The Contemporary Congress / Edition 6

by Burdett A. Loomis Professor, University of Kansas, Wendy J. Schiller Professor, Brown University

Overview

The Contemporary Congress offers a clear and concise introduction to legislative processes. Perfect as a brief core or supplementary text for undergraduate courses, the Sixth Edition constructs a comprehensive portrait of the U.S. Congress, from defining congressional structures and procedures to outlining the process of elections and analyzing presidential-congressional relations. With updated coverage of the most recent elections, Loomis and Schiller remain committed to providing a text that integrates academic studies—both modern and classic—with the actual politics of Capitol Hill. Through the use of engaging examples in every chapter, The Contemporary Congress provides the most succinct and readable analysis of the politics behind the policy decisions made every day on the House and Senate floors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442249684
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/21/2015
Edition description:	Sixth Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Burdett A. Loomis is Professor of political science at the University of Kansas. Aside from teaching courses on congressional politics, interest groups, and policy making, Loomis directs internship programs in Washington and Topeka. He has written on a variety of topics, including Congress, interest groups, state legislatures, and public policy, and he currently serves as coeditor of Interest Groups and Advocacy.

Wendy J. Schiller is Professor of political science at Brown University. She served on the staffs of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Governor Mario Cuomo, and completed Fellowships at the Brookings Institution and Princeton University. She teaches courses on the American presidency, the American political process, and Congress and public policy. Among books she has authored or coauthored are Electing the Senate: Indirect Democracy Before the Seventeenth Amendment, Partners and Rivals: Representation in U.S. Senate Delegations, and Gateways to Democracy: An Introduction to American Government.

Table of Contents

1. The Drama of Representation
2. Congressional Decentralization in Design and Evolution
3. The Changing Environment of Congressional Politics
4. Parties, Leaders, and Ideology in Congress
5. Presidential-Congressional Relations: Boundaries of Power
6. Congressional Elections: All for One and One for All?
7. Policymaking in Committee and on the Floor
8. The Individual Enterprise
9. The Competitive Congress: Centrifugal Forces in a Partisan Era

Editorial Reviews

Loomis (political science, U. of Kansas) sees the contemporary US Congress as reflecting tensions between centralizing forces, such as the House leadership, and decentralizing forces, such as the individualistic Senate. He discusses changes that have occurred since the Republicans took control in 1994, including a new legislative ascendancy in setting the national policy agenda; and he also addresses the possibility that the US is entering a less settled stage of congressional development. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

For a brief but sophisticated overview of Congress, this book cannot be beat. The authors have included all of the essential information for an understanding of how Congress works.

Charles Bullock

Any serious student in American politics, institutions, and democracy should read Loomis and Schiller’s Contemporary Congress. The text offers the historic framework of Congress’ strength and power through decades of dramatic change in the 20th-21st centuries.

Ravi K. Perry

A narrative rich text that is filled with interesting stories about Congress and exceptionally well written; likely the most student-friendly Congress text that I have encountered.

Michael S. Lynch