Congressional procedures and the policy process / Walter J. Oleszek.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-349) and index.

1. Congress and lawmaking -- The Constitutional context -- Functions of rules and procedures -- Rules and policymaking in Congress -- Congressional decision making -- The House and Senate compared -- Pressures on members -- 2. The Congressional budget process -- Authorization-appropriations process -- Prelude to budget reform -- The 1974 Budget Act -- Evolution of the budget process -- A brief surplus era -- The challenge ahead -- 3. Preliminary legislative action -- Categories of legislation -- Bill referral procedure -- Consideration in committee -- The committee chair's role -- Committee hearings -- The markup -- The report -- Bypassing committees -- 4. Scheduling legislation in the House -- The House legislative calendars -- Minor and noncontroversial bills -- Privileged legislation -- Major legislation -- Legislation blocked in committee -- Final scheduling steps -- 5. House floor procedure -- Adoption of the rule -- Committee of the whole -- General debate -- The amending process -- Voting -- Final procedural steps -- 6. Scheduling legislation in the Senate -- Flexible scheduling system -- Noncontroversial bills -- Major legislation -- Unanimous consent agreements -- The track system -- Scheduling procedures compared -- 7. Senate floor procedure -- Legislative and calendar days -- Daily order of business -- Debate in the modern Senate -- Bills considered by unanimous consent -- The amending process -- Bills without unanimous consent -- Procedures to circumvent committees -- 8. Resolving House-Senate differences -- Obscurity of the process -- Agreement without a conference -- Preconference considerations -- Conference committee process -- Presidential approval or veto -- 9. Legislative oversight -- Oversight : an overview -- Techniques of oversight -- Impeachment -- Oversight trends and incentives -- Lack of consensus on oversight -- 10. A dynamic process -- Glossary of Congressional terms.