Beyond Ideology
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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.
Congress
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An insightful reassessment of the relationship between the U.S. Congress and the states.
Congress
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With record low approval ratings (the lowest poll results since 1974) Congress is a failing institution in the eyes of many Americans. Is public opinion correct in judging the inefficacy of the legislative branch, or is the public mistaken in these harsh criticisms?Congress: A Performance Appraisalteaches students about this critical institution of American democracy by examining how successful the body is in carrying out its key functions, particularly representation, lawmaking, and checking the other branches of government. Rather than focusing on the institutional and procedural questions of how Congress is set up, what rules guide its actions, and how its members carry out their daily duties, Andrew J. Taylor asks: do these structures, procedures, behaviors, and outcomes serve the American people as they were meant to? Using a set of aspirations a good legislature should strive for and benchmarks to rate how close it comes to those aspirations, Taylor offers a unique approach to the discussion of Congress, its actions, and its efficacy as a legislature. Sure to prompt provocative classroom discussions, Congress is the perfect text for courses on American government and politics.
Congress and Civil-Military Relations
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While the president is the commander in chief, the US Congress plays a critical and underappreciated role in civil-military relations--the relationship between the armed forces and the civilian leadership that commands it. This unique book edited by Colton C. Campbell and David P. Auerswald will help readers better understand the role of Congress in military affairs and national and international security policy. Contributors include the most experienced scholars in the field as well as practitioners and innovative new voices, all delving into the ways Congress attempts to direct the military. This book explores four tools in particular that play a key role in congressional action: the selection of military officers, delegation of authority to the military, oversight of the military branches, and the establishment of incentives--both positive and negative--to encourage appropriate military behavior. The contributors explore the obstacles and pressures faced by legislators including the necessity of balancing national concerns and local interests, partisan and intraparty differences, budgetary constraints, the military's traditional resistance to change, and an ongoing lack of foreign policy consensus at the national level. Yet, despite the considerable barriers, Congress influences policy on everything from closing bases to drone warfare to acquisitions. A groundbreaking study, Congress and Civil-Military Relations points the way forward in analyzing an overlooked yet fundamental government relationship.
Congress A to Z
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Congress A to Z provides ready-reference insight into the national legislature, its organization, processes, personalities, major legislation, and history. No other volume so clearly and concisely explains every key aspect of the national legislature. The Sixth Edition of this classic, easy-to-use reference is updated with new entries covering the dramatic congressional events of recent years, including social media usage by members of Congress, the politics of recent debt ceiling and deficit spending showdowns with the executive branch, new floor leaders in both chambers, and campaign finance patterns. Each of the more than 250 entries, arranged in encyclopedic A-to-Z format, provides insight into the key questions readers have about the U.S. Congress and helps them make sense of the narrow power division between Republicans and Democrats, the methods members use to advance their agendas, the influence of lobby groups, the key role of committees and strong-willed leaders, and much more. Key Features: Available in both electronic and print formats Quick answers to questions as well as in-depth background on the U.S. Congress Historical and contemporary photos Detailed appendices, tables, internet addresses, and index
Congress in Context
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The U.S. Congress is by far the least popular branch of the federal government. It is also probably the least understood. It is not uncommon for high-ranking government officials to be confused about the workings of the institution and how it exercises its power. This book aims to demystify the institution-to give readers a succinct yet sophisticated overview of Congress and the policymaking process. Instead of treating Congress as an entity isolated from the rest of government, Congress in Contextintroduces readers to Congress's critical role as part of an interdependent system. Using the metaphor of Congress as a board of directors, author John Haskell explains the three key roles of Congress within the federal government-authorizing what government does, funding its activities, and, when it sees fit, supervising or "conducting oversight" on those activities. Grounded in current political science literature and packed with real-life examples, Congress in Contextoffers readers an informed and practical understanding of policymaking in the legislative branch.
How Congress Works
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In simple, clear language, the new edition of this classic work presents basic explanations of the procedures and rules that govern the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Highlighted sidebars further detail the impact of congressional action with interesting narrative examples from history, along with charts and tables that provide a complete overview of congressional procedures. This edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect the changes on Capitol Hill since 2008. How Congress Works helps readers place recent events in the context of the entire picture of how Congress operates. A detailed index rounds out this introduction to the real Congress.
Senate Procedure and Practice
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The United States is often referred to as the world's greatest deliberative body. And that is for good reason. The Senate Chamber--from its inception to its Golden Age to the present day--has been the setting for some of the most moving, decisive, and consequential debates in American history. But how does the Senate work? Senate Procedure and Practice not only answers this question but also explains and illustrates why the Senate has worked so well for more than 200 years. This practical, real-world explanation focuses on the three pillars of legislative procedure: the Senate rules, the parliamentary interpretations of the Senate rules, and statutes that impose procedural rules. The book is filled with fascinating stories and insights that highlight why a given rule is in place and how it is practiced. Now in its second edition, the book has been updated to discuss the impact the Democratic takeover has had on basic Senate procedures and practices, including much-discussed Rule XXVIII.
