Limited legislative sessions crippled planning and shifted lawmaking initiative to executives

Evidence

“The lack of planning and follow-through is clearly established by the record. That the idea of limited sessions contributed to this result is suggested by the important role that the interim committee played in the most important state legislation of the twentieth century. The point is reinforced by contrast to the situation in Congress. There greater continuity of membership, plus the seniority rule in committee assignments, gave the standing committees of the House, and even more those of the Senate, somewhat the character of agencies of a continuously operating legislature. But the predominance of executive and administrative agencies in shaping twentieth-century legislative programs was the strongest evidence that the limited session had crippled the planning function of the legislature. Continuous responsibility was an essential part of the concept of executive power, and its expression was unhampered either by formal or traditional limitations.” — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 4174

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Volume 1/polyad thread on institutional competence — who plans, who executes, and how legislative design shapes which branch dominates lawmaking. — connects to: The House’s 21-day rule briefly checked the Rules Committee’s veto power — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4204; State governments shifted power from legislatures to executives and courts over time — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 668; Legislatures delegate unresolved political conflicts downward to administrators. (+1 more)
• QUESTION: Worth checking how the executive/administrative dominance claim squares with the later chapters on committee power and the Rules Committee traffic-cop function.

Broader Connections

• State governments shifted power from legislatures to executives and courts over time #expands (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 668
• Legislatures delegate unresolved political conflicts downward to administrators. #expands (0.75)
• Tightly detailed legislation strips interpreters of law-development and forces relentless amendments #contradicts (0.72) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3893