Presidents, Parties, and the State
Presidents, Parties, and the State

Author: Scott C. James

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-11-02

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0521030021

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Dominant theories of regulatory choice privilege the goals and actions of district-oriented legislators and organized groups. Presidents, Parties, and the State challenges this conventional frame, placing presidential elections and national party leaders at the centre of American regulatory state development. Historically the 'out-party' in national politics between 1884 and 1936, the Democratic party of Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt confronted a severe political quandary, one which pit long-term ideological commitments against short-term electoral opportunities. In short, Democrats, when in power, were forced to choose between enacting the regulatory agenda of their traditional party base, or legislating the programs of voting blocs deemed pivotal to the consolidation of national party power. Coalition-building imperatives drove Democratic leaders to embrace the latter alternative, prompting legislative intervention to secure outcomes consistent with national party needs. In the end, the electoral logic that fuelled Democratic choice proved consequential for the trajectory of American state development.

Separation of Powers and Legislative Organization
Separation of Powers and Legislative Organization

Author: Gisela Sin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-12-08

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1316062465

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This book examines how the constitutional requirements of the lawmaking process, combined with the factional divisions within parties, affect US representatives' decisions about how to distribute power among themselves. The incorporation of the presidential, senatorial, and House factions in the analysis of House rule making marks an important departure from previous theories, which analyze the House as an institution that makes laws in isolation. This book argues that, by constitutional design, the success of the House in passing legislation is highly contingent on the actions of the Senate and the president; and therefore, also by constitutional design, House members must anticipate such actions when they design their rules. An examination of major rule changes from 1879 to 2013 finds that changes in the preferences of constitutional actors outside the House, as well as the political alignment of these political actors vis-à-vis House factions, are crucial for predicting the timing and directionality of rule changes.

Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed

Author: Robert J. Klotz

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2022-07-21

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0700633324

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Defining a “statesman” as “a successful politician who is dead,” Thomas Brackett Reed gave himself some latitude in pursuing his goals as a congressional leader. His leadership style is encapsulated in the Reed Rules, which serve as the institutional foundation of the modern House of Representatives and as a metaphor for the practice of power politics for partisan ends. Thomas Brackett Reed tells the story of a roller-coaster career in the Gilded Age. Speaker Reed reached a pinnacle when Republicans enacted landmark legislation in the aftermath of a transformation of parliamentary procedure spearheaded by his dramatic refusal to recognize delaying tactics permitted under the rules in 1890. Months later, Reed led Republicans to a disastrous off-year election, which cost his party unified governmental control and left it with only 26 percent of House seats. He returned as Speaker of the House in the late 1890s, when he became alienated from other Republicans over the issue of American expansionism. Combining extensive archival research with political science findings, Robert Klotz offers a balanced portrayal of Reed’s leadership in Congress. While empowering the House majority party to govern, the Reed Rules can also elevate partisan discord by allowing majorities to craft bill-specific special rules and to neglect opposing viewpoints. Ultimately, the biography illuminates the transcendent challenge of finding compromise in polarized politics.

Origins of the New South, 1877–1913
Origins of the New South, 1877–1913

Author: C. Vann Woodward

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 1981-08-01

Total Pages: 676

ISBN-13: 9780807100196

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Winner of the Bancroft Prize After more than two decades, Origins of the New South is still recognized both as a classic in regional historiography and as the most perceptive account yet written on the period which spawned the New South. Historian Sheldon Hackney recently summed it up this way: “The pyramid still stands. Origins of the New South has survived relatively untarnished through twenty years of productive scholarship, including the eras of consensus and of the new radicalism. . . . Woodward recognizes both the likelihood of failure and the necessity of struggle. It is this profound ambiguity which makes his work so interesting. Like the myth of Sisyphus, Origins of the New South still speaks to our condition.” This enlarged edition contains a new preface by the author and a critical essay on recent works by Charles B. Dew.