Democratic Study Group

The Democratic Study Group (DSG) is a legislative service organization (LSO) in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1959 "as a liberal counterpoint to the influence of senior conservatives and southern Democrats; it now consists of nearly all Democratic members of the House. Its Republican counterpart is Legislative Digest. The oldest and best known LSO in Congress, DSG has the largest budget and staff. The DSG's principal activity is to disseminate detailed written materials to members of the House about upcoming legislation and policy issues, which it does on a daily basis when the chamber is in session." According to Nelson W. Polsby, the DSG was a centrally important actor in internal reform of Congress that would allow much of the Kennedy-Johnson program to pass in spite of the opposition of the Conservative coalition.