Strategic Party Government

Download Strategic Party Government PDF Online Free

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

DOWNLOAD NOW!


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.

The Art of Strategic Leadership

Download The Art of Strategic Leadership PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119213061
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (192 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Art of Strategic Leadership by : Steven J. Stowell

Download or read book The Art of Strategic Leadership written by Steven J. Stowell and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-02-16 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Develop the qualities of strategic leadership and become an active contributor to the short- and long-term success of your organization Today's organizations face two daunting challenges: 1. How to create new sources of competitive advantage to sustain long-term growth, and 2. How to engage leaders at every level of the organization so that they are more proactive and forward-looking in their area of responsibility. The Art of Strategic Leadership uses a unique approach to examine what it means to be a strategic leader. Instead of focusing on the skills, behaviors, and tools found in typical books on strategic leadership, the authors shed light on the attributes and qualities necessary to lead strategic change and help transform a business. Strategic leadership is what modern leadership is all about. Organizations expect leaders to anticipate and be proactive more than ever before. In this book, the authors draw on their vast experience working directly with leaders at all levels and use an intriguing narrative to explain this inside-out approach to understanding strategic leadership. The narrative follows the journey of how one manager discovered these critically important qualities. You will experience first-hand how these values and attributes manifest in the lives of realistic leaders; how they orchestrate long-term strategic change needed for the organization to compete and survive and actively shape the future while delivering short-term results. The Art of Strategic Leadership provides the content that will help you informally assess and reflect on your own strategic leadership qualities—those that are strengths and those that indicate areas you need to develop. It will guide you as you incorporate these values and qualities into your own leadership style and become a more effective catalyst for change. This book will help you in the following ways: Develop a more proactive, forward-thinking approach to leadership Approach strategy from both short- and long-term perspectives Adopt the core values and principles of a strategic leader Model the qualities exhibited by powerful leaders Strategic leaders serve as powerful examples to others in the organization. Their qualities and traits spread rapidly to those around them, empowering people at every level to take a more active role in meeting the demands of the future. The Art of Strategic Leadership will help you deepen and broaden your understanding of the core qualities of strategic leadership, leaving you better equipped to lead yourself and your team to a better place and create greater value for customers, owners, and employees.

Becoming a Strategic Leader

Download Becoming a Strategic Leader PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118046579
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (18 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Becoming a Strategic Leader by : Richard L. Hughes

Download or read book Becoming a Strategic Leader written by Richard L. Hughes and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-01-11 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today’s organizations face difficult challenges in order to remain competitive—the quickening pace of change, increasing uncertainty, growing ambiguity, and complexity. To meet these challenges, organizations must broaden the scope of leadership responsibility for strategic leadership and engage more people in the process of leadership. In Becoming a Strategic Leader Rich Hughes and Kate Beatty from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) offer executives and managers a handbook for implementing a strategic leadership process that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations. Based on CCL’s successful Developing the Strategic Leader Program, this book outlines the framework of strategic leadership and contains practical suggestions on how to develop the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. The authors also show how individual managers can exercise effective strategic leadership through their distinctive and systemic approach—thinking, acting, and influencing.

The Politics Industry

Download The Politics Industry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard Business Press
ISBN 13 : 1633699242
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (336 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Politics Industry by : Katherine M. Gehl

Download or read book The Politics Industry written by Katherine M. Gehl and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2020-06-23 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading political innovation activist Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter bring fresh perspective, deep scholarship, and a real and actionable solution, Final Five Voting, to the grand challenge of our broken political and democratic system. Final Five Voting has already been adopted in Alaska and is being advanced in states across the country. The truth is, the American political system is working exactly how it is designed to work, and it isn't designed or optimized today to work for us—for ordinary citizens. Most people believe that our political system is a public institution with high-minded principles and impartial rules derived from the Constitution. In reality, it has become a private industry dominated by a textbook duopoly—the Democrats and the Republicans—and plagued and perverted by unhealthy competition between the players. Tragically, it has therefore become incapable of delivering solutions to America's key economic and social challenges. In fact, there's virtually no connection between our political leaders solving problems and getting reelected. In The Politics Industry, business leader and path-breaking political innovator Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter take a radical new approach. They ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis—and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework—to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change—a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws. Their bracing assessment and practical recommendations cut through the endless debate about various proposed fixes, such as term limits and campaign finance reform. The result: true political innovation. The Politics Industry is an original and completely nonpartisan guide that will open your eyes to the true dynamics and profound challenges of the American political system and provide real solutions for reshaping the system for the benefit of all. THE INSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL INNOVATION The authors will donate all royalties from the sale of this book to the Institute for Political Innovation.

