Project Overview
Congressional Responses to Executive Orders
Department(s)
Political Science
Abstract
This project investigates how Congress responds when presidents issue Executive Orders. Conventional wisdom is that Congress is relatively incapable of responding to presidential unilateralism because of collective action problems and institutional features of Congress that make coordinated responses difficult. However, I have found that members of Congress regularly hold hearings about executive orders, either reviewing their legality, engaging with agencies implementing the orders, or discussing legislation to enhance/undercut the objectives of the order.
In this project, research assistants will be closely reading transcripts of congressional hearings about executive orders. The goal is for students to identify relevant excerpts where members are discussing executive orders, and then to assign scores to each excerpt according to certain qualitative criteria. The work will require careful close reading, and thoughful evaluation of exchanges. At the end of the summer, we will have constructed a comprehensive dataset that will reveal how and how often members of Congress discuss executive orders.
Student Qualifications
Ability to read and evaluate complex texts is essential. Students should also have some familiarity with the institutions of US government, as indicated by coursework in American Politics, American political history, public policy, etc. Students should be strong communicators, able to ask for clarification or help as needed; and be able to make sophisticated independent judgements about political texts and circumstances. No paritcular technical skills are required.
Project Length
8 weeks
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