As Democratic ward committeeman for more than twenty years (a position that controlled many patronage jobs), Bill Clay, Sr. was forced to endorse candidates in primary elections, even in the most cont
The wisdom of term limits and professional politics has been debated since the time of Aristotle, spurring 'reforms' of legislatures in Athens, Rome, Venice, and in the US under the Articles of Confederation. This book examines recent trends in American states in order to investigate the age-old question of how the rules that govern a legislature affect the behavior of its members and the policies that it produces. The clear and consistent finding is that the two reforms have countervailing effects: whatever professionalization has brought more of, term limits have reduced. This lesson comes from quantitative analyses of data from all fifty states and detailed examinations of legislative records from six states, informed by interviews with over one hundred legislators, staff assistants, lobbyists, journalists, and executive officials.
In this Second Edition to a book that has now achieved canonical status, David R. Mayhew argues that the principal motivation of legislators is reelection and that the pursuit of this goal affects th
Congress is the heart and soul of our democracy, the place where interests are brokered, laws are established, and innovation is turned into concrete action. It is also where some of democracy's great
Discontent with politics and politicians has led to calls for term limits in the belief that new faces would bring new perspectives and the influence of monied special interests would decrease. This i
In Alberta Politics Uncovered Mark Lisac delivers a clear message that Albertans must stop believing in money and the myth of western alienation and start believing in balanced leadership. In t
"Congressman David Price proves he is uniquely qualified to guide us through the labyrinth of rules, roles, and representatives that is Congress. This third edition is thoroughly updated to cover deve
"This body of research not only passes academic muster but is the best guidepost in existence for activists who are trying to use the ballot initiative process for larger policy and political objecti
Leston-Bandeira (legislative studies, U. of Hull) traces the development of the Portuguese parliament, the Assembleia de Republica over the country's second decade of democracy, 1983-1995. The period
Of the eleven essays of this volume, nine were first presented at sessions called "Consensus in the Early Middle Ages" held in 1998 and 1999 at the Leeds International Medieval Congress; the remaining
?? On Earth Day 1970 twenty million Americans displayed their commitment to a clean environment.? It was called the largest demonstration in human history, and it permanently changed the nation’s p
Between 1901 and 1907, a broad coalition of Protestant churches sought to expel newly elected Reed Smoot from the Senate, arguing that as an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
"Lee Hamilton's new book... should be required reading for any American contemplating writing a 'Letter to the Editor' or calling into (or hosting) a radio talk show, or for that matter, stepping int
Thirty years after the 'Watergate Babies' promised to end corruption in Washington, Julian Zelizer offers a major history of the demise of the committee era Congress and the rise of the contemporary legislative branch. Based on research in over 100 archival collections, this 2004 book tackles one of the most enduring political challenges in America: barring a wholesale evolution, how can the institutions that compose representative democracy be improved so as best to fulfill the promises of the Constitution? While popular accounts suggest that major scandals or legislation can transform how government works, Zelizer shows that reform is messy, slow, multidimensional, and involves many institutions. This moment of reform in the 1970s revolved around a coalition that had worked for decades, the slow reconfiguration of the relationship between institutions, shifts in the national culture, and the ability of reformers to take advantage of scandal and elections.
Four decades of Democratic control of Congress abruptly came to an end with the 1994 elections, which propelled the Republican party to an unfamiliar role as the majority party in both houses of Congr
The invention of the United States Senate was the most complicated and confounding achievement of the Constitutional Convention. Although much has been written on various aspects of Senate history, t
What makes for a “good” legislature? In Heavy Lifting, Alan Rosenthal traveled to five states, interviewing and shadowing legislators to find out the answer. Through this engaging narrativ
