1. Introduction CHARLES CAMERON, BRANDICE CANES-WRONE, SANFORD C. GORDON and GREGORY A. HUBER; Part I. Candidate Evaluation and Selection: 2. The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress JOSHUA D. CLINTON, MICHAEL W. SANCES and MARY CATHERINE SULLIVAN; 3. Can Citizens Assess Policies Based on Programs' Costs and Benefits? The Role of Yardsticks and Contextual Information in Democratic Accountability ERIC M. PATASHNIK, PATRICK TUCKER and ALAN S. GERBER; 4. Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners PATRICK J. EGAN and MARKUS PRIOR; 5. Groups, Parties, and Policy Demands in House Nominations KATHLEEN BAWN, KNOX BROWN, ANGELA X. OCAMPO, SHAWN PATTERSON, JR., JOHN L. RAY and JOHN ZALLER; Part II. The Media and the Informational Environment: 6. Local Newspapers and Ideological Accountability in US House Elections BRANDICE CANES-WRONE and MICHAEL R. KISTNER; 7. Inequality, or Invisibility and Inaccuracy? How Local Newspapers Cover the Occupational Backgrounds of Congressional Incumbents and Challengers NICHOLAS CARNES; 8. Congressional Accountability in the Contemporary Media Environment: Arguments, Data, and Methods GREGORY A. HUBER and PATRICK TUCKER; Part III. Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability: 9. Coalition Leadership in the Polarized Congress FRANCES E. LEE; 10. Fire Alarms and Democratic Accountability CHARLES M. CAMERON and SANFORD C. GORDON; 11. Achieving Accountability: Aligning Institutions and Behavior JOHN W. PATTY; Part IV. Outside the Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking: 12. Legislator Advocacy on Behalf of Constituents and Corporate Donors: A Case Study of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ELEANOR NEFF POWELL, DEVIN JUDGE-LORD, and JUSTIN GRIMMER; 13. Organized Interests, Policymaking, and Congressional Accountability LEE DRUTMAN; 14. Administrative Politics with Clear Stakes and Venues: Strategic Commenting upon Federal Reserve Debit Card Regulations DANIEL CARPENTER and BRIAN LIBGOBer; 15. Conclusion CHARLES M. CAMERON, BRANDICE CANES-WRONE, SANFORD C. GORDON and GREGORY HUBER.