Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-nwzlb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T15:55:16.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

New Blood: Policy-Making in a Freshman Congressional Office

Congressional Fellowship Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2013

Amir Fairdosi*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago

Extract

As the United States Congress began its 113th session, 72 freshman members arrived on Capitol Hill to represent their congressional districts for the first time. It would be universally heralded as the most diverse freshman class in history, containing four new African Americans, 10 new Latinos, five new Asian Americans, 24 new women, the first two Hindus, the first Buddhist, the first non-theist to openly acknowledge her belief prior to getting elected, and four new LGBT members, including the first openly bisexual congresswomen and the first openly gay congressman of color. But for all their diversity, each of them had at least one thing in common: none of them had ever been a member of Congress before. How do freshman policy-makers legislate? What unique challenges do they face? What accounts for variations in their legislative activity?

Type
Association News
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)