Insecure Majorities

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Insecure Majorities

Author : Frances E. Lee
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022640918X
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Insecure Majorities by : Frances E. Lee

Download or read book Insecure Majorities written by Frances E. Lee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] tour de force. Building upon her argument in Beyond Ideology, she adds an important wrinkle into the current divide between the parties in Congress.” —Perspectives on Politics As Democrats and Republicans continue to vie for political advantage, Congress remains paralyzed by partisan conflict. That the last two decades have seen some of the least productive Congresses in recent history is usually explained by the growing ideological gulf between the parties, but this explanation misses another fundamental factor influencing the dynamic. In contrast to politics through most of the twentieth century, the contemporary Democratic and Republican parties compete for control of Congress at relative parity, and this has dramatically changed the parties’ incentives and strategies in ways that have driven the contentious partisanship characteristic of contemporary American politics. With Insecure Majorities, Frances E. Lee offers a controversial new perspective on the rise of congressional party conflict, showing how the shift in competitive circumstances has had a profound impact on how Democrats and Republicans interact. Beginning in the 1980s, most elections since have offered the prospect of a change of party control. Lee shows, through an impressive range of interviews and analysis, how competition for control of the government drives members of both parties to participate in actions that promote their own party’s image and undercut that of the opposition, including the perpetual hunt for issues that can score political points by putting the opposing party on the wrong side of public opinion. More often than not, this strategy stands in the way of productive bipartisan cooperation—and it is also unlikely to change as long as control of the government remains within reach for both parties.

Sizing Up the Senate

Author : Frances E. Lee
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226470061
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Sizing Up the Senate by : Frances E. Lee

Download or read book Sizing Up the Senate written by Frances E. Lee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999-10 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book raises questions about one of the key institutions of American government, the United States Senate, and should be of interest to anyone concerned with issues of representation.

Pivotal Politics

Author : Keith Krehbiel
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226452735
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Pivotal Politics by : Keith Krehbiel

Download or read book Pivotal Politics written by Keith Krehbiel and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-05-27 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politicians and pundits alike have complained that the divided governments of the last decades have led to legislative gridlock. Not so, argues Keith Krehbiel, who advances the provocative theory that divided government actually has little effect on legislative productivity. Gridlock is in fact the order of the day, occurring even when the same party controls the legislative and executive branches. Meticulously researched and anchored to real politics, Krehbiel argues that the pivotal vote on a piece of legislation is not the one that gives a bill a simple majority, but the vote that allows its supporters to override a possible presidential veto or to put a halt to a filibuster. This theory of pivots also explains why, when bills are passed, winning coalitions usually are bipartisan and supermajority sized. Offering an incisive account of when gridlock is overcome and showing that political parties are less important in legislative-executive politics than previously thought, Pivotal Politics remakes our understanding of American lawmaking.

Congress, Keystone of the Washington Establishment

Author : Morris P. Fiorina
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300046403
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (464 download)

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Book Synopsis Congress, Keystone of the Washington Establishment by : Morris P. Fiorina

Download or read book Congress, Keystone of the Washington Establishment written by Morris P. Fiorina and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1989-01-01 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exposes a self-serving game, typically played by congressmen to curry favor with constituents, that involves the creation and subsequent dissolution of government service agencies.

The Logic of Congressional Action

Author : R. Douglas Arnold
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300056594
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (565 download)

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Book Synopsis The Logic of Congressional Action by : R. Douglas Arnold

Download or read book The Logic of Congressional Action written by R. Douglas Arnold and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress regularly enacts laws that benefit particular groups or localities while imposing costs on everyone else. Sometimes, however, Congress breaks free of such parochial concerns and enacts bills that serve the general public, not just special interest groups. In this important and original book, R. Douglas Arnold offers a theory that explains not only why special interests frequently triumph but also why the general public sometimes wins. By showing how legislative leaders build coalitions for both types of programs, he illuminates recent legislative decisions in such areas as economic, tax, and energy policy. Arnold's theory of policy making rests on a reinterpretation of the relationship between legislators' actions and their constituents' policy preferences. Most scholars explore the impact that citizens' existing policy preferences have on legislators' decisions. They ignore citizens who have no opinions because they assume that uninformed citizens cannot possibly affect legislators' choices. Arnold examines the influence of citizens' potential preferences, however, and argues that legislators also respond to these preferences in order to avoid future electoral problems. He shows how legislators estimate the political consequences of their voting decisions, taking into account both the existing preferences of attentive citizens and the potential preferences of inattentive citizens. He then analyzes how coalition leaders manipulate the legislative situation in order to make it attractive for legislators to support a general interest bill.

