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Governing in a Polarized Age

Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America

Alan S Gerber editor Eric Schickler editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:31st Oct '16

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Governing in a Polarized Age cover

This volume provides an in-depth examination of representation and legislative performance in contemporary American politics.

This volume provides an in-depth examination of American core institutions, including elections, representation, and legislative performance. It is aimed at upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on congressional elections, Congress, the policy-making process, and political parties.Many political observers have expressed doubts as to whether America's leaders are up to the task of addressing major policy challenges. Yet much of the critical commentary lacks grounding in the systematic analysis of the core institutions of the American political system including elections, representation, and the law-making process. Governing in a Polarized Age brings together more than a dozen leading scholars to provide an in-depth examination of representation and legislative performance. Drawing upon the seminal work of David Mayhew as a point of departure, these essays explore the dynamics of incumbency advantage in today's polarized Congress, asking whether the focus on individual re-election that was the hallmark of Mayhew's ground-breaking book, Congress: The Electoral Connection, remains useful for understanding today's Congress. The essays link the study of elections with close analysis of changes in party organization and with a series of systematic assessments of the quality of legislative performance.

'Overall, Governing in a Polarized Age is focused on representation and the impact of a member's credit claiming, advertising, and position taking on Congress (specifically) and the executive branch (generally).' Jacob R. Straus, Congress and the Presidency

ISBN: 9781107479074

Dimensions: 225mm x 148mm x 23mm

Weight: 540g

406 pages