Robert Dewhirst is Professor of Political Science at Northwest Missouri State University. He received his Ph.D. in 1983 from the University of Nebraska. His teaching and research focus on American national and state politics and political behavior. He is author of RITES OF PASSAGE: CONGRESS MAKES LAWS (1997) and THE ALMANAC OF MISSOURI POLITICS 2000 (2000) and has contributed chapters to numerous reference books and edited collections. He is contributor to and coeditor of GOVERNMENT AT WORK (1998) and THE ROADS TO CONGRESS 1998 (2000).