Parties and Procedural Choice in the House Rules Committee

Party-based theories argue that leaders of the majority party use restrictive rules to increase that majority's influence over policy. However, informational theorists suggest that restrictive rules reduce information costs and encourage committee specialization. Using data on every bill on which the House Rules Committee placed a rule from the 94th through 109th Congresses, I test these explanations. Considering the use of restrictive rules, the evidence verifies some of the predictions of partisan theories, but unveils mixed support for informational theories. In addition, we learn that Democratic and Republican majorities differ with respect to the use of restrictive rules. The results indicate that Republican majorities behaved as more of a procedural cartel than their Democratic predecessors.