Research Catalog

Title

Governing in a polarized age : elections, parties and political representation in America / Alan S. Gerber, Yale University ; Eric Schickler, University of California, Berkeley.

Publication

• New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2017.
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Gerber, Alan S.
• Schickler, Eric, 1969-
• Mayhew, David R.

Description

viii, 398 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"Many political observers have expressed doubts as to whether America's leaders are up to the task of addressing major policy challenges. Yet much of the critical commentary lacks grounding in the systematic analysis of the core institutions of the American political system including elections, representation, and the law-making process. Governing in a Polarized Age brings together more than a dozen leading scholars to provide an in-depth examination of representation and legislative performance. Drawing upon the seminal work of David Mayhew as a point of departure, these essays explore the dynamics of incumbency advantage in today's polarized Congress, asking whether the focus on individual re-election that was the hallmark of Mayhew's ground-breaking book, Congress: The Electoral Connection, remains useful for understanding today's Congress. The essays link the study of elections with close analysis of changes in party organization and with a series of systematic assessments of the quality of legislative performance"--

Subjects

• Representative government and representation > United States
• Polarization (Social sciences) > United States
• United States > Congress > Elections
• Incumbency (Public officers) > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

1. Introduction / Alan S. Gerber and Eric Schikcler -- Part I . Political Representation and Democratic Accountability: 2. The electoral connection, age 40 / R. Douglas Arnold ; 3. The electoral connection, then and now / Gary C. Jacobson ; 4. The Congressional incumbency advantage over sixty years: measurement, trends, and implications / Robert S. Erikson ; 5. A baseline for incumbency effects / Christopher H. Achen -- Part II. Continuity and Change in Party Organizations: 6. Legislative parties in an era of alternating majorities / Frances E. Lee ; 7. Parties within parties: parties, factions, and coordinated politics, 1900-1980 / John Mark Hansen, Shigeo Hirano, and James M. Snyder, Jr. ; 8. Where measures meet history: party polarization during the New Deal and Fair Deal / Joshua D. Clinton, Ira Katznelson, and John S. Lapinski -- Part III. Partisanship and Governmental Performance: 9. Polarized we govern? / Sarah Binder ; 10. What has Congress done? / Stephen Ansolabehere, Maxwell Palmer, and Benjamin Schneer ; 11. Can Congress do policy analysis? The politics of problem solving on Capitol Hill / Eric M. Patashnik and Justin Peck ; 12. Studying contingency systematically / Katherine Levine Einstein and Jennifer Hochschild ; 13. Majoritarianism, majoritarian tension, and the Reed revolution / Keith Krehbiel -- Part IV. Conclusions: 14. Intensified partisanship in Congress: institutional effects / David E. Price ; 15. The origins of Congress: The Electoral Connection / David R. Mayhew.

Call Number

JFE 17-3957

ISBN

• 9781107095090
• 1107095093
• 9781107479074
• 110747907X
• 9780300140729
• 030014072X

LCCN

2016011189

OCLC

945356293

Title

Governing in a polarized age : elections, parties and political representation in America / Alan S. Gerber, Yale University ; Eric Schickler, University of California, Berkeley.

Publisher

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Copyright Date

©2017

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Added Author

Gerber, Alan S., editor.

Schickler, Eric, 1969- editor.

Mayhew, David R., honoree.

Research Call Number

JFE 17-3957