We are pleased to announce the publication of a special issue of Legislative Studies Quarterly focused on congressional oversight reports — research made possible by our Congressional Oversight Records Database (CORD). The special issue, The Politics of Congressional Reports, brings together leading scholars examining how Congress conducts oversight, develops policy, communicates findings, and builds institutional knowledge.
Launched in 2024, CORD is the first comprehensive database of congressional oversight reports and now contains more than 2,000 reports from 33 congressional committees. The database was designed to make congressional oversight records more accessible, encourage new scholarship on Congress and legislative oversight, and enable the public to assess how Congress is performing its informing function.
Several articles in the special issue grew out of a 2024 workshop convened by the Levin Center in partnership with the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. The articles explore topics including the legislative impact of oversight reports, minority-party oversight strategies, congressional investigations, oversight communication, and the evolution of congressional oversight capacity.
The special issue is dedicated to our much-missed colleague, Elise Bean, whose vision and relentless energy brought CORD to life. The publication of the special issue marks an important milestone in the Levin Center’s efforts to strengthen research on congressional oversight and expand understanding of Congress’s oversight role.