Cover image for The Substance of Representation : Congress, American Political Development, and Lawmaking.
The Substance of Representation : Congress, American Political Development, and Lawmaking.
Title:
The Substance of Representation : Congress, American Political Development, and Lawmaking.
Author:
Lapinski, John S.
ISBN:
9781400848638
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (190 pages)
Series:
Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives Ser.
Contents:
Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter I Policy Issue Substance and the Revitalization of Legislative Studies -- Why We Need to Restore Policy Issue Substance to Congressional Studies -- A Natural Connection: Congressional Studies, American Political Development, and Policy Studies -- The Organization of the Book -- Chapter II Bringing Policy Issue Substance Back In -- Pitfalls of the Substantive Tradition -- Introducing a New Policy Classification Schema -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Coding Schema -- Chapter III Political Polarization and Issues: A New Perspective -- Estimating Induced Preferences of Members of Congress -- Political Polarization and Policy Issue Substance -- House and Senate Party Unity Scores, 1877-2011 -- Disaggregating Political Polarization -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Chapter IV The Case Studies: Policy Issue Substance and the Political Behavior of Members of Congress (with David Bateman) -- Reassessing the 95th Congress -- The Case Studies: Examining Sovereignty Policy across Time -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Chapter V Legislative Accomplishment and Policy Issue Substance -- Needed: Direct Measures of Legislative Accomplishment -- Measuring Legislative Significance -- Constructing Macro-Level Measures of Legislative Accomplishment -- Conclusion -- Chapter VI Explaining Lawmaking in the United States, 1877-1994 -- Critical Hypotheses and Covariates of Lawmaking -- Empirically Analyzing Lawmaking -- Conclusion -- Chapter VII At the Crossroads: Policy Issue Substance, Congress, and American Political Development -- Ideas for American Political Development -- Ideas for Congressional Studies -- Bibliography -- Index.
Abstract:
Lawmaking is crucial to American democracy because it completely defines and regulates the public life of the nation. Yet despite its importance, political scientists spend very little time studying the direct impact that the politics surrounding a particular issue has on lawmaking. The Substance of Representation draws on a vast range of historical and empirical data to better understand how lawmaking works across different policy areas. Specifically, John Lapinski introduces a theoretically grounded method for parsing policy issues into categories, and he shows how policymaking varies in predictable ways based on the specific issue area being addressed. Lapinski examines the ways in which key factors that influence policymaking matter for certain types of policy issues, and he includes an exhaustive look at how elite political polarization shifts across these areas. He considers how Congress behaves according to the policy issue at hand, and how particular areas--such as war, sovereignty issues, and immigration reform--change legislative performance. Relying on records of all Congressional votes since Reconstruction and analyzing voting patterns across policy areas from the late nineteenth to late twentieth centuries, Lapinski provides a comprehensive historical perspective on lawmaking in order to shed light on current practices. Giving a clear picture of Congressional behavior in the policymaking process over time, The Substance of Representation provides insights into the critical role of American lawmaking.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Electronic Access:
Click to View
Holds: Copies: