Thinking About Congress: Essays on Congressional Change

ISBN-13: 9780415991551 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 432 str.

Lawrence C. Dodd

Opis

In the mid-1970s, just when Congress seemed static and incapable of rejuvenation, the institution experienced an unexpected and transformative change. What accounted for this dynamic process and continues to explain other more recent upheavals and waves of reform?

This volume charts the thinking of scholar Lawrence Dodd in his development of theoretical explanations for Congressional change over time--explained by members' pursuit of power, institutional and electoral contexts, clyclical rhythms, social learning, and polarization within society. Dodd's power cycle theory, modeled here as a dynamic act of theory development itself, takes shape to define an organizational cycle, an electoral cycle, and a learning cycle in Congress.

Dodd also begins to explore here for the first time a fourth dimension of change, highlighting the possibility that the very act of Congress's transformative change and issue responsiveness may bring with it unseen and yet deep structured dangers that threaten the cyclical resilience of Congress. By showing an evolving multi-dimensional theory of Congressional change in process from essay to essay, this book demonstrates the act of theory building, legitimizing this sustained form of empirical political inquiry in its own right.

Spis treści

Foreword Eric Schickler, University of California-Berkeley.  Preface: The Origin, Development and Plan of the Book  Introduction  1. Congress as Public Mirror  Part 1: Member Goals and Institutional Context  2. Congress and the Quest for Power 1977  3. Congress, the Constitution and the Crisis of Legitimation 1981  4. Bicameralism in Congress: The Changing Partnership, with Edward Carmines 1985  Part 2: Political Parties, Institutional Cycles and Era Transformations  5. The Cycles of Legislative Change: Building a Dynamic Model 1986a  6. A Theory of Congressional Cycles: Solving the Puzzle of Change 1986b  Part 3: Societal Change, Social Learning and Political Renewal  7. Congress, the Presidency and the American Experience: A Transformational Perspective 1991  8. Congress and the Politics of Renewal: Redressing the Crisis of Legitimation 1993  9. The New American Politics: Reflections on the Early 1990s 1995  Part 4: The Multiple Dimensions and Processes of Change  10. Re-Envisioning Congress: Theoretical Perspectives on Congressional Change—2004 2001/2005  11. Making Sense Out of Our Exceptional Senate 2002

O autorze

Lawrence C. Dodd holds the Manning J. Dauer Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science at the University of Florida. His books include Coalitions in Parliamentary Government, Congress and the Administrative State, Learning Democracy, and nine editions of Congress Reconsidered. The university selected him as 2007 Teacher-Scholar of the Year, its highest faculty honor.