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Congress and Its Members
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Congress and Its Members

20th Edition

Other Titles in:
Congress

608 pages | CQ Press
Congress and Its Members has been the gold standard for Congress courses for thirty years. Now in its 20th edition, the book offers comprehensive and current coverage of the U.S. 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 20th Edition covers the outcomes of the 2024 election and subsequent changes in in congressional organization and leadership. Updated coverage looks at how Congress operates in today's polarized context, including recent procedural changes, policy debates, and interbranch dynamics, as well as a breakdown of data on the members of the new Congress.
 
Always balancing great scholarship with currency, the book features lively case material along with relevant data, charts, maps, and photos.
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part I: In Search of the Two Congresses
 
Chapter 1: The Two Congresses
The Dual Nature of Congress

 
The Two Congresses in Comparative Context

 
Divergent Views of Congress

 
 
Chapter 2: Evolution of the Modern Congress
Antecedents of Congress

 
Congress in the Constitution

 
Institutional Evolution

 
Evolution of the Legislator’s Job

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part II: A Congress of Ambassadors
 
Chapter 3: Going For It: Recruitment and Candidacy
Formal Rules of the Game

 
Districting in the House

 
Becoming a Candidate

 
Nominating Politics

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 4: Making It: The Electoral Game
Campaign Strategies

 
Campaign Resources

 
Campaign Techniques

 
Who Votes?

 
How Voters Decide

 
Election Outcomes

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 5: Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles
Hill Styles

 
Looking Homeward

 
Office of the Member Inc

 
Members and the Media

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part III: A Deliberative Assembly of One Nation
 
Chapter 6: Leaders and Parties in Congress
Leaders of the House

 
Leaders of the Senate

 
Selection of Leaders

 
Leadership Activities

 
Party Caucuses, Committees, and Informal Groups

 
Party Continuity and Change

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 7: Committees: Workshops of Congress
The Purposes of Committees

 
Evolution of the Committee System

 
Types of Committees

 
The Assignment Process

 
Committee Leadership

 
Policy Making in Committee

 
Committee Staff

 
Committee Reform and Change

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 8: Congressional Rules and Procedures
Introduction of Bills

 
Scheduling in the House

 
House Floor Procedures

 
Scheduling in the Senate

 
Senate Floor Procedures

 
Resolving House–Senate Differences

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 9: Decision Making in Congress
The Power to Choose

 
Types of Decisions

 
Determinants of Voting

 
Legislative Bargaining

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part IV: Policy Making and Change in The Two Congresses
 
Chapter 10: Congress and the President
Constitutional Powers

 
Leadership

 
Sources of Legislative–Executive Conflict and Cooperation

 
The Balance of Power

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 11: Congress and the Bureaucracy
Congress Organizes the Executive Branch

 
Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 12: Congress and the Courts
The Federal Courts

 
The Supreme Court as Policy Maker

 
Advice and Consent for Judicial Nominees

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 13: Congress and Organized Interests
American Pluralism

 
Pressure Group Methods

 
Groups and the Electoral Connection

 
Groups, Lobbying, and Legislative Politics

 
Regulation of Lobbying

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 14: Congress, Budgets, and Domestic Policy Making
Policy-Making Processes

 
Types of Domestic Policies

 
Characteristics of Congressional Policy Making

 
Congressional Budgeting

 
The 1974 Budget Act

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 15: Congress and National Security Policies
Constitutional Powers

 
Who Speaks for Congress?

 
The National Interest: Types of National-Security Policies

 
Structural Policies

 
Strategic Policies

 
Crisis Policies: The War Powers

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part V: Conclusion
 
Chapter 16: The Two Congresses and the American People
Congress as the “Broken Branch”

 
Congress’s Vital Role

 
Twenty-First-Century Challenges

 
Conclusion

 
 
Appendix A: Party Control: Presidency, Senate, House, 1901–2023
 
Appendix B: Internships: Getting Experience on Capitol Hill
 
Notes
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resources
Instructor Resources
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Roger H. Davidson

Roger H. Davidson was professor emeritus of government and politics at the Universityof Maryland and served as visiting professor of political science at the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara. He was a senior fellow of the National Academy of PublicAdministration. During the 1970s, he served on the staffs of reform efforts in both theHouse (Bolling-Martin Committee) and the Senate (Stevenson-Brock Committee).For the 2001–2002 academic year, he served as the John Marshall chair in politicalscience at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. His books include RemakingCongress: Change and Stability in the 1990s, co-edited with James A.... More About Author

Walter Joseph Oleszek

Walter J. Oleszek is a senior specialist in the legislative process at the Congressional Research Service. He has served as either a full-time professional staff aide or consultant to many major House and Senate congressional reorganization efforts beginning with the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. In 1993, he served as policy director of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. A former adjunct faculty member at American University, Oleszek is a frequent lecturer to various academic, governmental, and business groups. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Congressional Procedures and... More About Author

Frances E. Lee

Frances E. Lee is professor of politics and public affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Politics at Princeton University. She has been a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and an APSA congressional fellow. Most recently, she is co-author of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era (2020). She is also the author of Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (2016) and Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U.S. Senate (2009) and co-author, with Bruce I. Oppenheimer, of Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal... More About Author

Eric Schickler

Eric Schickler is Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of three books that have won the Richard F. Fenno Jr. Prize for the best book on legislative politics: Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress (2001), Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the United States Senate (2006, with Gregory Wawro), and Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power (2016, with Douglas Kriner; also a winner of the Richard E. Neustadt Prize for the best book on executive politics). His book Racial... More About Author

James M. Curry

James M. Curry is professor of political science at the University of Utah. He is coauthor of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era (2020); author of Legislating in the Dark: Information and Power in the House of Representatives (2015); and winner of the Alan Rosenthal Prize, the E. E. Schattschneider Award, and the Carl Albert Award. His research appears in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Legislative Studies Quarterly, among other outlets. He received his Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, and he previously worked on Capitol... More About Author