When do committees that share jurisdiction over an issue choose to seek agreement rather than engage in a turf war? Overlapping and ambiguous turf has become endemic in Congress over the last three decades, especially on issues at the top of the national agenda like health care reform and homeland security. A common view is that this produces gridlock and conflict, and impairs not just Congress's ability to legislate, but government agencies' ability to function, as well.
In Common Ground, John Baughman argues that this problem is overstated and shows that committees can and often do bargain and cooperate successfully, even on salient and contentious issues.

"Common Ground argues that transaction costs endemic to legislative politics encourage congressional committees to cooperate, rather than compete. Baughman provides a theoretically informed challenge to the conventional wisdom, and offers rigorous empirical tests in support. Common Ground is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the development and modern politics of policymaking in Congress." - George Washington University

"In this persuasive account of the theory and practice of committee politics in the U.S. House of Representatives, Baughman demonstrates how legislators protect, expand, and negotiate about the jurisdictions of their committees. Innovative in its theoretical stance and creative in its empirical approach, Common Ground expands the frontiers of legislative research. The mix of sound hypotheses, sophisticated quantitative analysis, and sensitivity to the players own accounts of everyday legal strategy makes this an important book for professional students of politics." - Washington University