The Leadership Campaign

Download The Leadership Campaign PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN 13 : 1632659557
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (326 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Leadership Campaign by : Scott Miller

Download or read book The Leadership Campaign written by Scott Miller and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2016-04-25 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A primer for a new generation of leaders based on the “Campaign Model” developed for Steve Jobs and Mike Murray at Apple Computer. The Leadership Campaign is a playbook for winning in the reality of today’s competitive global business environment. Each of the 10 steps it offers was learned on the most intensely competitive global battlefields. Thirty years ago, the authors were top-tier political consultants who could boast of a dozen presidential wins around the world. Candidates hired the authors’ company to apply to their political campaigns what the authors knew about business communication and marketing strategy. Then, in 1984, Steve Jobs asked them to build the “Campaign Model” for Apple, putting Jobs upfront as his company’s perennial candidate. This time, Jobs essentially asked the authors to apply what they knew about political campaigning to business. Continuously improved, the model has kept on working for their clients ever since, from Apple, Coca-Cola, and Citigroup to Verizon, Visa, and the Walt Disney Company. The Leadership Campaign will help you put these winning strategies to work for your company and your career. You will learn: Success-building communications skills used to train political leaders and CEOs around the world Proven strategies to take control of the competitive dialogue and never let go How to go for the win, the whole win, and nothing but the win for you and your company

Leadership

Download Leadership PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin Group
ISBN 13 : 0593489462
Total Pages : 529 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (934 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Leadership by : Henry Kissinger

Download or read book Leadership written by Henry Kissinger and published by Penguin Group. This book was released on 2024-07-09 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller Henry Kissinger, consummate diplomat and statesman, examines the strategies of six great twentieth-century figures and brings to life a unifying theory of leadership and diplomacy “An extraordinary book, one that braids together two through lines in the long and distinguished career of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger...In Leadership he presents a fascinating set of historical case studies and political biographies that blend the dance and the dancer, seamlessly.” - James Stavridis, The Wall Street Journal “Leaders,” writes Henry Kissinger in this compelling book, “think and act at the intersection of two axes: the first, between the past and the future; the second, between the abiding values and aspirations of those they lead. They must balance what they know, which is necessarily drawn from the past, with what they intuit about the future, which is inherently conjectural and uncertain. It is this intuitive grasp of direction that enables leaders to set objectives and lay down a strategy.” In Leadership, Kissinger analyses the lives of six extraordinary leaders through the distinctive strategies of statecraft, which he believes they embodied. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer brought defeated and morally bankrupt Germany back into the community of nations by what Kissinger calls “the strategy of humility.” Charles de Gaulle set France beside the victorious Allies and renewed its historic grandeur by “the strategy of will.” During the Cold War, Richard Nixon gave geostrategic advantage to the United States by “the strategy of equilibrium.” After twenty-five years of conflict, Anwar Sadat brought a vision of peace to the Middle East by a “strategy of transcendence.” Against the odds, Lee Kuan Yew created a powerhouse city-state, Singapore, by “the strategy of excellence.” And, though Britain was known as “the sick man of Europe” when Margaret Thatcher came to power, she renewed her country’s morale and international position by “the strategy of conviction.” To each of these studies, Kissinger brings historical perception, public experience and—because he knew each of the subjects and participated in many of the events he describes—personal knowledge. Leadership is enriched by insights and judgements that only Kissinger could make and concludes with his reflections on world order and the indispensability of leadership today.

Going Public

Download Going Public PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : CQ Press
ISBN 13 : 1483366294
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (833 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Going Public by : Samuel Kernell

Download or read book Going Public written by Samuel Kernell and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2006-10-18 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presidents are uniquely positioned to promote themselves and their polices directly to the public. Using sympathetic crowds as a backdrop, a president can rally public opinion to his side, along the way delivering a subtle yet unmistakable message to his intended audience in Congress. Samuel Kernell shows how "going public" remains a potent weapon in the president’s arsenal, both for advancing his own agenda and blocking initiatives from his political adversaries in Congress. In his highly anticipated fourth edition, Kernell delivers thorough analysis and detailed background on how this strategy continues to evolve given the intense polarization of Congress and the electorate as well as changes in communications technology. He considers the implications of both factors—especially in combination—on the future of presidential leadership and weighs the lessons of 9/11 on "going public" in foreign affairs.

