| Policy actors create, gather, disseminate and use knowledge throughout the policy making process. Congressional hearings are one forum where policy knowledge is exchanged between generators and appliers of policy knowledge. Previous research presents conflicting views on whether real learning happens in hearings. Considering whether learning behaviors of legislators evolve throughout the policy making process may partially explain this conflict.;A discourse analysis examining legislators' elicitation of information during the question and answer section of two Congressional hearings indicates that learning behaviors do evolve in this setting -- learning behaviors analyzed in a hearing near the beginning of a policy making process were significantly different than learning behaviors analyzed in a hearing near the end of the process. Legislators elicit information in hearings to explore problems and solutions, and to enable them to defend their choices to fellow legislators and constituents. Hearings should be systematically considered when researching policy making decisions. |
