CQ Almanac 2015
CQ Almanac 2015

Author: CQ Roll Call

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2016-10-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781506333175

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

CQ Almanac is the essential resource that chronicles and analyzes the major bills brought before Congress in the previous year. Published each summer, this non-partisan reference work offers exclusive insight into the forces that drove action on legislation. Features of the 2015 Print Edition include: Legislative Profiles: A detailed look at each major piece of legislation that lawmakers considered during the session, regardless of whether it became law Key Votes: In-depth analysis of votes chosen as the most critical in determining the outcome of congressional action on major issues Vote Studies: Analysis of the roll call votes cast in Congress, including a close study of the level of presidential support, party unity and member participation during the year Roll Call Votes: Easy-to-read tables, including each member’s vote on every bill that received a roll call vote Public Laws: A chronicle of bills enacted into law during the year, including a brief history of the bill, the sponsoring party, date of passage and presidential signature Previous editions of CQ Almanac are also available in print from 1974-2014. Contact us at [email protected] for details or to add the new and past editions of this vital resource to your collection today!

Congress and Its Members
Congress and Its Members

Author: Roger H. Davidson

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2017-06-10

Total Pages: 711

ISBN-13: 1506369758

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Legislative Hardball
Legislative Hardball

Author: Matthew Green

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-02-14

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13: 1108601715

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Assertive bargaining occurs from time to time in the US Congress. It became an important feature of legislative negotiations within the House Republican Party when, following the 2014 elections, a group of organized conservatives called the House Freedom Caucus regularly issued threats against its own party's leadership. Such behavior by an ideologically extreme bloc of lawmakers is not accounted for by existing theories of legislative politics. This Element posits explanations for why such threat-making might occur and what might increase its likelihood of success, then tests those explanations using the Freedom Caucus as a case study.

The Limits of Party
The Limits of Party

Author: James M. Curry

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2020-10-10

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 022671649X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

To many observers, Congress has become a deeply partisan institution where ideologically-distinct political parties do little more than engage in legislative trench warfare. A zero-sum, winner-take-all approach to congressional politics has replaced the bipartisan comity of past eras. If the parties cannot get everything they want in national policymaking, then they prefer gridlock and stalemate to compromise. Or, at least, that is the conventional wisdom. In The Limits of Party, James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee challenge this conventional wisdom. By constructing legislative histories of congressional majority parties’ attempts to enact their policy agendas in every congress since the 1980s and by drawing on interviews with Washington insiders, the authors analyze the successes and failures of congressional parties to enact their legislative agendas. ? Their conclusions will surprise many congressional observers: Even in our time of intense party polarization, bipartisanship remains the key to legislative success on Capitol Hill. Congressional majority parties today are neither more nor less successful at enacting their partisan agendas. They are not more likely to ram though partisan laws or become mired in stalemate. Rather, the parties continue to build bipartisan coalitions for their legislative priorities and typically compromise on their original visions for legislation in order to achieve legislative success.

Beyond the Water's Edge
Beyond the Water's Edge

Author: Kathleen H. Hicks

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-10-15

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1442280883

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report assesses domestic political support for internationalist foreign policy by analyzing the motivations of members of Congress on key foreign policy issues. It includes case studies on major foreign policy debates in recent years, including the use of force, foreign aid, trade policy and U.S.-Russia relations. It also develops a new series of archetypes for describing the foreign policy worldviews of members of the 115th Congress to replace the current stale and unsophisticated labels of internationalist, isolationist, hawk and dove. Report findings emphasize areas of bipartisan cooperation on foreign policy issues given member ideologies.

