Page 83 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

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Information Revolutions
demanded new state capacity; its demands also affected who could com-
municate best and who could dominate the flow of political information.
One indicator of the changing demands on policy communication
is the output of laws from Congress. Between Reconstruction and the
turn of the century, the number of bills introduced in Congress grew
about seven-fold, from 3,000 in the Fortieth Congress (1867–69) to over
20,000intheFifty-sixth(1899–1900).By1917,theSixty-fourthCongress
introduced 29,000 bills, a record that survived the New Deal and policy
activism of the 1960s and 1970s, and that still remains. The number
of measures enacted into law grew nearly as rapidly, from 765 in the
Fortieth Congress to 1,942 in the Fifty-sixth. 88 For legislators as well as
others in public life, this legislative energy created huge new demands,
both for information about policy problems and possible responses and
for communication with constituents and other private interests. To be
a competent public official by 1920 required new levels of expertise in
communication, whether one served in Congress or in the agencies that
were taking on new responsibilities. By the same token, to influence
government and successfully advocate for policy, citizens and groups
were required to engage in intensified communication and coordination
under circumstances of greatly heightened competition for legislative
and bureaucratic attention.
A second element of complexity and changing communication ar-
rangements flows directly from this expanding policy agenda: institu-
tionaldevelopmentandspecialization.InCongress,committeesandsub-
committees were formed during a period of growth that has never been
matched. The Senate doubled its complement of committees and sub-
committees between 1880 and 1920, a feat not repeated even after World
War II. In 1900, the House had 391 members, up from 243 at the outset
of the Civil War, and by 1910 had reached its modern plateau of 435.
Developments in the executive branch surpassed those of Congress. New
cabinet departments were added, including Agriculture, Commerce, and
Labor (which was soon split in two), as were dozens of new agencies: the
Interstate Commerce Commission, the Food and Drug Administration,
the Federal Reserve, the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and
more. The total number of independent agencies alone grew four-fold
between 1880 and 1920. 89 In 1871, the federal government had about
51,000 employees, a majority of whom worked for the post office. By
88
Davidson and Oleszek, Congress and Its Members, table 2-2.
89
Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Directory (Washington, D.C.: Govern-
ment Printing Office, various years 1873–1921).
66