Underdog Politics
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In this comprehensive analysis, political scholar Matthew N. Green disputes the widely held belief that the minority party in the U.S. House of Representatives wields little or no legislative influence. Green has examined the record of House minority party members from 1970 to the present and offers empirical evidence of their important role in passing or blocking controversial legislation, often through active floor protests, press conferences, obstructionism, and other means. The author explores such spheres of minority influence as fundraising, candidate recruitment, and the shaping of public policy through well-orchestrated campaigns. In addition to analyzing minority party voting behavior on key floor votes and procedural motions, Green supports his findings through information gleaned from a wide variety of original data, including documents and memos from congressional archives, media accounts, and personal interviews with current and former lawmakers and their staff. The result is the first systematic analysis of what the House minority party can do and why it does it, offering a clear and insightful picture of the inner workings of this famously contentious chamber of Congress.
Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability
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Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability is the first large-scale examination of how local media outlets cover members of the United States Congress. Douglas Arnold asks: do local newspapers provide the information citizens need in order to hold representatives accountable for their actions in office? In contrast with previous studies, which largely focused on the campaign period, he tests various hypotheses about the causes and consequences of media coverage by exploring coverage during an entire congressional session. Using three samples of local newspapers from across the country, Arnold analyzes all coverage over a two-year period--every news story, editorial, opinion column, letter, and list. First he investigates how twenty-five newspapers covered twenty-five local representatives; and next, how competing newspapers in six cities covered their corresponding legislators. Examination of an even larger sample, sixty-seven newspapers and 187 representatives, shows why some newspapers cover legislators more thoroughly than do other papers. Arnold then links the coverage data with a large public opinion survey to show that the volume of coverage affects citizens' awareness of representatives and challengers. The results show enormous variation in coverage. Some newspapers cover legislators frequently, thoroughly, and accessibly. Others--some of them famous for their national coverage--largely ignore local representatives. The analysis also confirms that only those incumbents or challengers in the most competitive races, and those who command huge sums of money, receive extensive coverage.
Congress and Harry S. Truman
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This collection of essays examines President Truman's often contentious relationship with Congress. Authors evaluate Truman's successes and defeats and measure him against later presidents of the United States. While the Truman era has been perceived as a stalemate between the executive and legislative branches, and while Congress failed to enact many of Truman's major domestic proposals, he still scored some notable legislative achievements in foreign and military policy. Truman tapped into experiences from his ten years in the Senate to forge relationships with members of Congress at a difficult time. A Democratic president facing a Republican Congress and a divided Democratic Party, Truman stands as a model for other presidents during periods of divided government.
Congress and the Crisis of The 1850s
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During the long decade from 1848 to 1861 America was like a train speeding down the track, without an engineer or brakes. The new territories acquired from Mexico had vastly increased the size of the nation, but debate over their status--and more importantly the status of slavery within them--paralyzed the nation. Southerners gained access to the territories and a draconian fugitive slave law in the Compromise of 1850, but this only exacerbated sectional tensions. Virtually all northerners, even those who supported the law because they believed that it would preserve the union, despised being turned into slave catchers. In 1854, in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Congress repealed the ban on slavery in the remaining unorganized territories. In 1857, in the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court held that all bans on slavery in the territories were unconstitutional. Meanwhile, northern whites, free blacks, and fugitive slaves resisted the enforcement of the 1850 fugitive slave law. In Congress members carried weapons and Representative Preston Brooks assaulted Senator Charles Sumner with a cane, nearly killing him. This was the decade of the 1850s and these were the issues Congress grappled with. This volume of new essays examines many of these issues, helping us better understand the failure of political leadership in the decade that led to the Civil War. Contributors Spencer R. Crew Paul Finkelman Matthew Glassman Amy S. Greenberg Martin J. Hershock Michael F. Holt Brooks D. Simpson Jenny Wahl
Filibuster
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Parliamentary obstruction, popularly known as the "filibuster," has been a defining feature of the U.S. Senate throughout its history. In this book, Gregory J. Wawro and Eric Schickler explain how the Senate managed to satisfy its lawmaking role during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when it lacked seemingly essential formal rules for governing debate. What prevented the Senate from self-destructing during this time? The authors argue that in a system where filibusters played out as wars of attrition, the threat of rule changes prevented the institution from devolving into parliamentary chaos. They show that institutional patterns of behavior induced by inherited rules did not render Senate rules immune from fundamental changes. The authors' theoretical arguments are supported through a combination of extensive quantitative and case-study analysis, which spans a broad swath of history. They consider how changes in the larger institutional and political context--such as the expansion of the country and the move to direct election of senators--led to changes in the Senate regarding debate rules. They further investigate the impact these changes had on the functioning of the Senate. The book concludes with a discussion relating battles over obstruction in the Senate's past to recent conflicts over judicial nominations.
