Party polarization in Congress / / Sean M. Theriault [[electronic resource]]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910806978103321
• Autore: Theriault Sean M. <1972->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2008
• ISBN: 1-107-38662-4; 1-107-18748-6; 1-281-90340-X; 9786611903404; 0-511-79065-1; 0-511-43746-3; 0-511-43813-3; 0-511-43600-9; 0-511-43521-5; 0-511-43678-5
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (x, 243 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Disciplina: 328.73/0769
• Soggetti: Political parties - United States; Opposition (Political science) - United States
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-238) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Acknowledgments -- ; 1. Party polarization in the U.S. Congress -- ; pt. 1. Building blocks for explaining party polarization -- ; 2. A brief history of party polarization -- ; 3. Explanations for party polarization -- ; pt. 2. Constituency change -- ; 4. Redistricting -- ; 5. The political and geographic sorting of constituents -- ; 6. Extremism of party activists -- ; pt. 3. Institutional change -- ; 7. Connecting constituency change to institutional change -- ; 8. The interaction in the legislative process -- ; 9. The link between the House and the Senate -- ; 10. Procedural polarization in the U.S. Congress -- Bibliography -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: The political parties in Congress are as polarized as they have been in 100 years. This book examines more than 30 years of congressional history to understand how it is that the Democrats and Republicans on ; Capitol Hill have become so divided. It finds that two steps were critical for this development. First, the respective parties' constituencies became more politically and ideologically aligned. Second, members ceded more power to their party leaders, who implemented procedures more frequently and with greater consequence. In fact, almost the entire rise in party polarization can be accounted for in the increasing frequency of and polarization on procedures used during the legislative process.