Strategic Leadership

Download Strategic Leadership PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Strategic Management
ISBN 13 : 0195162072
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Strategic Leadership by : Sydney Finkelstein

Download or read book Strategic Leadership written by Sydney Finkelstein and published by Strategic Management. This book was released on 2009 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book integrates and assesses the vast and rapidly growing literature on strategic leadership, which is the study of top executives and their effects on organizations. The basic premise is that in order to understand why organizations do the things they do, or perform the way they do, we need to deeply comprehend the people at the top-- their experiences, abilities, values, social connections, aspirations, and other human features. The actions--or inactions--of a relatively small number of key people at the apex of an organization can dramatically affect organizational outcomes. The scope of strategic leadership includes individual executives, especially chief executive officers (CEOs), groups of executives (top management teams, or TMTs); and governing bodies (particularly boards of directors). Accordingly, the book addresses an array of topics regarding CEOs (e.g., values, personality, motives, demography, succession, and compensation); TMTs (including composition, processes, and dynamics); and boards of directors (why boards look and behave the way they do, and the consequences of board profiles and behaviors). Strategic Leadership synthesizes what is known about strategic leadership and indicates new research directions. The book is meant primarily for scholars who strive to assess and understand the phenomena of strategic leadership. It offers a considerable foundation on which professionals involved in executive search, compensation, appraisal and staffing, as well as board members who evaluate executive performance and potential, might build their tools and perspectives.

Presidential Party Building

Download Presidential Party Building PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400831172
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Presidential Party Building by : Daniel J. Galvin

Download or read book Presidential Party Building written by Daniel J. Galvin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-09-21 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern presidents are usually depicted as party "predators" who neglect their parties, exploit them for personal advantage, or undercut their organizational capacities. Challenging this view, Presidential Party Building demonstrates that every Republican president since Dwight D. Eisenhower worked to build his party into a more durable political organization while every Democratic president refused to do the same. Yet whether they supported their party or stood in its way, each president contributed to the distinctive organizational trajectories taken by the two parties in the modern era. Unearthing new archival evidence, Daniel Galvin reveals that Republican presidents responded to their party's minority status by building its capacities to mobilize voters, recruit candidates, train activists, provide campaign services, and raise funds. From Eisenhower's "Modern Republicanism" to Richard Nixon's "New Majority" to George W. Bush's hopes for a partisan realignment, Republican presidents saw party building as a means of forging a new political majority in their image. Though they usually met with little success, their efforts made important contributions to the GOP's cumulative organizational development. Democratic presidents, in contrast, were primarily interested in exploiting the majority they inherited, not in building a new one. Until their majority disappeared during Bill Clinton's presidency, Democratic presidents eschewed party building and expressed indifference to the long-term effects of their actions. Bringing these dynamics into sharp relief, Presidential Party Building offers profound new insights into presidential behavior, party organizational change, and modern American political development.

The Strategic President

Download The Strategic President PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691154368
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Strategic President by : George C. Edwards III

Download or read book The Strategic President written by George C. Edwards III and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do presidents lead? If presidential power is the power to persuade, why is there a lack of evidence of presidential persuasion? George Edwards, one of the leading scholars of the American presidency, skillfully uses this contradiction as a springboard to examine--and ultimately challenge--the dominant paradigm of presidential leadership. The Strategic President contends that presidents cannot create opportunities for change by persuading others to support their policies. Instead, successful presidents facilitate change by recognizing opportunities and fashioning strategies and tactics to exploit them. Edwards considers three extraordinary presidents--Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan--and shows that despite their considerable rhetorical skills, the public was unresponsive to their appeals for support. To achieve change, these leaders capitalized on existing public opinion. Edwards then explores the prospects for other presidents to do the same to advance their policies. Turning to Congress, he focuses first on the productive legislative periods of FDR, Lyndon Johnson, and Reagan, and finds that these presidents recognized especially favorable conditions for passing their agendas and effectively exploited these circumstances while they lasted. Edwards looks at presidents governing in less auspicious circumstances, and reveals that whatever successes these presidents enjoyed also resulted from the interplay of conditions and the presidents' skills at understanding and exploiting them. The Strategic President revises the common assumptions of presidential scholarship and presents significant lessons for presidents' basic strategies of governance.

