For most bills in American legislature, the issue of turf - or which committee has jurisdiction over a bill - is crucial. This study explains how jurisdictional areas for committees are created and changed in Congress, and dissects the politics of "turf-grabbing".
Turf--and the power that goes with it--defines a legislative committee. Jurisdictions are property rights over issues. They distinguish one committee from another; they attract legislators to certain panels, and they set boundaries on what politicians can and can not do.
