130 Congressional politics
out any attempt on the part of the caucus to determine policy issues, for to
do this would be more likely to provoke disintegration than to promote unity.
It is on organisational questions that party allegiance plays a vital role. Con-
gress must be organised, party leaders elected and committees constituted,
and the parties show the highest degree of cohesion on these questions of the
distribution of congressional offices.
However, the power of the party caucus has increased, particularly in the
Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. The chairmen of stand-
ing committees used to be chosen through the ‘seniority system’. Committee
chairmen play an extremely important role in the legislative process, as we
shall shortly see, and until 1971 a Senator or Representative became chair-
man by virtue of being the member of the majority party with the longest
record of continuous service on that committee. The role of the party caucus
was simply to rubber-stamp the outcome of this process of natural selection.
Since 1971, however, there has been something of a revolution in this area
of the American political system. In the House of Representatives both par-
ties changed their rules to ensure that the majority of the party caucus can
exercise effective control over appointments to committee chairmanships,
disregarding the claims of seniority. In January 1975 the chairmen of three
important House committees were deposed by the Democratic caucus and
replaced by more junior Congressmen. As a result of the reforms following
the election of 1994, a limit of six years was set to the term of office of House
Committee chairmen; in the Senate also both parties have taken steps to
limit the operation of the seniority system.
The Speaker
The role of the Speaker in the House of Representatives is very different
from that of the Speaker in the British House of Commons. True, the Ameri-
can Speaker has the responsibility, as presiding officer, of regulating the
procedures of the House in a manner that will be fair to both sides. At the
same time the Speaker is also the foremost leader of the majority party in
the lower chamber, actively and continuously furthering its interests. With
power to interpret the rules of the House, and control over its procedures,
the Speaker wields considerable influence over its members: a discretionary
power to recognise those who wish to speak from the floor, and in doubt-
ful cases the ability to determine to which committee proposed legislation
shall be sent. The size of the House of Representatives, and the volume of
work it has to get through, turns these into formidable powers in the hands
of a skilful Speaker. When the president and the majority in the House are
drawn from the same party, the Speaker is perceived to be the most devoted
supporter of the president’s programme in the House. This does not mean
that the president’s policies are accepted uncritically; rather, the Speaker is
the main instrument for effecting compromises between the president and