The business meeting of the Legislative Studies Section was held in Philadelphia during the annual convention of the American Political Science Association.  The LSS meeting was convened on Friday, August 29 at 6:15 p.m. by Chair David Mayhew of Yale University.

The session began with LSS President David Mayhew recognizing and thanking the outgoing board for their service to the LSS:  Bill Mishler of University of Arizona, Tom Remington of Emory University, and Allison Alter of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.  President Mayhew also thanked Nicol Rae of Florida International University for his service as the legislative division's program chair for the 2003 APSA meeting. President Mayhew then introduced the new editor of the Extensions of Remarks, Professor Sean Kelly of Niagara University and the legislative division program co-chairs for the next meeting of the APSA, Professors Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman of George Washington University.

LSS Secretary-Treasurer Frances Lee announced that the membership of the section stands at 622.  Accordingly, the section is "in the black," and there is no reason to anticipate any problems paying the bills in the future

Following announcements, the session continued with the presentation of awards.  Professor Eric Schickler of Harvard University presented the Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize for the best book on legislative politics on behalf of the committee, which also included Scott Mainwaring of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Katherine Tate of the University of California, Irvine. The Fenno prize went to Professors John Huber and Charles Shipan for their book Deliberate Discretion?: The Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy (Cambridge University Press, 2003).  In his remarks, Schickler indicated that the committee was unanimous and enthusiastic in its selection of Deliberate Discretion, even though 2003 had been a good year for books on legislative politics. Schickler then praised the book for its theoretical rigor, careful empirical research, and good writing.

Professor Charles Stewart III of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conferred the Congressional Quarterly Press Award for the best paper presented in the legislative studies division at the 2002 meeting of the APSA on behalf of the committee that also included Timothy Groseclose of Stanford University and Frances Rosenbluth of Yale University.  Stewart indicated that the committee had quickly come to consensus in selecting Professors Greg Wawro of Columbia University and Eric Schickler of Harvard University for their paper "Where's The Pivot?: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the Pre-cloture Senate."

President Mayhew then announced that the Carl Albert Award prize committee had chosen not to confer the award this year.  The committeee, which consisted of Professors Alan Gerber of Yale University, Linda L. Fowler of Dartmouth College, and Richard Hall of the University of Michigan, encouraged the LSS to advertise the award more broadly.  Discussion on this topic ensued.  It was agreed that the LSS needed to make it clear that dissertations can be submitted to more than one prize committee -- e.g., for the E. E. Schattschneider and the Carl Albert Award.  The LSS discussed, but rejected, the idea of granting the award every other year, rather than annually.

The Jewell-Loewenberg Award for the best article published in Legislative Studies Quarterly went to Dr. Rory Allan Austin of the U.S. Department of Transportation for his article entitled "Seats That May Not Matter: Testing for Racial Polarization in U.S. City Councils"  [LSQ27 (2003):481-508].  Professor John Huber of Columbia University presented the award on behalf of the committee that also included Professors Janet Box-Steffensmeier of the Ohio State University and Gerald C. Wright of Indiana University.

Karl T. Kurtz of the National Conference of State Legislatures presented the Alan Rosenthal Prize for the best book or article in legislative studies written by a junior scholar that has potential value to legislative practitioners.  On behalf of the prize committee, which also included Dr. Stanley Bach of the Congressional Research Service and Professor Maureen F. Moakley of the University of Rhode Island, Kurtz recognized E. Scott Adler of the University of Colorado-Boulder for his book Why Congressional Reforms Fail: Reelection and the House Committee System (University of Chicago Press, 2003).  Kurtz indicated that the committee had selected the book because of its wide-ranging theoretical and historical perspective, its use sophisticated methodology, and its insights into the committee process, the prospects for change in Congress, and the practice of representative democracy.

President Mayhew then asked the nominating committee to make its recommendations for new officers and board members for the next term of office.  The nominating committee was composed of Michael L. Mezey of DePaul University, D. Roderick Kiewiet of the California Institute of Technology, and Wendy Schiller of Brown University. For LSS chair, the committee recommended Professor Diana Evans of Trinity College; for LSS secretary/treasurer, Frances Lee of Case Western Reserve University; and for the new LSS board, Professors Janet Box-Steffensmeier of the Ohio State University, Gary W. Cox of the University of California-San Diego, and C. Lawrence Evans of the College of William and Mary.  The LSS membership approved the slate of nominees. 

President Mayhew then turned to new business.  On the subject of increasing the number of dissertations submitted for the Carl Albert Award, Professor Gary Copeland of the University of Oklahoma proposed that the prize be revised so that copyrights from the last two years would qualify.  Subsequent discussion clarified that dissertations could be submitted twice. The proposal was adopted by voice vote.

President Mayhew then raised the issue of the honoraria awarded for LSS prizes.  Given that the prizes currently vary in size, with recent awards being more highly remunerated, it was suggested that the LSS increase the honorarium for the Fenno Prize and the Jewell-Loewenberg Award from $300 to $500.  Doing so would bring the prizes into line with the amounts conferred for the Carl Albert Award and the Alan Rosenthal Award.  It was further suggested that CQ Press be encouraged to similarly increase its award amount.  The proposed increase was adopted by the LSS membership. 

President Mayhew then announced Professor Greg Wawro as the legislative section chair for the program of the upcoming meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. 

President Mayhew then invited Congressman David Skaggs to inform the LSS about the Congress to Campus Program, sponsored by the United States Association of Former Members of Congress in partnership with the Center for Democracy and Citizenship and the Stennis Center for Public Service.  The program sends bipartisan pairs of former members of Congress to visit college, university, and community college campuses around the country.  Over the course of two and a half days, the members conduct classes, hold community forums, and meet with students and faculty. Sponsoring schools are encouraged to develop a schedule of events and cover on-site and other costs.  Congressman Skaggs also handed out an application for a "Congress to Campus Visit," which would be submitted to Congressman David Skaggs, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, 1301 K Street NW, Suite 450 West, Washington, DC 2005.  Inquiries about the program may be directed to dskaggs@excelgov.org, 202-728-0418 (phone), 202-728-0422 (fax) or to Brother Rogers at the Stennis Center for Public Service at brother@stennis.gov or 662-325-8409.

President Mayhew adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Frances E. Lee
Secretary/Treasurer