The politics of problems versus solutions: Policymaking and grandstanding in congressional hearings.

Several theories of policy change posit that the politics of defining and prioritizing problems differs from the politics of devising and selecting solutions. The former involves simplifying through heuristics like indicators and ideology while the latter incorporates policy analysis and expertise t...

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Published in:Policy Studies Journal Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 515 - 532
Main Authors: Lewallen, Jonathan, Park, Ju Yeon, Theriault, Sean M.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Aug2024
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        10.1111/psj.12526
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        atl: The politics of problems versus solutions: Policymaking and grandstanding in congressional hearings.
      aug:
        au:
          Lewallen, Jonathan
          Park, Ju Yeon
          Theriault, Sean M.
        affil:
          Department of Political Science & International Studies, University of Tampa, Tampa Florida,, USA
          Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio,, USA
          Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin, Austin Texas,, USA
      su:
        Problem solving
        Policy analysis
        Policy sciences
        Practical politics
        Congressional hearings (U.S.)
      sug:
        subj:
          Problem solving
          Policy analysis
          Policy sciences
          Practical politics
          Congressional hearings (U.S.)
      keyword:
        congress
        grandstanding
        hearings
        audiencias
        Congreso
        grandilocuencia
        哗众取宠
        国会
        问题与解决方案
        congress
        grandstanding
        hearings
        audiencias
        Congreso
        grandilocuencia
        哗众取宠
        国会
        问题与解决方案
      ab: Several theories of policy change posit that the politics of defining and prioritizing problems differs from the politics of devising and selecting solutions. The former involves simplifying through heuristics like indicators and ideology while the latter incorporates policy analysis and expertise to a greater degree. By employing two large datasets of U.S. congressional hearings to analyze policymakers' behavior of sending political messages, which we call "grandstanding," we offer two findings. First, consistent with our hypotheses, grandstanding is more prevalent when committees are focused on new and emerging problems than when committees examine proposed alternatives or the implementation of existing policies. Second, the cognitive dynamics of problem solving and the incentives to grandstand vary depending on policy issues considered in hearings. Our analysis helps put dissatisfaction with contemporary U.S. policymaking in context: a rise in "messaging politics" derives at least in part from an increased focus on contesting the problem space in agenda‐setting venues.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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