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Minutes
ot the 2000 Annual Business Meeting The annual meeting of the Legislative Studies Section was held in Washington, DC, during the national convention of the American Political Science Association. The LSS meeting was convened on Friday, September 1 at 5:30 by Chair John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The session began with the presentation of awards. On behalf of the committee which included Paul Gronke of Duke University and Frances E. Lee of Case Western Reserve University, Professor Linda Fowler, of Dartmouth College, presented the Carl Albert Dissertation Award to Glen Krutz, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University, for his dissertation entitled, "Explaining Institutional Change: The Rise and Impact of Omnibus Legislating." In her remarks, Professor Fowler noted that Krutz's study is the first systematic look at the practice of aggregating individual proposals into omnibus bills and that he had tackled an important aspect of institutional change to illuminate its strategic consequences for the legislative process. Professor Sarah Binder, of George Washington University and the Brookings Institution, presented the Congressional Quarterly Prize for the best paper presented in the LSS section at the 1999 APSA meeting. The CQ Prize committee also included Samuel Patterson of Ohio State University and Steven Ansolabehere of MIT University. The prize went to David Brady, Kara Buckley, and Douglas Rivers, all of Stanford University, for their paper entitled, "The Strong Parties Hypothesis Revisited: Evidence from the Turn of the Century." In her remarks, Professor Binder pointed out that the authors successfully demonstrate that the decline of competitive elections and the adoption of Progressive reforms in the late 1890s led to the disappearance of party careers. Professor Keith Krehbiel, of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, on behalf of the committee which included Christine DeGregorio, of American University, and Larry Dodd of the University of Florida, presented the Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize for the best book on legislative politics. The Fenno prize went to David Canon, of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, for his book entitled, "Race, Redistricting, and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts." In his remarks, Professor Krehbiel stated that David Canon's book is a rare instance - and even rarer successful instance - of blending positive and normative concerns. In the book, Canon examines the differences between elected representatives who engage in the politics of differences versus those that practice a politics commonality. Canon finds that elected representatives who engage in the politics of commonality are more likely to serve in the leadership, be moderate in their roll call behavior, and cosponsor bills that were acted upon in the legislative process. In accepting the Fenno Prize, David Canon expressed special appreciation for Dick Fenno, and he said that there was no other scholar who had as much influence on younger scholars and that he owed Dick Fenno a large debt of gratitude. Secretary-Treasurer Wendy Schiller then presented the annual report stating that the section had increased its membership and that the section had a small surplus and no outstanding debts. Chair Hibbing then turned to new business, and the section discussed the proposal by Ron Peters to publish the entire LSS newsletter in electronic form only. Currently, the newsletter is on-line and available at www.apsanet.org/~LSS but a printed version is also mailed to LSS members. After a discussion which focused on the graphic presentation of the newsletter on the web, the archiving of the newsletter (hardcopy and web version) and the possibility that easier access on-line might increase readership, the section agreed that Ron Peters should proceed with moving the newsletter to an on-line version only, in consultation with the executive committee of the LSS. Turning to other business, Chair Hibbing thanked Pat Freeman for organizing this year's panels, and announced that Bill Bianco would be the LSS program chair for the 2001 meetings. Hibbing then announced that LSS is ranked 8th out of 33 in section membership and our dues are comparable. Sheilah Mann reiterated the invitation for section members to submit any work on teaching in political science to PS. Chair Hibbing also raised the possibility of having a section-based Centennial Fund, which would raise an endowment to bring scholars to Washington on a short-term basis to conduct their research. He suggested we consider the idea but also cautioned that it would be a lot of work and should be given careful consideration before proceeding. Chair Hibbing and LSQ Editor Steve Smith proposed creating a new prize for the best paper published in the Legislative Studies Quarterly annually, to be named in honor of Malcolm Jewell and Gerald Lowenberg for their outstanding service to the journal over its 25 year history. The idea was unanimously approved, although the details about the funding and the amount of the award were left to be worked out between the executive committee and the editors at LSQ. Discussion was also raised about the Career Achievement Award, but sufficient concerns were expressed about the delineation of a body of work and appropriate recipients that the idea should be considered pending but not resolved. Professor Joseph Cooper announced
that Ken Keto, who is manager of the historical services at the legislative
resource center in the House of Representatives, is available to scholars
who need assistance with historical research. Karl Kurtz, with the National
Conference of State Legislatures, called attention to their public education
campaign and outreach program, The Trust for Representative Democracy,
that is being conducted to educate people about the legislative process.
He invited members of the section to participate in these efforts.
Respectfully submitted,
Nominations Committee for 2001 Bruce
I. Oppenheimer (chair), Dept. of Political Science,
Box 1817, Station B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235.
The
Richard F. Fenno Prize In the tradition of Professor Fenno's work, this prize is designed to honor work that is both theoretically and empirically strong. Moreover, this prize is dedicated to encouraging scholars to pursue new and different avenues of research in order to find answers to previously unexplored questions about the nature of politics. Nominations must have a 2000 copyright date, and a copy of the book must be sent to each member of the committee. Deadline for submission is March 1, 2001. The committee for this year:
The
Congressional Quarterly Press Award The committee for this year:
The
Carl Albert Dissertation Award Topics may be national or subnational in focus - on Congress, parliaments, state legislatures, or other representative bodies. Dissertation must have a 2000 copyright date. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2001. Terms for submitting a dissertation: (1) one copy sent to each member of the committee; (2) no more than one submission per Ph.D. granting department; (3) a letter from the department chair indicating the selection; and (4) a letter from the dissertation chair, or other appropriate committee member, describing the significance of the work. The committee for this year:
The
Jewell-Loewenberg Award The committee for this year:
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