Congressional oversight5/1/2023 ![]() This increase clearly demonstrates that Congress isn’t placing enough emphasis on important issues. If the GAO identifies an issue, we can be sure it needs addressing.” The GAO’s biennial “High-Risk Reports” identify the most pressing executive agency issues in need of congressional oversight, and the number of problems identified on the list has ballooned from 14 in 1990 to 34 in 2017. “The GAO is an autonomous body and is a thoroughly nonpartisan agency it’s about as unbiased as you can get in DC. Leavitt plans to utilize the GAO’s problem identification metric, among other methods, to determine the quality of congressional oversight. The Government Accountability Office and Direct Interviews with Congresspeople, as Research Tools This has resulted in ineffective investigations, hampered by an increased focus on point-scoring politics instead of actual investigative effort. She contends that the increasingly partisan nature of American politics has resulted in a lack of cooperation between the two major parties, regarding congressional activities. Leavitt concludes that Congress has lost its place as the primary driver of oversight activities. “Much of high-profile oversight is no longer conducted by the Congress the Justice Department and other executive agencies now assume responsibility for the majority of investigations into executive affairs.” Despite these measures, Leavitt argues that there has been a pronounced shift of the onus for oversight away from the Congress and toward executive bodies. All Congressional committees also have been recently afforded the authority to subpoena individuals and institutions. Every congressman can now request reports from the GAO to analyze an administrative institution. The ambit for congressional oversight has, in fact, expanded over time, owing mainly to measures such as the consolidation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The consensus amongst scholars, however, is that the quality and effect of oversight has worsened over the decades.” “After formulating legislation, executive oversight comprises the Congress’ most important administrative responsibility. Her dissertation highlights the steady qualitative decline of rigorous executive oversight in the American Congress, a trend she says has been continuing since Nixon’s presidency in the 1970s. “I felt that I wouldn’t be hemmed in by predetermined norms here, and that’s the kind of scholar I aspire to be.” Where Has the Rigor in Congressional Oversight Gone?Ĭurrently in the third year of her degree, Leavitt has formulated the framework of her dissertation and will draft a prospectus for her project over the winter of 2018. “Students here are encouraged to go beyond the numbers and focus on the broad dysfunctionalities present in America’s political structure,” she says. According to Leavitt, Cornell’s department really encourages students to concentrate on the big questions. Leavitt mainly applied to Cornell for her PhD in Government due to its reputation, which she identifies as qualitative research and an interdisciplinary approach to the study of politics. I did, however, apply for an internship at a senator’s office during the summer of my junior year, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Capitol Hill.” After completing her undergraduate degree, Leavitt worked for three years as a journalist in Washington, DC, as well as for several not-for-profit organizations abroad before deciding to specialize in American politics. ![]() ![]() “I was a history major as an undergraduate and did not even take a single politics course in college. 2021 Research Stats & Faculty DistinctionsĪlthough Claire Leavitt has always held a keen interest in politics, it was only toward the end of her undergraduate degree that she began envisioning a career in the sector.Find a Center, Institute, Lab or Program.Converging Humanities & Social Sciences.
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