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Abstract
The modern U.S. Congress has moved away from the “textbook congress” and towards a growing influence and usage of off-floor processes. With these changes, majority party leadership has enjoyed an information advantage and increased ability to set the agenda and drive policy decisions (Curry 2015). Additionally, research has recognized the growing need of parties to maintain or gain a majority for the purpose of gaining this decision-making power (Lee 2016). Some questions remain as to the extent to which factors outside of party identification or ideology may alter or impact the behavior of rank-and-file members. This dissertation considers whether individual-level factors such as gender and intraparty-faction membership impact how member’s approach two different facets of the legislative process: amending and negotiating via hitchhiker bills. Across the analyses, there is little support that significant differences exist in the impact of these specific factors. However, there is promising room for future study of the role of gender and intraparty factions in our consideration of legislative behavior.