De staf van het Amerikaanse congres

Abstract

In the introductory part of the article, a summary is given of some American : research data on the functioning of the U.S. Gongress. The most frequent role-orientation of the members of the House of Representatives is that of the ‘tribune’. The members most satisfied with the way in which Congress functions I are however those with the role-orientation of the ‘broker’. The problem mentioned most frequently by the respresentatives is lack of information. The main goals which the members of both houses try to reach by means of the expansion of the staff are: (1) strengthening or maintaining the influence of Congress on legislation and oversight of the administration; (2) better communication with the citizens; (3) more expert and more independent information for the members of Congress. i i The average senator now ha.s a personal staff of 13 to 16 persons. A represenI tative normally has a staff of 6 or 7 members. The comittee staffs consist of I 640 persons in the House and 482 in the Senate. In addition there is also the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) of the Library of Congress (220 persons). The activities of the staff are extremely varied. Generally speaking, the 1 committee staff concentrates on legislation and oversight of the administration. The personal staff of the members deals mainly with the communication between the member and his constituents. The LRS concentrates on informing j committees, members and constituents. Many members are not satisfied with the way in which Congress functions. I Most of them think that a further growth of the staff — both in quality and quantity — is needed. It has been said that Congress, facing the growth of . the governmental bureaucracy, should bureaucratize itself. I The problems facing the parliament of the Netherlands, though not by far ' as gigantic, are more or less of the same nature as those related to the manner of functioning of the U.S. Congress. The staff of the Dutch Parliament is still extremely small. A new development is that since 1966 the parliamentary parties are allowed some money for their own staff.