Oleszek’s new edition of his definitive work focuses on the significant procedural changes on Capitol Hill that are shaping policymaking in this new era of unified government. With dozens of lively illustrations, charts, and documents, Oleszek examines the use of innovative procedural devices by both the majority and minority parties to achieve their political goals and offers a reassessment of the role of conference committees in reconciling bicameral differences.
Updates to this new eighth edition include examinations of:
- new congressional earmark reforms;
- the disappearance of “open rules” in the House;
- the surge in use of suspension of the rules in the House;
- the 60-vote threshold for enactment of amendments and bills in the Senate;
- the increase in “filling the amendment tree” in the Senate; and
- the heightened use of old and new oversight mechanisms to “check and balance” executive actions and activities.
Formats Available from CQ Press
| ISBN: 978-1-60426-613-9 |
Format: Print Paperback |
Retail Price: $60.00 |
Price to Bookstores: $48.00 |
New to this Edition
Oleszek’s new edition of his definitive work focuses on the significant procedural changes on Capitol Hill that are shaping policymaking in this new era of unified government. With dozens of lively illustrations, charts, and documents, Oleszek examines the use of innovative procedural devices by both the majority and minority parties to achieve their political goals and offers a reassessment of the role of conference committees in reconciling bicameral differences.
Updates to this new eighth edition include examinations of:
- new congressional earmark reforms;
- the disappearance of “open rules” in the House;
- the surge in use of suspension of the rules in the House;
- the 60-vote threshold for enactment of amendments and bills in the Senate;
- the increase in “filling the amendment tree” in the Senate; and
- the heightened use of old and new oversight mechanisms to “check and balance” executive actions and activities.
7th Edition ©2007
6th Edition ©2004
5th Edition ©2001
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Table of Contents
1. Congress and Lawmaking
2. The Congressional Budget Process
3. Preliminary Legislative Action
4. Scheduling Legislation in the House
5. House Floor Procedure
6. Scheduling Legislation in the Senate
7. Senate Floor Procedure
8. Resolving House-Senate Differences
9. Legislative Oversight
10. A Dynamic Process
Testimonials
“The new edition of Walter Oleszek’s Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process continues to be the preeminent and most comprehensive work on the rules, procedures, and decision making of Congress. No other work comes close to this book in its objective and original scholarship, clarity and usefulness to Members of Congress, the media, scholars, students, and the general public. Oleszek has written a treasure. It is the primary source of authoritative knowledge about the complexity of the rules of the congressional policy process. I have adopted every edition of this book for my students and I will continue to do so.”
- James A. Thurber, Distinguished University Professor; Director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University“I have used Oleszek’s book about congressional procedures as the central text in my undergraduate courses about Congress for many years. It provides a superb introduction to the practical nuts and bolts of lawmaking, emphasizing not just the content of congressional rules and precedent, but also how procedure is used strategically by members to accomplish their goals. The book is impressively up-to-date and has lots of great anecdotes. The chapter on the budget process is still the best short introduction to the topic currently in print. Overall, by the end of the course, my undergraduate students are really glad that they have mastered the book. Especially for students who take post-graduate positions relevant to the legislative process in Congress, they often comment years later that reading the Oleszek book during their student days helped them in their professional life after graduation.”
- C. Lawrence Evans, Newton Family Professor of Government, College of William and Mary"Walter Oleszek's Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process provides clear, precise explanations of congressional rules along with timely examples that illustrate how procedures affect what happens in Congress. This book is both an essential text for courses on Congress and an indispensable reference volume for scholars and practitioners."
- Randall Strahan, Emory University “For 32 years, beginning with the first edition in 1978, all of my Congress students have read Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. Each of these thousand or more students has traced a bill through Congress, using primary sources only and Oleszek’s ‘Parliamentary Bible’ as their trustworthy guide. And some have even had their case studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Now into the 4th decade: When Oleszek speaks, my students listen.”
- Charles W. Dunn, Dean and Professor, Robertson School of Government, Regent University“I have used Walter Oleszek’s Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process from the first edition onward in my legislative process classes. It has no peer. It is unfailingly clear, accurate, and up to date. Its examples are contemporary ones where possible. I have never taught the legislative course without Oleszek, and I am confident I will continue relying on it in the future.”
- Albert Cover, associate professor and undergraduate director, Stony Brook University“I use Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process every time I teach my graduate course on Congress. One cannot truly understand Congress unless one knows its rules and procedures, and I am confident that my students walk away with a much better understanding of Congress than they would without ever reading this book.”
- Robert Langran, Villanova University
Bio(s)
Walter J. Oleszek, Congressional Research Service
Walter J. Oleszek is a senior specialist in the legislative process at the Congressional Research Service. He has served as either a full-time professional staff aide or consultant to every major House and Senate congressional reorganization effort beginning with passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. In 1993 he served as Policy Director of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. A longtime adjunct faculty member at American University, Oleszek is a frequent lecturer to various academic, governmental, and business groups. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, 8th ed. (2011), and Congress under Fire: Reform Politics and the Republican Majority, with C. Lawrence Evans (1997).