Beyond Ideology

Author : Frances E. Lee
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226470776
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Ideology by : Frances E. Lee

Download or read book Beyond Ideology written by Frances E. Lee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-12-15 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The congressional agenda, Frances Lee contends, includes many issues about which liberals and conservatives generally agree. Even over these matters, though, Democratic and Republican senators tend to fight with each other. What explains this discord? Beyond Ideology argues that many partisan battles are rooted in competition for power rather than disagreement over the rightful role of government. The first book to systematically distinguish Senate disputes centering on ideological questions from the large proportion of them that do not, this volume foregrounds the role of power struggle in partisan conflict. Presidential leadership, for example, inherently polarizes legislators who can influence public opinion of the president and his party by how they handle his agenda. Senators also exploit good government measures and floor debate to embarrass opponents and burnish their own party’s image—even when the issues involved are broadly supported or low-stakes. Moreover, Lee contends, the congressional agenda itself amplifies conflict by increasingly focusing on issues that reliably differentiate the parties. With the new president pledging to stem the tide of partisan polarization, Beyond Ideology provides a timely taxonomy of exactly what stands in his way.

The Partisan Sort

Author : Matthew Levendusky
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226473678
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis The Partisan Sort by : Matthew Levendusky

Download or read book The Partisan Sort written by Matthew Levendusky and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-12-15 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Washington elites drifted toward ideological poles over the past few decades, did ordinary Americans follow their lead? In The Partisan Sort, Matthew Levendusky reveals that we have responded to this trend—but not, for the most part, by becoming more extreme ourselves. While polarization has filtered down to a small minority of voters, it also has had the more significant effect of reconfiguring the way we sort ourselves into political parties. In a marked realignment since the 1970s—when partisan affiliation did not depend on ideology and both major parties had strong liberal and conservative factions—liberals today overwhelmingly identify with Democrats, as conservatives do with Republicans. This “sorting,” Levendusky contends, results directly from the increasingly polarized terms in which political leaders define their parties. Exploring its far-reaching implications for the American political landscape, he demonstrates that sorting makes voters more loyally partisan, allowing campaigns to focus more attention on mobilizing committed supporters. Ultimately, Levendusky concludes, this new link between party and ideology represents a sea change in American politics.

Congress and Its Members

Author : Roger H. Davidson
Publisher : CQ Press
ISBN 13 : 1506369758
Total Pages : 752 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (63 download)

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Book Synopsis Congress and Its Members by : Roger H. Davidson

Download or read book Congress and Its Members written by Roger H. Davidson and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2017-06-10 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gold standard for Congress courses for over 30 years Congress and Its Members, Sixteenth Edition, by Roger H. Davidson, Walter J. Oleszek, Frances E. Lee, and Eric Schickler, offers readers current, comprehensive coverage of Congress and the legislative process by examining the tension between Congress as a lawmaking institution and as a collection of politicians constantly seeking re-election. The Sixteenth Edition of this best-selling text considers the 2016 elections and discusses the agenda of the new Congress, White House–Capitol Hill relations, party and committee leadership changes, judicial appointments, and partisan polarization, as well as covering changes to budgeting, campaign finance, lobbying, public attitudes about Congress, reapportionment, rules, and procedures. Always balancing great scholarship with currency, the best-seller features lively case material along with relevant data, charts, exhibits, maps, and photos.

