1. members are popularly elected from specific geographical constituencies in which they reside
2. There are two separate and quite different houses of Congress
3. The federal government has a very large and disaggregated bureaucracy
4. Congress is open to the activities and influence of a large number of diverse organized interest groups
5. Congress organizes itself into a very large number of committees and subcommittees in order to process its business
6. The national political parties are very weak and have almost no impact on Congress
Conditions Favorable to Integration:
1. Members take pride in Congress as an institution and are ambitious for the policy impact of the institution compared to the impact of the executive branch
2. There are well-developed party organizations within the House and Senate that have potential for providing centralized leadership
3. Some members have strong, broad substantive policy commitments
4. Congress shares power with a strong president, who is buttressed by a well developed institutional presidency; the president and presidency have the potential for providing centralized leadership.