New Directions in Congressional Politics
New Directions in Congressional Politics

Author: Jamie L. Carson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-03-29

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 1136887466

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As the U.S. Congress has steadily evolved, so too has our understanding of the institution. New Directions in Congressional Politics offers an accessible overview of the current developments in our understanding of America’s legislative branch. Jamie L. Carson helps students bridge the gap between roles, rules, and outcomes by focusing on four themes woven throughout: the importance of electoral considerations, legislators’ strategic behavior to accomplish objectives, the unique challenges of Congress as a bicameral institution, and the often-overlooked policy outputs of the institution. This book brings together leading scholars of Congress to provide a general overview of the entire field. Each chapter covers the cutting edge developments on its respective topic. As the political institution responsible for enacting laws, the American public regularly looks to the U.S. Congress to address the important issues of the day. The contributors in this volume help explain why staying atop the research trends help us better understand these issues.

New Directions in American Political Parties
New Directions in American Political Parties

Author: Jeffrey M. Stonecash

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-06-10

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 1135282048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Our portraits of voters, their relationship to parties, and the behavior of elected party members have changed significantly within the last 10 to 15 years. Characterizations of dealignment and decreased importance of parties have been fairly rapidly replaced by a focus on party polarization. Voters are becoming more ideological and the debate is now about the relative role of ideology, religious attachment, views on immigration, and class in affecting party identification and voting. In a short period of time we have gone from concern that parties are not responsive or sufficiently different to whether polarization has become too great. This volume, with contributions from some of the most noted scholars of political parties, brings together assessments of these changes to provide a comprehensive overview of current trends in the field. It serves as an excellent companion to courses on parties and elections, and a useful overview for scholars and students of American politics generally.

Congress
Congress

Author: David R. Mayhew

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2004-11-10

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9780300130010

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Any short list of major analyses of Congress must of necessity include David Mayhew’s Congress: The Electoral Connection." —Fred Greenstein In this second edition to a book that has achieved canonical status, David R. Mayhew argues that the principal motivation of legislators is reelection and that the pursuit of this goal affects the way they behave and the way that they make public policy. In a new foreword for this edition, R. Douglas Arnold discusses why the book revolutionized the study of Congress and how it has stood the test of time.

The New Direction in American Politics
The New Direction in American Politics

Author: John E. Chubb

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 9780815714057

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Topics include: Part One: Voters and Elections The New Two-Party System The Economic Basis of Reagan's Appeal Incumbency and Realignment in Congressional Elections Campaigning, Governing, and the Contemporary Presidency The Republican Advantage in Campaign Finance The Rise of National Parties Part Two: Institutions and Policy New Patterns of Decisionmaking in Congress The Politicized Presidency Federalism and the Bias for Centralization Controlling Entitlements Security Policy The New Politics of Deficits

Gender and Elections
Gender and Elections

Author: Susan J. Carroll

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-12-26

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9781139447898

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Gender and Elections offers a systematic, lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2004 elections. This timely, yet enduring, volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2004 elections and providing a more long-term, in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding and interpreting presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, congressional elections, the participation of African American women, the support of political parties and women's organizations, candidate communications with voters, and state elections. Without question, this book is the most comprehensive, reliable, and trustworthy resource on the role of gender in electoral politics.

Act of Congress
Act of Congress

Author: Robert G. Kaiser

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2014-01-28

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 0307744515

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Washington Post Notable Book An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works—and how it doesn’t— Act of Congress focuses on two of the major players behind the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008: colorful, wisecracking congressman Barney Frank, and careful, insightful senator Christopher Dodd, both of whom met regularly with Robert G. Kaiser during the eighteen months they worked on the bill. In this compelling narrative, Kaiser shows how staffers play a critical role, drafting the legislation and often making the crucial deals. Kaiser’s rare insider access enabled him to illuminate the often-hidden intricacies of legislative enterprise and shows us the workings of Congress in all of its complexity, a clearer picture than any we have had of how Congress works best—or sometimes doesn’t work at all.

The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress
The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress

Author: Eric Schickler

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-03-14

Total Pages: 1444

ISBN-13: 0191628263

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

No legislature in the world has a greater influence over its nation's public affairs than the US Congress. The Congress's centrality in the US system of government has placed research on Congress at the heart of scholarship on American politics. Generations of American government scholars working in a wide range of methodological traditions have focused their analysis on understanding Congress, both as a lawmaking and a representative institution. The purpose of this volume is to take stock of this impressive and diverse literature, identifying areas of accomplishment and promising directions for future work. The editors have commissioned 37 chapters by leading scholars in the field, each chapter critically engages the scholarship focusing on a particular aspect of congressional politics, including the institution's responsiveness to the American public, its procedures and capacities for policymaking, its internal procedures and development, relationships between the branches of government, and the scholarly methodologies for approaching these topics. The Handbook also includes chapters addressing timely questions, including partisan polarization, congressional war powers, and the supermajoritarian procedures of the contemporary Senate. Beyond simply bringing readers up to speed on the current state of research, the volume offers critical assessments of how each literature has progressed - or failed to progress - in recent decades. The chapters identify the major questions posed by each line of research and assess the degree to which the answers developed in the literature are persuasive. The goal is not simply to tell us where we have been as a field, but to set an agenda for research on Congress for the next decade. The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics. General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III

Environmental Policy
Environmental Policy

Author: Norman J. Vig

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2017-12-14

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 1506383475

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Authoritative and trusted, Environmental Policy once again brings together top scholars to evaluate the changes and continuities in American environmental policy since the late 1960s and their implications for the twenty-first century. Students will learn to decipher the underlying trends, institutional constraints, and policy dilemmas that shape today’s environmental politics. The Tenth Edition examines how policy has changed within federal institutions and state and local governments, as well as how environmental governance affects private sector policies and practices. The book provides in-depth examinations of public policy dilemmas including fracking, food production, urban sustainability, and the viability of using market solutions to address policy challenges. Students will also develop a deeper understanding of global issues such as climate change governance, the implications of the Paris Agreement, and the role of environmental policy in the developing world. Students walk away with a measured yet hopeful evaluation of the future challenges policymakers will confront as the American environmental movement continues to affect the political process.

Campaigns and Elections
Campaigns and Elections

Author: Stephen K. Medvic

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1136265554

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Stephen K. Medvic’s Campaigns and Elections addresses two distinct but related aspects of American electoral democracy—both the processes that constitute campaigns and elections and the players who are involved. In addition to this balanced coverage on process and actors, it also gives equal billing to both campaigns and elections, and to contests for both legislative and executive positions at the national and state and local level. The book starts by providing students with the conceptual distinctions between what happens in an election and the campaigning that proceeds it. Significant attention is devoted to setting up the context for these campaigns and elections by covering the rules of the game in the American electoral system as well as aspects of election administration and the funding of elections. Then the book systematically covers the actors at every level—candidates and their organizations, parties, interest groups, the media, and voters—and the macro level aspects of campaigns such as campaign strategy and determinants of election outcomes. The book concludes with a big picture assessment of campaign ethics and implications of the "permanent campaign".

Gender and Elections
Gender and Elections

Author: Susan J. Carroll

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-12-23

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1107729246

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The third edition of Gender and Elections offers a systematic, lively, and multifaceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2012 elections. This timely yet enduring volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2012 elections and providing a more long-term, in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding and interpreting presidential elections, presidential and vice-presidential candidacies, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, congressional elections, the political involvement of Latinas, the participation of African American women, the support of political parties and women's organizations, candidate communications with voters, and state elections. Without question, Gender and Elections is the most comprehensive, reliable, and trustworthy resource on the role of gender in US electoral politics.