Filibustering

Download Filibustering PDF Online Free

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

DOWNLOAD NOW!


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.

Politics and Strategy

Download Politics and Strategy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780691149578
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (495 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Politics and Strategy by : Peter Trubowitz

Download or read book Politics and Strategy written by Peter Trubowitz and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trubowitz pushes the understanding of grand strategy beyond traditional approaches that stress only international forces or domestic interests. He provides insights into how past leaders responded to cross-pressures between geopolitics and party politics, and how similar issues continue to bedevil American statecraft today. He suggests that the trade-offs shaping American leaders' foreign policy choices are not unique--analogous trade-offs confront Chinese and Russian leaders as well."--Pub. desc.

Transformative Political Leadership

Download Transformative Political Leadership PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226729001
Total Pages : 227 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Transformative Political Leadership by : Robert I. Rotberg

Download or read book Transformative Political Leadership written by Robert I. Rotberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-03-16 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accomplished political leaders have a clear strategy for turning political visions into reality. Through well-honed analytical, political, and emotional intelligence, leaders chart paths to promising futures that include economic growth, material prosperity, and human well-being. Alas, such leaders are rare in the developing world, where often institutions are weak and greed and corruption strong—and where responsible leadership therefore has the potential to effect the greatest change. In Transformative Political Leadership, Robert I. Rotberg focuses on the role of leadership in politics and argues that accomplished leaders demonstrate a particular set of skills. Through illustrative case studies of leaders who have performed ably in the developing world—among them Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Seretse Khama in Botswana, Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, and Kemal Ataturk in Turkey—Rotberg examines how these leaders transformed their respective countries. The importance of capable leadership is woefully understudied in political science, and this book will be an important tool in exploring how leaders lead and how nations and institutions are built.

Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education

Download Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134127855
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (341 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education by : Stephanie Marshall

Download or read book Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education written by Stephanie Marshall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-04-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the current research base on the management of change, this book analyzes the key features in planning, delivery and monitoring the impact of planned change initiatives in higher education. Comparing and contrasting the findings of twenty-five action research high level corporate change management projects, the initiatives discussed include: the introduction of Kaplan and Norton’s ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach, resulting in strategic mapping at all levels a major cultural shift programme to bring about globalisation of all aspects of the university, taking account the perspectives as to how this should be achieved the introduction of a mentoring scheme to promote diversity and equality and greater understanding and support of black and ethnic minority staff. Filled with practical lessons for leadership and change in higher education, this book raises awareness as to how to tackle topical issues and effectively lead universities through major change. With expert commentary and feedback from the stakeholders involved at each institution, Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education is essential reading for all those taking on leadership and management positions in higher education.

Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management

Download Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 1522510508
Total Pages : 1895 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (225 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management by : Wang, Victor C. X.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management written by Wang, Victor C. X. and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2016-12-12 with total page 1895 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strategic leadership techniques are the cornerstone to positive growth and prosperity within businesses and organizations. Implementing new management strategies and practices helps to ensure managers are optimizing their resources and driving innovation. The Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management investigates emergent administrative techniques and business practices being utilized within corporate and educational settings. Highlighting empirical research and best practices within the field, this encyclopedia will be an authoritative reference source for students, researchers, faculty, librarians, managers, and leaders across various disciplines and cultures.

The Strategic Leader's Roadmap

Download The Strategic Leader's Roadmap PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 1613630778
Total Pages : 132 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (136 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Strategic Leader's Roadmap by : Harbir Singh

Download or read book The Strategic Leader's Roadmap written by Harbir Singh and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We can all become strategic leaders if we stay on the right path. Even a strong leader can flounder without an effective strategy, and the most powerful strategy can fail without the right leader. Only those who master and integrate both skills can effectively navigate the challenges that lay ahead for today's organizations. The authors offer a 6-point checklist for leading strategically that will help managers strengthen their capacity to develop strategy and to lead its execution.

Insecure Majorities

Download Insecure Majorities PDF Online Free

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

DOWNLOAD NOW!


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.