On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences, 1948-2000.

On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences, 1948-2000. By Julian E. Zelizer. (New York and other cities: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. xvi, 359. $30.00, ISBN 0-521-80161-3.)

In his extensively researched, clearly written, and important book, Julian E. Zelizer presents a masterful study of the movement to reform Congress from 1948 to 2000. "This book," Zelizer states at the start, "places the transformation of Congress at the center of postwar American history ..." (p. 3). He concludes "that government reform is a slow, messy, and complex process" (p. 263). However slow the process, a comparison of Congress as an institution in 1948 with Congress in 2000 vividly documents the transformation.

In 1948 committee chairs controlled the committee process and thereby controlled the work of Congress. Thanks to the seniority system these chairs were southern Democrats who often exerted power autocratically and who had little sympathy for reform, especially concerning civil rights or labor unions. At that time the South was essentially a one-party region. To a large degree, therefore, Congress reflected regional values. "The Conservative Committee Era" that stood in full maturity in 1948 became the focus for reformers (p. 4).

Congress in 2000 stood in sharp contrast. "No leader, from the Speaker to the Senate Majority Leader, enjoyed autocratic power" (p. 262). All members were subject to prosecution for violation of ethics rules. Parties, noticeably stronger than in 1948, asserted a "centralizing influence," with party caucuses playing major roles (p. 262). The legislative process offered "room to such decentralized forces as specialized caucuses, subcommittees, and mavericks" (p. 266). Finally, "external forces," especially television reporters and interest groups, "kept [Congress] in line" (p. 262). Between 1948 and 2000 Congress, indeed, had experienced a transformation.

The heart of Zelizer's book is the narrative of this transformation. Although he avoids identifying distinctive turning points, he does present the years 1948 to 1970 as a period of "Building a Constituency for Congressional Reform" and 1970 to 1979 as "The End of the Committee Era and the Start of the Contemporary Era" (pp. 5, 8). January 1975 serves at least as a symbol of change. By then the chair system retained scant support, and House Democrats removed its last vestige when it replaced the seniority system with the procedure of majority rule. The next day Senate Democrats decided to elect committee chairs by secret ballot.

One of the most impressive strengths of Zelizer's book is the description of congressional reform integrated within shifts of the national culture and under the influence of other external forces. For example, starting in 1962 with Baker v. Carr and continuing through 1964, the Supreme Court rendered a series of decisions that established the one-person, one-vote principle, thereby forcing states to reapportion their legislative and congressional districts. As a result of these actions and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 more blacks started to win election to Congress. In 1970 they established the Congressional Black Caucus. Many state legislatures gerrymandered minority-based districts and their counterpart, strong Republican districts. Polarized partisanship became common. Vietnam and Watergate eroded public trust in government. In 1970 John Gardner founded Common Cause, which developed into one of the most influential interest groups.

Changes within the media likewise shaped congressional procedures and behavior. Adversarial journalism searched for scandal and conflict. By 1985 cable television meant a twenty-four-hour news cycle and C-SPAN broadcast on-the-scene events as they happened.

Zelizer's wide-ranging account of congressional reform in the context of external forces is a worthy successor to his prize-winning study Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975 (Cambridge, Eng., 1998). These two books move Zelizer into the front ranks of scholars who specialize in political history, political culture, policy, and Congress.

KEITH W. OLSON

University of Maryland