Abstract

Along with the expansion of the congressional role in the areas of American domestic and foreign policies , a complicated system of legislative staff has been developed , as shown both in it sincreased numbers and in it s empowered functions. This article traces the origin of the development of the staff system , the highly exposed problem of bureaucratization of the staff members, and the possibilities of reforming the congressional staff system in the future. The discussion of the key issues is focused on whether the staff system has affected the substantial legislative activities in lawmaking , supervision and other areas , and to what degree that staff members , rather than congressmen and congresswomen themselves , make policy decisions.

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