Filibustering
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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 Last Great Senate
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Journalists have called the U.S. Senate an empty chamber; politicians have lamented that the institution is broken--yet the Senate was once capable of greatness. Senators of the 1960s and 1970s overcame southern opposition to civil rights, passed Great Society legislation, and took the lead in opposing the Vietnam War and holding Richard Nixon accountable for the abuses of Watergate.The Last Great Senate is a vivid portrait of the statesmen who helped steer America during the crisis years of the late 1970s, transcending partisanship and overcoming procedural roadblocks that have all but strangled the Senate since their departure.
Members of Congress
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The qualifications required to hold the office of U.S. Senator or Representative to Congress are established and set out within the U.S. Constitution. These constitutional qualifications are the exclusive qualifications for congressional office, and may not be changed or added to by the Congress, nor may these qualifications be added to or changed unilaterally by a state. The duties carried out by a Member of Congress are understood to include representation, legislation, and constituent service and education, as well as political and electoral activities. The expectations and duties of a Member of Congress are extensive, encompassing several roles that could be full-time jobs by themselves. This book discusses in further detail the qualifications and duties of a Member of Congress.
The Roads to Congress 2014
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The 2014 midterm congressional elections provided a view of the attitude of American voters in the sixth year of Barack Obama s presidency. This book provides insight about the formative aspects of the 2014 campaign season as well as in depth coverage of key races for Congress. The first section has four chapters that cover the substance of topics that impacted this campaign cycle: the popularity and productivity of the 113th Congress, voter suppression laws passed in many states, the role of Super PACs and independent expenditures in the campaigns, and the use of social media by members of Congress running for reelection. Case studies follow the path of ten House and seven Senate races from inception to election postmortem. The chapters are narrative and provide analysis of an array of interesting and diverse contests from throughout the country. The authors provide succinct and highly readable chapters meant to illustrate the distinctive nature of the campaigns they are examining. Individual campaigns and elections are shown up close and be ready to compare and contrast because of the common format employed throughout the book. Taken together, the chapters reveal that the roads to Congress, while similar in so many ways, each follow a unique route to Capitol Hill."
Women in Congress, 1917-2006
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Women in Congress, 1917-2006 is the most comprehensive source available on the 229 women who have served in U.S. House of Representatives and Senate--from the first woman elected to Congress, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, to the new Members of the 109th Congress. The book covers the breadth of the story of congressional women: Pioneers who broke racial barriers, such as Patsy Mink of Hawaii, the first woman of color to serve in Congress, and Shirley Chisholm of New York, the first African-American Congresswoman Masters of institutional politics such as Mary Norton of New Jersey, Julia Hansen of Washington, and Barbara Jordan of Texas One-term widows to such women as Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts, the longest serving woman in congressional history, and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, the first woman to serve in the House and Senate And many others such as Ruth Hanna McCormick, an Illinois Representative and the first woman to be a U.S. Senate candidate on a major party ticket; Dixie Bibb Graves of Alabama, whose husband, the state's governor, appointed her to the U.S. Senate; and Coya Knutson of Minnesota, a U.S. Representative whose promising career was cut short when her husband sabotaged her 1958 campaign by claiming that she had neglected her familial responsibilities Designed for students and a general audience, this book features four- to six-page biographical profiles of individual Members, drawn from primary and secondary sources and set into generational time periods. Former Member profiles are arranged chronologically and are introduced by contextual essays that explain major events in congressional and U.S. history. Profiles of the 74 women Members of the 109th Congress are covered in a separate section of the book and are arranged alphabetically. The book also includes: Pictures of every woman who has served in Congress, including rare historical images Bibliographies for further reading and manuscript collection references Statistical graphs and charts Appendices on women's committee assignments; women committee and subcommittee chairs; women in Congress by state; and minority women in Congress A comprehensive index Authorized by a U.S. House resolution, and researched and written by the Office of History Preservation in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Womenin Congress is the first in an official four-part series about minorities who have served in Congress. Future volumes will profile African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian-Pacific Islander Americans who have served in Congress. Related products: Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822-2012 --Hardcover format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/052-071-01563-9 -- Paperback format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/052-071-01567-1 Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007 -- Hardcover format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/052-070-07519-8 -- Paperback format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/052-070-07520-1
Congress and Its Members
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Now in its 20th year, this textbook is aimed at students and is full of examples, graphics and anecdotes, bringing to life Congress, its people and its processes.
