Sizing Up the Senate

by Lee, Frances E.

• ISBN13: 9780226470061
• ISBN10: 0226470067
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

We take it for granted that every state has two representatives in the United States Senate. Apply the "one person, one vote" standard, however, and the Senate is the most malapportioned legislature in the democratic world. But does it matter that California's 32 million people have the same number of Senate votes as Wyoming's 480,000? Frances Lee and Bruce Oppenheimer systematically show that the Senate's unique apportionment scheme profoundly shapes legislation and representation. The size of a state's population affects the senator-constituent relationship, fund-raising and elections, strategic behavior within the Senate, and, ultimately, policy decisions. They also show that less populous states consistently receive more federal funding than states with more people. In sum, Lee and Oppenheimer reveal that Senate apportionment leaves no aspect of the institution untouched. This groundbreaking book raises new questions about one of the key institutions of American government and will interest anyone concerned with issues of representation.

Author Biography

Frances E. Lee is assistant professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University Bruce I. Oppenheimer is professor of political science at Vanderbilt University

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(15)
Senate Apportionment in Theoretical and Historical Perspective	16	(28)
The Representational Experience	44	(39)
Electoral Competitiveness, Campaign Fund-Raising, and partisan Advantage	83	(40)
Senate Strategies	123	(35)
The Small-State Advantage in the Distribution of Federal Dollars	158	(28)
Designing Policy: How the Senate Makes Small States Winners	186	(37)
The Undemocratic Senate?	223	(12)
Appendixes	235	(20)
A The Schubert-Press Measure of Legislative Malapportionment	237	(2)
B Senators' Mentions on National Nightly News Broadcasts, 103d and 104th Congresses	239	(3)
C Key Votes Included in the Analysis of Hold-Out Behavior in Chapter 5	242	(4)
D Programs Studied in Chapter 7	246	(2)
E Data on the Sample of Formula Grants-in-Aid	248	(4)
F House-Senate Conflict over the Programs Sampled	252	(3)
Notes	255	(24)
References	279	(18)
Index	297