Camelot's End

Author : Jon Ward
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 1455591378
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (555 download)

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Book Synopsis Camelot's End by : Jon Ward

Download or read book Camelot's End written by Jon Ward and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a strange, dark chapter in American political history comes the captivating story of Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign for president against the incumbent Jimmy Carter, told in full for the first time. The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Kennedy. And so, 1980 became a civil war. It was the last time an American president received a serious reelection challenge from inside his own party, the last contested convention, and the last all-out floor fight, where political combatants fought in real time to decide who would be the nominee. It was the last gasp of an outdated system, an insider's game that old Kennedy hands thought they had mastered, and the year that marked the unraveling of the Democratic Party as America had known it. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge -- what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects -- with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war. And, at its heart, Camelot's End is the tale of two extraordinary and deeply flawed men: Teddy Kennedy, one of the nation's greatest lawmakers, a man of flaws and of great character; and Jimmy Carter, a politically tenacious but frequently underestimated trailblazer. Comprehensive and nuanced, featuring new interviews with major party leaders and behind-the-scenes revelations from the time, Camelot's End presents both Kennedy and Carter in a new light, and takes readers deep inside a dark chapter in American political history.

No Middle Ground

Author : Seth Masket
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 9780472116898
Total Pages : 227 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (168 download)

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Book Synopsis No Middle Ground by : Seth Masket

Download or read book No Middle Ground written by Seth Masket and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is a fascinating book. It is one of the best studies of the ways that parties and politics get conducted in any American state. Masket shows that legislators can be perfectly content without parties that control agendas and does a terrific job of explaining the transition from free-wheeling legislators to rigidly partisan voting blocs.” —Sam Popkin, University of California at San Diego “No Middle Ground makes a significant contribution to the study of American parties and legislative politics.” —Matthew Green, Catholic University of America Despite concerns about the debilitating effects of partisanship on democratic government, in recent years political parties have gained strength in state governments as well as in Washington. In many cases these parties function as machines. Unlike machines of the past that manipulated votes, however, today’s machines determine which candidates can credibly compete in a primary. Focusing on the history and politics of California, Seth E. Masket reveals how these machines evolved and how they stay in power by directing money, endorsements, and expertise to favored candidates, who often tend toward the ideological extreme. In a provocative conclusion, Masket argues that politicians are not inherently partisan. Instead, partisanship is thrust upon them by actors outside the government with the power to manipulate primary elections.

Congress at the Grassroots

Author : Richard F. Fenno Jr.
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 9780807860632
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (66 download)

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Book Synopsis Congress at the Grassroots by : Richard F. Fenno Jr.

Download or read book Congress at the Grassroots written by Richard F. Fenno Jr. and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2003-06-19 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: However much politicians are demeaned and denounced in modern American society, our democracy could not work without them. For this reason, says Richard Fenno, their activities warrant our attention. In his pioneering book, Home Style, Fenno demonstrated that a close look at politicians at work in their districts can tell us a great deal about the process of representation. Here, Fenno employs a similarly revealing grassroots approach to explore how patterns of representation have changed in recent decades. Fenno focuses on two members of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the same west-central Georgia district at different times: Jack Flynt, who served from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Mac Collins, who has held the seat in the 1990s. His on-the-scene observation of their differing representational styles--Flynt focuses on people, Collins on policy--reveals the ways in which social and demographic changes inspire shifts in representational strategies. More than a study of representational change in one district, Congress at the Grassroots also helps illuminate the larger subject of political change in the South and in the nation as a whole.

Strategic Party Government

Author : Gregory Koger
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022642474X
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Strategic Party Government by : Gregory Koger

Download or read book Strategic Party Government written by Gregory Koger and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-01-30 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is Congress mired in partisan polarization? The conventional answer is that members of Congress and their constituencies fundamentally disagree with one other along ideological lines. But Gregory Koger and Matthew J. Lebo uncover a more compelling reason that today’s political leaders devote so much time to conveying their party’s positions, even at the expense of basic government functions: Both parties want to win elections. In Strategic Party Government, Koger and Lebo argue that Congress is now primarily a forum for partisan competition. In order to avoid losing, legislators unite behind strong party leaders, even when they do not fully agree with the policies their party is advocating. They do so in the belief that party leaders and voters will reward them for winning—or at least trying to win—these legislative contests. And as the parties present increasingly united fronts, partisan competition intensifies and pressure continues to mount for a strong party-building strategy—despite considerable disagreement within the parties. By bringing this powerful but underappreciated force in American politics to the forefront, Koger and Lebo provide a new interpretation of the problems facing Congress that is certain to reset the agenda for legislative studies.

