Description
Cambridge The American Congress 2009 Edition by Steven S. Smith, Jason M. Roberts, Ryan J. Vander Wielen
The American Congress provides the most insightful, up-to-date treatment of congressional politics available in an undergraduate text. Informed by the authors' Capitol Hill experience and nationally recognized scholarship, this book presents a crisp introduction to all major features of Congress: its party and committee systems, leadership, and voting and floor activity. The American Congress has the most in-depth discussion of the place of the president, the courts, and interest groups in congressional policy making available in a text. The authors blend an emphasis on recent developments in congressional politics with a clear discussion of the rules of the game, the history of key features of Congress, and stories from recent Congresses that bring politics to life. No other text weaves into the discussion the important ideas of recent political science research. The book includes the most comprehensive list of suggested readings and Internet resources on Congress to date. Table of contents :- 1. The American Congress: modern trends; 2. Representation and lawmaking in Congress: the constitutional and historical context; 3. Congressional elections and policy alignments; 4. Members, goals, resources, and strategies; 5. Parties and leaders; 6. The standing committees; 7. The rules of the legislative game; 8. The floor and voting; 9. Congress and the president; 10. Congress and the courts; 11. Congress, lobbyists, and interest groups; 12. Congress and budget politics; Appendix: introduction to the spatial theory of legislating.