The Politics of Congressional Elections (Longman Classics in Political Science)

by Jacobson, Gary C.

• ISBN13: 9780205577026
• ISBN10: 0205577024
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-29
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Brought completely up-to-date with the latest data from the National Election Study and the Federal Election Commission, and including coverage and analysis of the dramatic 2006 midterm elections, this seminal work continues to offer a systematic account of what goes on in congressional elections and demonstrates how electoral politics reflect and shape other components of the political system, with profound consequences for representative government. The Seventh Edition of this work one of the Longman Classics in Political Science provides completely up-to-date coverage of congressional election politics, broadly understood. Jacobson analyzes how congressional campaigns and elections reflect deeper structural patterns and currents in American political life and help determine how and how well we are governed. The book traces the connections between electoral politics in Congress and other important political phenomena and makes questions of representation and responsibility its chief normative concern.

Author Biography

Gary Jacobson is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California at San Diego. His 1980 book, Money in Congressional Elections, won multiple awards. Since its publication, Jacobson has published numerous books and papers about American politics, Congress, campaign financing, and partisan polarization, including the recent A Divider Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People.  He has served on many advisory boards, including the NSF Political Science Advisory Panel, and he holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
The Context	p. 5
The Constitutional Framework	p. 5
Congressional Districts	p. 7
Partisan Gerrymandering	p. 8
Redistricting Between Censuses	p. 12
Racial Gerrymandering	p. 13
The Republican Advantage in House Districts	p. 14
States as Electoral Units	p. 15
Election Laws	p. 17
Political Parties	p. 18
Social and Political Contexts	p. 21
Conclusion	p. 22
Notes	p. 22
Congressional Candidates	p. 27
The Incumbency Factor	p. 27
Measuring the Value of Incumbency	p. 30
The Vanishing Marginals	p. 32
Sources of the Incumbency Advantage	p. 35
The Institutional Characteristics of Congress	p. 35
Changes in Voting Behavior	p. 38
Constituency Service	p. 39
The Variability of the Incumbency Advantage	p. 41
Discouraging the Opposition	p. 41
Money in Congressional Elections	p. 45
The Connection between Money and Success	p. 46
Why Campaign Money Is More Important to Challengers than to Incumbents	p. 49
The Career in the District	p. 51
Motivating Challengers	p. 53
Notes	p. 55
Congressional Campaigns	p. 63
Campaign Money	p. 65
Contributions to Candidates	p. 65
PACs	p. 67
Party Money	p. 74
Contributions from Other Members of Congress	p. 80
Self-Financing by Candidates	p. 82
Fundraising Tactics	p. 83
Independent, "Voter Education," and "Issue Advocacy" Campaigns	p. 84
Campaign Organizations	p. 87
Campaign Strategies	p. 88
Campaign Media	p. 90
Personal Campaigning	p. 92
Campaign Messages	p. 93
Challengers' Campaigns	p. 94
Going Negative	p. 95
Incumbents' Campaigns	p. 97
Candidates for Open Seats	p. 101
Senate Campaigns	p. 101
Manipulating Turnout	p. 103
Concluding Observations	p. 104
Notes	p. 105
Congressional Voters	p. 113
Turnout in Congressional Elections	p. 113
Who Votes?	p. 114
Partisanship in Congressional Elections	p. 116
Alternative Interpretations of Party Identification	p. 117
Partisanship and Voting	p. 119
Information and Voting	p. 121
Recall and Recognition of Candidates	p. 123
Contacting Voters	p. 128
The Effects of Campaign Spending	p. 132
Models of Voting Behavior	p. 135
Evaluating Incumbents	p. 137
Winning Challengers	p. 145
Issues in Congressional Elections	p. 148
Notes	p. 150
National Politics and Congressional Elections	p. 155
Political Interpretations of Congressional Elections	p. 157
Models of Aggregate Congressional Election Results	p. 159
Presidential Coattails	p. 161
National Conditions and Strategic Politics	p. 168
Campaign Themes	p. 174
House Elections, 1992-2006	p. 175
1992	p. 175
1994	p. 181
The Clinton Problem	p. 183
Nationalizing the Vote	p. 185
1996	p. 189
The Campaigns	p. 190
1998	p. 192
The Scandal and the Campaigns	p. 193
2000	p. 197
2002	p. 199
The Economy	p. 201
Exposure and Redistricting	p. 202
2004	p. 202
2006	p. 204
Strategic Politicians in 2006	p. 207
Conclusion: House Election Patterns, 1980-2006	p. 209
Senate Elections, 1980-2006	p. 211
2002-2006	p. 217
Maintaining the Balance	p. 220
Notes	p. 220
Elections, Representation, and the Politics of Congress	p. 231
Representation	p. 231
Policy Congruence	p. 232
Interests and Causes	p. 233
Representation by Referendum	p. 234
Descriptive Representation	p. 235
Policy Consequences	p. 235
Particularism	p. 235
Serving the Organized	p. 237
Responsiveness without Responsibility	p. 239
The Congressional Parties: Decline and Revival	p. 240
The Revival of Party Cohesion, 1980-2006	p. 242
Ideological Polarization in Congress and the Electorate	p. 245
Polarization in Presidential Support	p. 247
Party Polarization: The Electoral Connection	p. 249
Diverging Electoral Constituencies	p. 251
Chicken or Egg?	p. 253
Party Polarization and the Politics of Impeachment	p. 255
Representing Polarized Opinions on the Iraq War after 2006	p. 257
Reforming Congress	p. 258
Term Limits	p. 259
The Public's Evaluations of Congress	p. 261
2008 and Beyond: A Matter of Geography	p. 262
Notes	p. 266
Bibliography	p. 271
Index	p. 284
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