their committee assignments, legislative activity, and political ambition. We find that MCs with career-committee congruence have a legislative advantage compared with other new MCs, influencing their transition and trajectory in Congress. Many MCs matched with the right committee are more likely to introduce legislation in their policy area. In addition, we provide some evidence that MCs obtain committee leadership positions more often than their peers without the same early advantage.

Expertise and the Championing of Policy Innovations in State Legislatures

“…Other recent work has sought to examine the linkages among committee membership, expertise, and occupational connections (Hamm, Hedlund, & Post, 2011). Several studies have linked professional background to legislative behavior (Burden, 2007; Carnes, 2012; Hansen, Carnes, & Gray, 2019; Miler, 2017), while one study of Congress (Francis & Bramlett, 2017) finds that members whose professional background matches their committee assignments have legislative advantages. These studies point to the importance of committee memberships and occupational background in predicting legislative action, including the agenda‐setting behavior explored in this paper.…”

“…Party leaders assign members to committees based on their professional backgrounds (Hamm et al, 2011), and legislators engage in agenda setting in areas that match their background (Hansen et al, 2019). Legislators are more successful when their policy agenda matches their committee assignments (Swift, 2019) or their professional backgrounds (Francis & Bramlett, 2017). Acting on newer ideas may require more specialized knowledge and legislators with one, or both, of these traits should be considerably more likely to champion them;3 if anything, then, these linkages will be even stronger for policy innovations than for typical legislation.…”

Expanding Constituency Support Through Shared Local Roots in U.S. House Primaries

“…Members of Congress have traditionally held extensive business experience compared to the general public (Ornstein et al, 2009), and scholars have explored its influence on policymaking activity (Carnes, 2013; Francis & Bramlett, 2017; Witko & Friedman, 2008) and candidate emergence (Lawless & Fox, 2005). Unlike these studies, however, I focus on the place-based dimension of MCs’ business experience and determine which members of Congress began or inherited a local family business.…”

Knowledge, Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress

“…Committee chairs and other formal leaders of the committee are likely the most influential under this understanding of committee power, as they are not only well‐versed on the issues of the committee, but also are in charge of the committee’s large, expert staffs. However, rank‐and‐file committee members can possess expertise as well, perhaps due to their precongressional careers (Francis and Bramlett ), and thus also exercise influence.…”