The Politics of Congressional Elections / Edition 9

by Gary C. Jacobson, Jamie L. Carson

Overview

Jacobson, Gary C., The Politics of Congressional Elections, 5th Edition*\ Jacobson's classic work offers readers a systematic and engaging account of what goes on in congressional elections and demonstrates how electoral politics reflect and shape other basic components of our political system. The Fifth Edition brings everything up to date through the 1998 elections, analyzing new electoral trends that have appeared in the 1990s-including the Republicans' rise to majority status and their current precarious hold on Congress-while also offering a thorough consideration of impeachment politics in 1998 and 1999. For those interested in Political Campaigning and voting and elections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442252622
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/01/2015
Edition description:	Ninth Edition
Pages:	342
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gary C. Jacobson is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Political Science at UCSD. His field of interest is American national politics, with a subfield focus on Congress and congressional elections. He is the author of Money in Congressional Elections; The Politics of Congressional Elections; and The Electoral Origins of Divided Government; and co-author of Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, American Parties in Decline, and The Logic of American Politics. His current research is on the electoral basis of partisan polarization in Congress. Jamie Carson is the UGA Athletic Association Professor of Public and International Affairs II in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia. His research interests include American politics and methods. He regularly teaches courses on the U.S. Congress, the presidency, the politics of congressional elections, and American political development. Recent books include (with Joel Sievert) Electoral Incentives in Congress (2018) and (with John Aldrich, Brad Gomez, and David W. Rohde) Change and Continuity in the 2016 and 2018 Elections (2020).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.

2. The Context.
The Constitutional Framework.
Congressional Districts.
Partisan Gerrymandering.
Racial Gerrymandering.
States as Electoral Units.
Election Laws.
Political Parties.
Social and Political Contexts.

3. Congressional Candidates.
The Incumbency Factor.
Measuring the Value of Incumbency.
The Vanishing Marginals.
Sources of the Incumbency Advantage.
The Institutional Characteristics of Congress.
Changes in Voting Behavior.
Constituency Service.
The Variability of the Incumbency Advantage.
Discouraging the Opposition.
Money in Congressional Elections.
The Connection between Money and Success.
Why Campaign Money Is More Important to Challengers.
The Career in the District.
Motivating Challengers.

4. Congressional Campaigns.
Campaign Money.
Political Action Committees.
Party Money.
Self-Financing by Candidates.
Fundraising Tactics.
Campaign Organizations.
Campaign Strategies.
Campaign Media.
Personal Campaigning.
Campaign Messages.
Challengers' Campaigns.
Going Negative.
Incumbents' Campaigns.
Candidates for Open Seats.
Senate Campaigns.
"Voter Education" and "Issue Advocacy" Campaigns.
Concluding Observations.

5. Congressional Voters.
Turnout in Congressional Elections.
Partisanship in Congressional Elections.
Alternative Interpretations of Party Identification.
Partisanship and Voting.
Information and Voting.
Recall and Recognition ofCandidates.
Contacting Voters.
The Effects of Campaign Spending.
Models of Voting Behavior.
Evaluating Incumbents.
Winning Challengers.
Issues in Congressional Elections.

6. National Politics and Congressional Elections.
Political Interpretations of Congressional Elections.
Models of Aggregate Congressional Election Results.
Presidential Coattails.
National Conditions and Strategic Politics.
Campaign Themes.
House Elections, 1980-1998.
The Clinton Problem.
Nationalizing the Vote.
The Campaigns.
The Scandal and the Campaigns.
House Election Patterns, 1980-1998.
Senate Elections, 1980-1998.

7. Elections and The Politics of Congress.
The Congressional Parties.
The Committee Systems.
Making Policy.
Particularism.
Serving the Organized.
Immobility.
Symbolism.
Doing the Right Thing.
Building Coalitions.
The Budgetary Process.

8. Representation, Responsibility, Impeachment Politics, and the Future of Congressional Elections.
Representation.
Policy Congruence.
Beyond Policy Congruence.
Descriptive Representation.
Responsiveness without Responsibility.
The Revival of Party Cohesion.
Ideological Polarization in Congress and the Electorate.
Party Polarization: The Electoral Connection.
Diverging Electoral Constituencies.
Chicken or Egg?
Party Polarization and the Politics of Impeachment.
Divided Government in the 1990s.
Reforming Congress.
Term Limits.
The Public's Evaluation of Congress.
Toward the Millennium.

Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Jacobson (political science, U. of California-San Diego) systematically examines how congressional elections work, emphasizing how electoral politics reflect and shape other basic components of our political system. Updated through the 1998 elections and the impeachment politics of 1998 and 1999. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

This is the most comprehensive and authoritative account of how congressional elections work.  It is the book of record for anyone who wants to know how elections have changed over the past thirty years, and how elections can change the way congress operates.

Robert Boatwright

This single volume contains all that a student would need to know to achieve a firm grasp of congressional elections… I would not adopt any title other than Jacobson’s Politics of Congressional Elections. It is the best of the breed.

Ross K. Baker