The Conditional Party Government Theory

and the Legislative Reform of

the U.S. Congress in 1990s

Yiuheng Liu ¹

¹ Adjunct lecturer, Graduate Institute of National Development,

National Taiwan University

Yung-Mau Chao ²

²  Professor, Department of Political Science,

National Taiwan University

 Abstract

The Republican Party won a stunning victory in the 1994 American Congress' midterm election. The Congress' organizational structure and legislative process witnessed a major change since the mid-1990s when the Republican majority controlled both chambers. According to Conditional Party Government Theory, a unified majority party will try to alter the inner organizational structure of a legislature, to reinforce the power of the party leader, and therefore enact priority legislation without any support from the minority. When the policy goal within the majority is in itself diverse, then the power of leadership will be weakened. The balance budget battle between the Republican Congress and President Clinton in 1995 and the consequent shutdown of the federal government had become the landmark of the conditional party government phenomenon in the House; there the power structures in both stages within the House are very different. The Senate also has been affected during the wave of reformism and only slow introduced any changes.

Keywords:  conditional party government, legislative reform, U.S. Congress,

                   Republican Party