ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the principal-agent framework is useful to the study of congressional leadership. It addresses some important considerations of the principal-agent relationship and its application to the United States Congress. The chapter offers some important parallels to the traditional principal-agent model for understanding congressional leadership. It outlines an important theoretical modification to the traditional principal-agent model, one that emphasizes the connection between leadership strategies and the conditions affecting the principal-agent relationship. The chapter focuses on the House Rules Committee as a leadership institution and points to some of its unique roles that affect the relationship between leaders and the party membership. An inherent by-product of the principal-agent relationship is the principal’s incentive to reduce costs. The monitoring capacity of the Rules Committee is especially relevant to reducing the majority party’s information costs regarding the committee system.