Congress and the Cold War
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The first historical interpretation of the congressional response to the entire Cold War. Using a wide variety of sources, including several manuscript collections opened specifically for this study, the book challenges the popular and scholarly image of a weak Cold War Congress, in which the unbalanced relationship between the legislative and executive branches culminated in the escalation of the US commitment in Vietnam, which in turn paved the way for a congressional resurgence best symbolized by the passage of the War Powers Act in 1973. Instead, understanding the congressional response to the Cold War requires a more flexible conception of the congressional role in foreign policy, focused on three facets of legislative power: the use of spending measures; the internal workings of a Congress increasingly dominated by subcommittees; and the ability of individual legislators to affect foreign affairs by changing the way that policymakers and the public considered international questions.
Congressional Quarterly's guide to Congress.
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Great Theatre
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Congress is a great stage, and its members play their roles under the spotlight of a skeptical public, an acerbic media, and a plethora of interested parties. The 104th Congress, the first in four decades to be Republican controlled, is a watershed in congressional history. Using the theater metaphor to characterize the actions of Congress and to help make the institution more understandable, congressional life and behavior is dissected and placed in the broader context of changes in Congress in the 1990s. This book underscores the relationship among Congress and the other branches of the United States government.
Ideology and Congress
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In Ideology and Congress, authors Poole and Rosenthal have analyzed over 13 million individual roll call votes spanning the two centuries since Congress began recording votes in 1789. By tracing the voting patterns of Congress throughout the country's history, the authors find that, despite a wide array of issues facing legislators, over 81 percent of their voting decisions can be attributed to a consistent ideological position ranging from ultraconservatism to ultraliberalism. In their classic 1997 volume, Congress: A Political Economic History of Roll Call Voting, roll call voting became the framework for a novel interpretation of important episodes in American political and economic history. Congress demonstrated that roll call voting has a very simple structure and that, for most of American history, roll call voting patterns have maintained a core stability based on two great issues: the extent of government regulation of, and intervention in, the economy; and race. In this new, paperback volume, the authors include nineteen years of additional data, bringing in the period from 1986 through 2004.
Knowledge, Power and the Congress
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Papers presented at a symposium sponsored by the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, held Mar. 8-9, 1989.
The President, the Congress, and the Making of Foreign Policy
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"What better time... to examine again the relative power of the president and Congress in the conduct of international affairs. This collection of essays is excellent for that purpose. Focusing on 1965-1990... the essays are instructive and engaging". -- Choice. "Few works to date have done a more thorough job of looking at inter-branch conflicts in foreign affairs from a Congressional perspective. Peterson's book is highly recommended". -- Presidential Studies Quarterly.
Citizens look at Congress
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Individual profiles of members of the 92nd Congress and the Commissioner of Puerto Rico ; also issued separately.
Arranged alphabetically by state then by name of congressman.
Constitutional Documents and Records, 1776-1787
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This documentary series is a research tool of remarkable power, an unrivaled reference work for historical and legal scholars, librarians, and students of the Constitution. The volumes are encyclopedic, consisting of manuscript and printed documents-contemporary newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets-compiled from hundreds of sources, copiously annotated, thoroughly indexed, and often accompanied by microfiche supplements. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Michael Kammen has noted that The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution series "will be of enduring value centuries hence" and described it as "one of the most interesting documentary publications we have ever had." The American Bar Association Journal has stated, "Each new volume now fills another vital part of the mosaic of national history."
The Legislative Branch of Federal Government
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This volume focuses on the U.S. Congress, its history, constitutional powers, daily workings, and the politics that affect its operation. * Sidebars highlight fascinating people, events, and congressional actions, including the infamous "caning" incident between Senators Brooks and Sumner during the post-Civil War reconstruction * Primary sources include Article I of the Constitution; the articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton; the Contract with America; and other important documents
Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking
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Recently plagued by gridlock, huge deficits, and deep policy differences between the president and congressional majorities, Congress has often been the target of relentless and bitter criticism. In this context, Sinclair asks, how has the House not only performed its legislative functions but also managed to enhance its role in the American political system? In Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmakers, Sinclair traces the emergence of a House majority party leadership that is highly active and deeply involved in multiple aspects of the legislative process, and yet one that leads by means of a participatory and inclusive style.
Party and Faction in American Politics
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“A useful quantitative analysis of voting behavior in the House of Representatives from 1789 to 1801. Firmly grounded in the theoretical literature relating to party development, Bell avoids the narrowness that afflicts much quantitative work of this kind and is generally successful in placing his own analysis within a relatively broad interpretive framework.”– The Journal of American History
The politics of defeat; campaigning for Congress
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