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Congress Reconsidered
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Congress Reconsidered

13th Edition
Edited by:
January 2025 | 544 pages | CQ Press
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Since its first edition, Congress Reconsidered was designed to make available the best contemporary work from leading congressional scholars in a form that is both challenging and accessible to undergraduates.

With their Thirteenth Edition, Lawrence C. Dodd, Bruce I. Oppenheimer, and C. Lawrence Evans, and now Ruth Bloch Rubin from the University of Chicago, continue this tradition as their contributors focus on how various aspects of Congress have changed over time. With a strong focus to the historical development of political institutions in their role in preserving democratic government, this bestselling volume remains on the cutting edge with key insights into the workings of Congress.
 
Preface
 
Contributors
 
Part I: Patterns and Dynamics of Congressional Change
Steven S. Smith
Chapter 1: The Senate’s Struggle to Govern Itself
Fundamentals

 
An Illustration

 
Partisan Obstructionism and the 60-Vote Senate

 
The Majority Response

 
Consequences for Senate Parties

 
Consequences for Legislating

 
Senators’ Reactions

 
Reform

 
Conclusion

 
Ruth Bloch Rubin
Chapter 2: Legacies of Leadership in the Contemporary House of Representatives
Thinking About Leader Power

 
The Perceived Perils of Leading Divided Parties

 
Evaluating The Conventional Wisdom

 
Divided Parties, Strong Leaders

 
Assessing and Comparing Collaborative Capacity

 
An Evolving Factional Landscape

 
From Showdown to Shutdown: How Boehner Lost the Republican Conference

 
The Enduring Costs of Factional Asymmetry

 
Symmetry Across the Aisle

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part II: Elections, Constituencies, and Representation
Robert S. Erikson and Gerald C. Wright
Chapter 3: Voters, Candidates, Parties, and Issues in Congressional Elections
The National Verdict in House Elections

 
The Partisan Base of the Congressional Vote

 
Electoral Change as a Search for Policy Direction

 
The Role of Candidates in House Contests

 
Candidates, Issues, and the Vote

 
Voter responsiveness to candidate ideology: In decline?

 
Congressional Elections and Representation

 
House–Senate Differences in Representation

 
Conclusion

 
Gary C. Jacobson
Chapter 4: Partisanship, Money, and Competition: Elections and the Transformation of Congress since the 1970s
The Fundamental Trend: Partisan Realignment

 
Trends in Individual Voting Behavior

 
Aggregate Effects

 
The Evolution of Congressional Campaigns

 
Sources of Campaign Money

 
Party Money

 
Non-Party Independent Spending

 
Money and Competition

 
Candidate-Centered Elections?

 
Conclusion

 
Danielle M. Thomsen
Chapter 5: Candidates and Competition in U.S. House Primaries
Measuring Electoral Competition

 
Competition: Votes versus Money

 
Candidates: Number and Quality

 
Conclusion

 
Annelise Russell and Maggie Macdonald
Chapter 6: Shaping the Narrative: Congressional Communication and Digital Adaptation
A Forty-Year Evolution of Digital Communication Norms in Congress

 
Defining a digital press shop and correcting the myths of communication

 
Digital Communication and New Audiences

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part III: Parties, Polarization, and Interests
Michael D. Minta
Chapter 7: The Future of Black and Latino Interests in a Diverse and Polarized Congress
Diversity and the Substantive Representation of Minority Interests

 
Empowerment, Incorporation, and Uneven Trust in Congress

 
Civil Rights Groups and Legislative Advocates

 
Challenges of Empowerment and Incorporation

 
Challenges for Black and Latino Leadership

 
Conclusion

 
Sarah Binder
Chapter 8: Challenges of Legislating in Partisan Times
Theories of lawmaking

 
Patterns in postwar lawmaking

 
Explaining legislative deadlock

 
Lessons from the Obama years

 
Lessons from the Trump years

 
Lessons from the Biden years

 
Conclusion

 
C. Lawrence Evans
Chapter 9: The Undemocratic Senate
The Undemocratic Senate

 
Parties, Polarization, and Demography

 
Decision Making

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part IV: Congress and the Policy Process
Molly E. Reynolds
Chapter 10: Carrying the Conflict: The Politics of the Budget and Appropriations Process in the Contemporary Congress
An Overview of the Budget and Appropriations Process in the House and Senate

 
Appropriations Bills as an Arena for Party Conflict: The Case of the House of Representatives

 
Budget Reconciliation and the Senate Majority Party’s Agenda

 
Interbranch Negotiations in the Contemporary Environment: The Case of the Fiscal Responsibility Act

 
Conclusion

 
James M. Curry and Jason M. Roberts
Chapter 11: The Value of Relationships in a Changing Congress
The Challenge of Lawmaking

 
How Washington Was & How it Changed

 
How Relationships Help: Trust & Familiarity

 
Relationships in Action: The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

