CONGRESSIONAL TIME, ELECTIONS, GEOLOGIC TIME AND PUBLIC POLICY MAKING IN NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES

The inability of democratic governments to address collective problems related to resource utilization is well examined, with myriad explanations offered based on disciplined political parties, informed voters, political markets, or their respective absences. Policy strategies involve manipulating the opportunities for policy maintenance or innovation within the legislative, judicial and executive branches as ideological alignments evolve. An alternative explanation relies on the interaction of multiple institutional processes occurring in multiple time frames, each influencing and influenced by the others.

Congressional time exists in the hallways of the Capitol and the meeting rooms of the committees independent of elections. This time is marked by the accumulation of member seniority that leads to influence in the policy making process. How rapidly an individual can influence policy is dependent on the aggregation of party votes across time. Being in the majority matters, as well as how long the majority has been maintained, the volatility and cohesiveness of the majority, and the magnitude of the majority across its duration. Congressional time is most regularly marked in 15 and 30 year periods cutting across electoral events.

Public lands policy as it evolves from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976 illustrates the effective use of political institutions and congressional time by geoscientists. The collapse of this policy consensus following the series of election results since 1980 leaves the geologic community at the periphery of policy making after nearly two centuries as a critical player at the center of federal lands policy making. Understanding the process of congressional time can assist the geologic community in bringing important scientific findings back to the center of the policy making endeavor.