Parties and leaders in the postreform house / / David W. Rohde

• Autore: Rohde David W
• Pubblicazione: Chicago : , : University of Chicago Press, , 1991; ©1991
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xii, 232 pages) : illustrations
• Disciplina: 328.73/0769
• Soggetto topico: Political parties - United States
• Soggetto geografico: United States Politics and government 20th century
• Soggetto non controllato: congressional parties, politics, political science, congress, government, power, influence, policy, conflict, electoral independence, reform, leadership, house of representatives, sectional division, southern democrats, divergence, platform, partisanship, committee caucuses, party leaders, homogeneity, dissdents, consensus, agenda, legislation, carter, reagan, administration, roll-call voting, wright speakership, nonfiction, history
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-224) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Parties in the House of Representatives -- 2. Reform and Its Consequences: A Closer Look -- 3. The Democratic Caucus: Membership Change and Organizational Developments -- 4. The Democratic Leadership: Party Agents and Agenda Management -- 5. Republican Reactions, Presidential Agendas, and Legislative Consequences -- 6. Conclusions and Future Prospects -- Notes -- References -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Since the Second World War, congressional parties have been characterized as declining in strength and influence. Research has generally attributed this decline to policy conflicts within parties, to growing electoral independence of members, and to the impact of the congressional reforms of the 1970's. Yet the 1980's witnessed a strong resurgence of parties and party leadership-especially in the House of Representatives. Offering a concise and compelling explanation of the causes of this resurgence, David W. Rohde argues that a realignment of electoral forces led to a reduction of sectional divisions within the parties-particularly between the northern and southern Democrats-and to increased divergence between the parties on many important issues. He challenges previous findings by asserting that congressional reform contributed to, rather than restrained, the increase of partisanship. Among the Democrats, reforms siphoned power away from conservative and autocratic committee chairs and put control of those committees in the hands of Democratic committee caucuses, strengthening party leaders and making both party and committee leaders responsible to rank-and-file Democrats. Electoral changes increased the homogeneity of House Democrats while institutional reforms reduced the influence of dissident members on a consensus in the majority party. Rohde's accessible analysis provides a detailed discussion of the goals of the congressional reformers, the increased consensus among Democrats and its reinforcement by their caucus, the Democratic leadership's use of expanded powers to shape the legislative agenda, and the responses of House Republicans. He also addresses the changes in the relationship between the House majority and the president during the Carter and Reagan administrations and analyzes the legislative consequences of the partisan resurgence. A readable, systematic synthesis of the many complex factors that fueled the recent resurgence of partisanship, Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House is ideal for course use.
• Titolo autorizzato: Parties and leaders in the postreform house
• ISBN: 1-282-67927-9; 9786612679278; 0-226-72405-0
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910785048903321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: American politics and political economy.