An Introduction to the Senate Policy Committees

The subject of party responsibility for public policy in Congress has commanded much attention among political scientists. Creation of the Senate party policy committees in 1947 with legal sanction and public appropriations was heralded by some political scientists as a major step in the direction of centralizing and evolving a so-called party program. These committees have now been in operation for nine years, during which the Republican and Democratic bodies have each served about the same amount of time in the majority and minority. The committees may be said to have passed the experimental stage. Notwithstanding this, there is a paucity of material, both descriptive and analytical, concerning their operations. In 1951 extensive hearings were held to evaluate the operation of the Legislative Reorganization Act. Yet none of the three Democratic Policy Committee chairmen—Senators Barkley, Lucas, and McFarland, nor any member of their staffs appeared to testify. Senator Robert A. Taft, Republican Policy Committee Chairman, made no reference to his committee when discussing the Act.