nd somewhat rebellious House, and to what George Will described as "the enervation of foreign policy and, in domestic affairs, the primacy of parochial interests at the expense of national aspirations" (268). Extensive media coverage, including television coverage of floor debates and important hearings, may have exaggerated these trends. The representation of previously excluded groups also increased. The House which emerged from the 1992 elections, "had the largest turnover in membership in recent years" and contained thirty four new women members (out of a total of forty seven), sixteen new black members (out of thirty eight) and sixteen new Hispanic members (out of seventeen) (103rd Congress Convenes 2 and Cohen 108). These newer groups tended to be less amenable to traditional methods of party control.
Gridlock politics dominated the last few years of the Reagan administration, the Bush administration and the Clinton administration. The Democratic leadership in the House found it increasingly difficult to weld their members into a unified bloc on many
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