Setting the Agenda

Author : Gary W. Cox
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521853798
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (537 download)

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Book Synopsis Setting the Agenda by : Gary W. Cox

Download or read book Setting the Agenda written by Gary W. Cox and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-09-26 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrates that the majority party seizes agenda control at nearly every stage of the legislative process.

Congress Overwhelmed

Author : Timothy M. LaPira
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022670257X
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Congress Overwhelmed by : Timothy M. LaPira

Download or read book Congress Overwhelmed written by Timothy M. LaPira and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress today is falling short. Fewer bills, worse oversight, and more dysfunction. But why? In a new volume of essays, the contributors investigate an underappreciated reason Congress is struggling: it doesn’t have the internal capacity to do what our constitutional system requires of it. Leading scholars chronicle the institutional decline of Congress and the decades-long neglect of its own internal investments in the knowledge and expertise necessary to perform as a first-rate legislature. Today’s legislators and congressional committees have fewer—and less expert and experienced—staff than the executive branch or K Street. This leaves them at the mercy of lobbyists and the administrative bureaucracy. The essays in Congress Overwhelmed assess Congress’s declining capacity and explore ways to upgrade it. Some provide broad historical scope. Others evaluate the current decay and investigate how Congress manages despite the obstacles. Collectively, they undertake the most comprehensive, sophisticated appraisal of congressional capacity to date, and they offer a new analytical frame for thinking about—and improving—our underperforming first branch of government.

Filibustering

Author : Gregory Koger
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226449661
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Filibustering by : Gregory Koger

Download or read book Filibustering written by Gregory Koger and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the modern Congress, one of the highest hurdles for major bills or nominations is gaining the sixty votes necessary to shut off a filibuster in the Senate. But this wasn’t always the case. Both citizens and scholars tend to think of the legislative process as a game played by the rules in which votes are the critical commodity—the side that has the most votes wins. In this comprehensive volume,Gregory Koger shows, on the contrary, that filibustering is a game with slippery rules in which legislators who think fast and try hard can triumph over superior numbers. Filibustering explains how and why obstruction has been institutionalized in the U.S. Senate over the last fifty years, and how this transformation affects politics and policymaking. Koger also traces the lively history of filibustering in the U.S. House during the nineteenth century and measures the effects of filibustering—bills killed, compromises struck, and new issues raised by obstruction. Unparalleled in the depth of its theory and its combination of historical and political analysis, Filibustering will be the definitive study of its subject for years to come.

The Imprint of Congress

Author : David R. Mayhew
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300215703
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis The Imprint of Congress by : David R. Mayhew

Download or read book The Imprint of Congress written by David R. Mayhew and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insightful examination of the imprint of Congress on politics and society throughout American history by a distinguished congressional scholar

Presidents and Parties in the Public Mind

Author : Gary C. Jacobson
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022658934X
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis Presidents and Parties in the Public Mind by : Gary C. Jacobson

Download or read book Presidents and Parties in the Public Mind written by Gary C. Jacobson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-01-12 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How is Donald Trump’s presidency likely to affect the reputation and popular standing of the Republican Party? Profoundly, according to Gary C. Jacobson. From Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama, every postwar president has powerfully shaped Americans’ feelings, positive or negative, about their party. The effect is pervasive, influencing the parties’ reputations for competence, their perceived principles, and their appeal as objects of personal identification. It is also enduring, as presidents’ successes and failures continue to influence how we see their parties well beyond their time in office. With Presidents and Parties in the Public Mind, Gary C. Jacobson draws on survey data from the past seven administrations to show that the expansion of the executive branch in the twentieth century that gave presidents a greater role in national government also gave them an enlarged public presence, magnifying their role as the parties’ public voice and face. As American politics has become increasingly nationalized and president-centered over the past few decades, the president’s responsibility for the party’s image and status has continued to increase dramatically. Jacobson concludes by looking at the most recent presidents’ effects on our growing partisan polarization, analyzing Obama’s contribution to this process and speculating about Trump’s potential for amplifying the widening demographic and cultural divide.