It has been the contention of many political scientists studying Congress, and often of reformers within Congress itself, that increases in staff expertise and a general upgrading of information resources are necessary if Congress is to retain or regain its lawmaking capacities and to escape complete dominance by the executive.' At the same time, it is often stressed that staff appointments based on patronage and political considerations are ill-suited to modern needs. What is preferable, according to this view, is a competent, "professional" staff for each committee-a staff well versed in the subject matter at hand, accessible to, and capable of, augmenting the capacity of each member to make rational policy choices. A recent article by Nelson Polsby, while stressing the political and interest-oriented character of policy analysis as it takes place in Congress, nonetheless shares this general perspective: