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The U.S. Congress

A Very Short Introduction

Donald A Ritchie author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:22nd Dec '22

Should be back in stock very soon

The U.S. Congress cover

Donald A. Ritchie, a congressional historian for forty years , takes readers on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill, pointing out the key players, explaining their behavior, and translating parliamentary language into plain English. He also explores the essential necessity of compromise to accomplish anything significant in the legislative arena. However, recent events show that political polarization has hardened and produced gridlock, as Ritchie explains in this new edition. The 2020 election also produced a more diverse membership in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, and ideology, with primary elections resulting in the defeat of moderate candidates by opponents ranging from socialists on the left to conspiracy theorists on the right, making bipartisan compromise harder to achieve. Among the most significant events since the last edition, the Senate ignored President Obama's last nomination to the Supreme Court and then adopted a "nuclear option" to streamline future Supreme Court confirmations. The House also twice impeached President Trump, processes that starkly expose the differences between the majority-rule requirements of the House and the super-majority requirements of the Senate. This new edition explains how the parties have changed in light of the unprecedented politics of the past four years, culminating in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and how this development has affected both the House and the Senate.

This book will take you on a historical and political tour of the Capitol, what goes on there, and along the way you will learn the meaning of representative democracy." - Ray Smock, Director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education

ISBN: 9780197620786

Dimensions: 174mm x 116mm x 10mm

Weight: 150g

184 pages

3rd Revised edition