Changing Cultures in Congress
Changing Cultures in Congress

Author: Donald R. Wolfensberger

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 0231548745

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The United States Congress has been described as dysfunctional, gridlocked, polarized, hyperpartisan, chaotic, and do-nothing. In Changing Cultures in Congress, congressional scholar Donald R. Wolfensberger explains the institutional dynamics behind Congress’s devolution from a respected legislative institution to a body plagued by a win-at-any-cost mentality and a culture of perpetual campaigning. In both a historical and present-day account of congressional dysfunction, Wolfensberger explores the causes of legislative standstill and the methods used by majorities and minorities that have led to today’s policy paralysis. He describes how Congress has gradually abandoned its commitment to fair and neutral procedures that safeguard both majority rule and minority rights in favor of “power House rules”—procedures and processes that advantage the majority party’s electoral goals as opposed to neutral rules that preserve minority party and individual member rights to full participation in the legislative process. Through historical sketches and case studies from the past decade under both Republican and Democratic majorities, he shows how both parties have gamed what the founders intended would be an impartial set of legislative rules into a system that advantages majorities and marginalizes minorities. Digging deeper than superficial partisan explanations, Wolfensberger gives a thorough and persuasive explanation for our legislative leaders’ inability to find substantive policy solutions that are in the national interest.

Today's Economic Issues
Today's Economic Issues

Author: Nancy S. Lind

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2016-08-15

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What are the real differences between the Democrats and the Republicans on major economic issues that influence the character and vitality of the American economy? This volume answers this question in a thorough, nonpartisan, and evenhanded fashion. Both the Democratic and Republican parties proclaim that they have the best interests of the nation and its people at heart. Both are also adamant that they have the best proposals and positions on economic policies, including taxation, spending priorities, wages, business regulation, and other influences on economic growth and household finances. This volume carefully examines the two parties' respective policies, providing a detailed yet readable and understandable look at how the parties agree, disagree, and find compromise on the broad range of problems and issues facing American society in the 21st century. Each entry includes an infographic that offers bulleted "at-a-glance" summaries of the two parties' positions on each issue today, an "Issue Overview" providing basic definitions and background for understanding the debate on each issue, and a main entry that explains prevailing party sentiments, the diversity of opinion within each party, and the shifts in party position on that issue over time. Selected entries also feature informative sidebars that supply additional content, such as primary documents that showcase the viewpoints of key political figures and institutions or biographical profiles of individuals who have helped shape their party's policies on the issue in question.

The Contemporary Congress
The Contemporary Congress

Author: Burdett A. Loomis

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-01-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1538101572

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In an era of heightened partisanship and increased polarization, The Contemporary Congress offers a clear and concise introduction to legislative processes. Perfect as a brief core or supplementary text for undergraduate courses, Loomis and Schiller construct a comprehensive portrait of the U.S. Congress, from defining congressional structures and procedures, to outlining the process of elections, and analyzing presidential-congressional relations. The seventh edition focuses on two parallel trends: an increasingly partisan and polarized Congress, and a growing executive power. In addition, the authors make some early observations of relations between the Congress and the Trump Administration. New coverage includes the art of electioneering, the pressures of campaign fundraising, and updated policy goals of the political parties that shape the congressional agenda. From a late night deciding vote by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), to the rise and fall of Freedom Caucus member Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), a new “Spotlight” feature provides brief case studies of decisions made by individual members to illustrate the constant balance that they must strike between their party and their constituents, and what happens when they get that balance wrong.

Congress Reconsidered
Congress Reconsidered

Author: Lawrence C. Dodd

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2020-12-03

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 154434502X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since its first edition, Congress Reconsidered was designed to make available the best contemporary work from leading congressional scholars in a form that is both challenging and accessible to undergraduates. With their Twelfth Edition, Lawrence C. Dodd, Bruce I. Oppenheimer, and C. Lawrence Evans continue this tradition as their contributors focus on how various aspects of Congress have changed over time: C. Lawrence Evans partners with Wendy Schiller to discuss the U.S. Senate and the meaning of dysfunction; Molly E. Reynolds analyzes the politics of the budget and appropriations process in a polarized Congress; and Danielle M. Thomsen looks at the role of women and voter preferences in the 2018 elections. With a strong new focus on political polarization, this bestselling volume remains on the cutting edge with key insights into the workings of Congress.