How Congress Evolves Social Bases of Institutional Change

by Polsby, Nelson W.

• ISBN13: 9780195182965
• ISBN10: 0195182960
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In this greatly entertaining tale of one of our most august institutions, Nelson Polsby argues that among other things, from the 50's to the 90's, Congress evolved. In short, Polsby argues that air conditioning altered the demography of the southern states, which in turn changed the politicalparties of the South, which transformed the composition and in due course the performance of the US House of Representatives. This evolutionary process led to the House's liberalization and later to its transformation into an arena of sharp partisanship, visible among both Democrats and Republicans.How Congress Evolves breathes new life into the dusty corners of institutional history, and offers a unique explanation for important transformations in the congressional environment.

Author Biography

Nelson Polsby is Heller Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley where he has taught American politics and government since 1967. A close Congress watcher for more than 40 years, he is the author of, among others, Congress and the Presidency, and Presidential Elections (with Aaron Wildavsky, 10th edition.) He is editor of the Annual Review of Political Science and writes often for the Op-ed pages of the LA Times, Boston Globe, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(4)
The House in Sam Rayburn's Time	7	(29)
A Conservative House: 1937--57	7	(13)
After the 1958 Election: Frustration	20	(10)
The Rump Session of 1960	30	(1)
Packing the Rules Committee by Avoiding the Democratic Caucus: 1961	31	(5)
Toward Liberalization	36	(39)
Succession to Rayburn	36	(4)
Conflict within the Caucus: Liberals against the Leadership, 1963	40	(4)
Incremental Committee Packing: Appropriations, 1963	44	(6)
Republican Committee Packing: Maintaining the Party Mainstream, 1961--63	50	(6)
The Landslide: 1964	56	(3)
The Democratic Study Group Uses the Caucus: 1967--72	59	(6)
Fallout from Watergate: The Caucus Puts Seniority under Siege	65	(8)
A Remodeled House	73	(2)
Causes of Liberalization	75	(34)
The House Democratic Caucus	75	(5)
The Rise of the Two-Party South	80	(17)
Southern Republicans in the 1990s: A Group Portrait	97	(12)
Consequences: Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System?	109	(36)
The Retreat from Bipartisanship in Committee	114	(10)
Two Strategies of Opposition	124	(6)
An Era of Ill-Feeling	130	(7)
Tyranny Tempered by Assassination	137	(8)
Overview: How Congress Evolves	145	(11)
Innovation and Stalemate	145	(3)
Overview of the House	148	(3)
Stories about Change	151	(5)
Appendix: Methods and Sources	156	(15)
Notes	171	(80)
Index	251