Dilemmas of Representation: Local Politics, National Factors, and the Home Styles of Modern U.S. Congress Members

by Friedman, Sally

• ISBN13: 9780791470763
• ISBN10: 0791470768
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

While the Congress literature of the 1970s and 1980s led to the dominant impression that all politics is local, in recent years legislative behavior has pointed in more national directions. Dilemmas of Representation comprehensively examines the multifaceted activities of several legislators from New York, one of the country's most diverse states. Legislators still include strong local components in their home styles, but a variety of national factors now contribute notably to an understanding of local politics. This book encourages the reader to think more about the appropriate balance of local and national emphasis in legislator home styles, and also the advantages and disadvantages of the contrasting representational styles used by some contemporary representatives. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Sally Friedman is Associate Professor of Political Science at Rockefeller College, University at Albany, State University of New York

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Author's Note	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Overview of Theoretical and Methodological Concerns	p. 13
Rethinking the Local-National Debate	p. 30
Carolyn Maloney: Getting Involved at Home and in Washington	p. 35
Amo Houghton: Public Service with a Business Slant	p. 50
John McHugh: "I Know the Process and I Know the Players"	p. 64
National Parties, Individual Choices (with Christopher Witko)	p. 80
Sue Kelly: Balancing Constituent Interests, Issues, and Party	p. 86
Michael McNulty: Interactions among Party, Constituency, and a Changing Political Context	p. 101
Carolyn McCarthy: Politics Made Personal on Long Island's 4th	p. 116
The Local-National Connection and the Representation of Minorities (with Michael Rogers)	p. 139
Eliot Engel: Bringing Together Difference	p. 149
Nydia Velazquez: Latino Culture Drives the Politics of the 12th	p. 160
Balancing Constituencies: Fenno's Bull's-eye Model in the 1990s	p. 176
Jack Quinn: Having Your Cake and Eating It Too	p. 185
Maurice Hinchey: Issue Activist at Home in his District	p. 202
Concluding Perspectives	p. 221
Postscript	p. 242
Notes	p. 253
Works Cited	p. 261
Index	p. 267
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