 
Conclusions

 
Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman
Chapter 12: Reconsidering Lawmaking Effectiveness in a Changing Congress*
Changing Ideology, Changing Demographics

 
Measuring Lawmaking Effectiveness

 
Correlates of Lawmaking Effectiveness

 
Changing Patterns of Effective Lawmaking in Congress

 
Highly Effective Lawmakers in Today’s Congress

 
Conclusion

 
James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee
Chapter 13: Congress: An Enduring Obstacle to Political Parties
Constrained Parties, Not Low Productivity Overall

 
The False Hope of Party Cohesion

 
Narrow Majorities

 
Structural Roadblocks on Capitol Hill

 
Build Back Better

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part V: Congress in a Separation of Powers System
Michael A. Bailey, Forrest Maltzman, and Charles R. Shipan
Chapter 14: Congress and the Judiciary in a Partisan and Polarized Era
Creation of a more politicized and partisan judiciary

 
A Strategic Court and Congressional Incapacity

 
Congressional responses to an activist Court

 
Conclusion

 
Douglas L. Kriner and Eric Schickler
Chapter 15: Investigative Politics in a Polarized Era
Why Investigations Matter

 
The Forces Driving Congressional Investigative Activity

 
Conclusion

 
Appendix

 
Melinda N. Ritchie
Chapter 16: Congress and the Bureaucracy: Back-channel Policymaking
The Evolution of the Separation of Powers

 
Backdoor Lawmaking

 
What Does the Court Say about Back-channel Policymaking?

 
Looking forward

 
Implications for Representation, Transparency, and Accountability

 
Conclusion

 
John A. Dearborn
Chapter 17: Congress, the President, and the Constitutional Order
Reconfiguring the Separation of Powers

 
Reemphasizing the Separation of Powers

 
Conclusion

 
C. Lawrence Evans and Bruce I. Oppenheimer
Chapter 18: The 2024 Elections and Beyond
Interpreting the 2024 Congressional Election Results

 
The Senate Elections

 
The House Elections

 
Gender and Ethnicity in the New House and Senate

 
Regional Strengths of the Parties

 
Assessing the Aftermath

 
The Policy Agenda

 
Conclusion

 
 
Suggested Readings
 
Endnotes

Supplements

Instructor Resources

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Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • A new co-editor, Ruth Bloch Rubin of University of Chicago, brings her expertise to the new edition.
  • New generations of scholars bring a strong focus to the historical development of political institutions in their role in preserving democratic government.
  • New chapter by Larry Evans and Bruce I. Oppenheimer on the 2024 presidential elections and explores the implications for the national legislature for the years to come.
  • Two-thirds of the chapters are new, with many contributors providing material for the first time. 
    • Chapter 1 by Steven S. Smith provides the most comprehensive short survey available about how the Senate has changed into the mid 2020s, including a discussion of potential reforms.
    • Chapter 2 by Ruth Bloch Rubin integrates important new scholarship about how internal factionalization now complicates the role of party leader in both chambers.
    • Chapter 5 by Danielle M. Thomsen is an in-depth analysis of primary elections to the House and Senate and their central importance when so few general election contests are truly in play.
    • Chapter 6 by Annelise Russell and Maggie Macdonald explores the impact of the new digital forms of communication that have become so central to member-constituent relations in recent years.
    • Chapter 7, Michael Minta reviews the tactics that advocacy coalitions use to promote the interests of Black and Latino constituencies in the contemporary Congress.
    • Chapter 9 by C. Lawrence Evans analyzes the impact of Senate malapportionment and the obstructionist potential of chamber procedures for the relative power of the two political parties within that body.
    • Chapter 11, James M. Curry and Jason M. Roberts explore the enduring importance of personal working relationships between members for legislative productivity. 
    • Chapter 12 by Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors associated with lawmaking success in both chambers, placing particular emphasis on the gender and ethnic backgrounds of lawmakers.
    • Chapter 14 by Michael A. Bailey, Forrest Maltzman, and Charles R. Shipan provides an in-depth treatment of congressional-judicial relations into the 2020s, emphasizing how deep partisan polarization has shaped how the national legislature and the courts interact.
    • Chapter 16 by Melinda Ritchie demonstrates how members of Congress increasingly make use of “back-channel” tactics to influence how executive branch agencies flesh out and extend enacted legislation.
    • In Chapter 17, John A. Dearborn analyzes recent trends in unilateral action by the president and the consequences for the role of Congress in our separation of powers system.
KEY FEATURES:
  • Each chapter opens with an abstract that summarizes the arguments of the chapter and highlights the chapter's implications for understanding Congress.
  • The book closes with a comprehensive Suggested Readings list: a go-to bibliographical reference for all students of Congress.
  • The book contains a rich variety of statistical information combined with close attention to historical processes and real-world illustrations of congressional politics.

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