[PDF] Critical Elections And Congressional Policy Making eBook
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This book argues that, despite the scholarly emphasis on 20th-century congressional history, it is necessary to study the nation's first 150 years in order to understand more fully the evolution and functioning of the modern Congress—a time when parties emerged, developed, realigned, and dissapeared; Congressional standing rules changed; the workload of Congress increased dramatically; and both houses grew greatly in size.
How do public laws, treaties, Senate confirmations, and other legislative achievements help us to gain insight into how our governmental system performs? This well-argued book edited by Scott Adler and John Lapinski is the first to assess our political institutions by looking at what the authors refer to as legislative accomplishment. The book moves beyond current research on Congress that focuses primarily on rules, internal structure, and the microbehavior of individual lawmakers, to look at the mechanisms that govern how policy is enacted and implemented in the United States. It includes essays on topics ranging from those dealing with the microfoundations of congressional output, to large N empirical analyses that assess current theories of lawmaking, to policy-centered case studies. All of the chapters take a Congress-centered perspective on macropolicy while still appreciating the importance of other branches of government in explaining policy accomplishment. The Macropolitics of Congress shines light on promising pathways for the exploration of such key issues as the nature of political representation. It will make a significant contribution to the study of Congress and, more generally, to our understanding of American politics. Contributors include E. Scott Adler, David Brady, Charles M. Cameron, Brandice Canes-Wrone, Robert S. Erikson, Grace R. Freedman, Valerie Heitshusen, John D. Huber, Ira Katznelson, Keith Krehbiel, John S. Lapinski, David Leblang, Michael B. MacKuen, David R. Mayhew, Nolan McCarty, Charles R. Shipan, James A. Stimson, and Garry Young.
In Ambition, Competition, and Electoral Reform, Jamie L. Carson and Jason M. Roberts present an original study of U.S. congressional elections and electoral institutions for 1872-1944 from a contemporary political science perspective. Using data on late nineteenth and early twentieth century congressional elections, the authors test the applicability in a historical context of modern political science theories, assess the effects of institutional reforms, and identify the factors that shape the competitiveness of elections. They present several key findings: the strategic politicians theory is applicable in an era without candidate-centered campaigns; there was an incumbency advantage prior to the full development of candidate-centered campaigns; institutional reforms have had a significant effect on elections; and the degree of electoral competition frequently correlates with elected officials' responsiveness to citizens.
Contributors to this remarkable volume on the development and current status of the United States Congress use perspectives from history and comparative politics to study congressional law making, congressional debate, public support, the absence of leaders in congress, congressional oversight of administration, congress and public finance, and corruption. The Essays are based on the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Symposium on the U.S. Congress held at Boston College in 1981. The United States Congress gives us a portrait of the national legislature at a critical moment in its history, and seeks to provide timely answers to fundamental questions: What is deliberation and how can Congress become a more deliberative institution? How have congressional elections changed? Has the relationship between voters and congressmen gone sour? Can Congress write a budget, direct the federal bureaucracy, or devise a sensible foreign policy? How has the nature of leadership within the Congress changed in recent years? And, above all, what is the Congress of the United States supposed to be and to do?
'...Valuable for its chronological scope and for the many facets of American political history, state as well as national, which the authors cover from their theoretical perspective. It is also well organized and clearly written.' -- Canadian Journal of History, April l982
Author : Erik J. Engstrom Publisher : University of Michigan Press Page : 237 pages File Size : 42,82 MB Release : 2013-09-30 Category : Political Science ISBN : 047211901X
Author : David R Jones Publisher : University of Michigan Press Page : 234 pages File Size : 49,6 MB Release : 2010-07-22 Category : Political Science ISBN : 047203409X
"Jones and McDermott restore meaning to democratic responsibility by finding that public evaluations affect Congress. In contrast to the popular depiction of the representatives controlling the represented rampant in the political science literature, Jones and McDermott show that the people are in control, determining not only the direction of policy in Congress, but also who stays, who retires, and who faces difficult reelection efforts. This book makes an important correction to our understanding of how Congress operates." ---Sean M. Theriault, University of Texas at Austin Voters may not know the details of specific policies, but they have a general sense of how well Congress serves their own interests; and astute politicians pay attention to public approval ratings. When the majority party is unpopular, as during the 2008 election, both voters and politicians take a hand in reconfiguring the House and the Senate. Voters throw hard-line party members out of office while candidates who continue to run under the party banner distance themselves from party ideology. In this way, public approval directly affects policy shifts as well as turnovers at election time. Contrary to the common view of Congress as an insulated institution, Jones and McDermott argue that Congress is indeed responsive to the people of the United States. David R. Jones is Professor of Political Science at Baruch College, City University of New York. Monika L. McDermott is Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University.
The authors in this edited volume examine the political economy of the history of Congress by showing how changes in Congressional practices and institutions are related to key economic and political events.