the american congress reader The American Congress Reader provides a supplement to the popular and newly updated American Congress undergraduate textbook. Designed by the authors of the textbook, the Reader compiles the best relevant scholarship on party and committee systems, leadership, voting, and floor activity to broaden and illuminate the key features of the text. Steven S. Smith is Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences and Director of the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He has authored or coauthored seven books and many articles on congressional politics, including Call to Order: Floor Politics in the House and Senate, Party Influence in Congress, and Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the U.S. Senate, and has coauthored several articles and a book on Russian parliamentary politics. He is a former Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and has taught at the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and George Washington University. Jason M. Roberts is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include American politics, the U.S. Congress, elections, and Supreme Court nominations. He has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, thejournal of Politics, andcongress and the Presidency. Ryan J. Vander Wielen is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Temple University. He was previously a Fellow in the Political Institutions and Public Choice program at Michigan State University and at the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He has recently been published in Political Analysis and Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.
The American Congress Reader Edited by STEVEN S. SMITH Washington University in St. Louis JASON M. ROBERTS University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill RYAN J. VANDER WIELEN Temple University
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York ny 10013-2473, USA Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9780521720199 Cambridge University Press 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2009 Reprinted 2009 (twice), 2011 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The American Congress reader / edited by Steven S. Smith, Jason M. Roberts, Ryan J. Vander Wielen. p. cm. isbn 978-0-521-72019-9 (pbk.) 1. United States. Congress. 2. United States. Congress Evaluation. 3. United States Politics and government 21st century Public opinion. 4. Public opinion United States. I. Smith, Steven S., 1953 II. Roberts, Jason M. III. Vander Wielen, Ryan J. IV. Title. jk1041.a617 2009 328.73 dc22 2008039660 isbn 978-0-521-72019-9 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents PART I. THE AMERICAN CONGRESS: MODERN TRENDS 1 What Is Wrong with the American Political System? 3 John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse 2 A Reassessment of Who s to Blame: A Positive Case for the Public Evaluation of Congress 7 David W. Brady and Sean M. Theriault 3 Between the Campaigns: Public Approval and Disapproval of Government 16 James A. Stimson PART II. REPRESENTATION AND LAWMAKING IN CONGRESS: THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT 4 U.S. Constitution, Articles I, II, III, and Amendments 31 5 The Federalist, Nos.10 and 51 43 James Madison 6 U.S. House Members in Their Constituencies: An Exploration 51 Richard F. Fenno, Jr. 7 Collective vs. Dyadic Representation in Congress 88 Robert Weissberg PART III. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS AND POLICY ALIGNMENTS 8 Elbridge Gerry s Salamander: The Electoral Consequences of the Reapportionment Revolution Excerpts 101 Gary W. Cox and Jonathan N. Katz 9 Strategic Politicians and the Dynamics of U.S. House Elections, 1946 1986 113 Gary C. Jacobson v
vi Contents 10 Congress: The Electoral Connection 126 David R. Mayhew PART IV. MEMBERS, GOALS, RESOURCES, AND STRATEGIES 11 Senate Representation and Coalition Building in Distributive Politics 141 FrancesE.Lee 12 Risk-Bearing and Progressive Ambition: The Case of Members of the United States House of Representatives 152 David W. Rohde 13 Issue Politics in Congress Excerpts 162 Tracy Sulkin PART V. PARTIES AND LEADERS 14 Institutional Context and Leadership Style: The House from Cannon to Rayburn 177 Joseph Cooper and David W. Brady 15 Setting the Agenda 193 Gary W. Cox and Mathew D. McCubbins 16 Party Influence in Congress 200 Steven S. Smith PART VI. THE STANDING COMMITTEES 17 Distributive and Partisan Issues in Agriculture Policy in the 104th House 213 Mark S. Hurwitz, Roger J. Moiles, and David W. Rohde 18 Principals, Goals, Dimensionality, and Congressional Committees 221 Forrest Maltzman and Steven S. Smith 19 Nonlegislative Hearings and Policy Change in Congress 230 Jeffrey C. Talbert, Bryan D. Jones, and Frank R. Baumgartner PART VII. THE RULES OF THE LEGISLATIVE GAME 20 Sample of a Special Rule 243 21 Sample of a Unanimous Consent Agreement 245 22 On the Effects of Legislative Rules 246 Gary W. Cox 23 The Partisan Basis of Procedural Choice: Allocating Parliamentary Rights in the House, 1789 1990 256 Sarah A. Binder 24 The Evolution of Agenda-Setting Institutions in Congress: Path Dependency in House and Senate Institutional Development 265 Jason M. Roberts and Steven S. Smith
Contents vii PART VIII. THE FLOOR AND VOTING 25 Greasing the Wheels: Using Pork Barrel Projects to Build Majority Coalitions in Congress Excerpt 279 Diana Evans 26 Models of Legislative Voting 292 John W. Kingdon 27 Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking 307 Keith Krehbiel PART IX. CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT 28 Presidential Veto Messages 319 29 Presidential Signing Statement 322 30 Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power 324 Charles Cameron 31 The Dynamics of Legislative Gridlock, 1947 1996 343 Sarah A. Binder 32 The Politics of Shared Power: Congress and the Executive Excerpt 354 Louis Fisher 33 Conscience of a Conservative 374 Jeffrey Rosen PART X. CONGRESS AND THE COURTS 34 Senate Voting on Supreme Court Nominees: A Neoinstitutional Model 383 Charles M. Cameron, Albert D. Cover, and Jeffrey A. Segal 35 From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: Why Some Presidential Nominations Fail in the Senate 389 Glen S. Krutz, Richard Fleisher, and Jon R. Bond PART XI. CONGRESS, LOBBYISTS, AND INTEREST GROUPS 36 Buying Time: Moneyed Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional Committees 401 Richard L. Hall and Frank W. Wayman 37 Legislative Lobbying Excerpt 414 John Wright PART XII. CONGRESS AND BUDGET POLITICS 38 Appropriations in the Republican Era 429 Diana Evans 39 Pet Projects Veil Is Only Partly Lifted: Lawmakers Find Other Paths to Special-Interest Funding 436 John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
viii Contents PART XIII. FURTHER READINGS ON CONGRESSIONAL POLITICS 40 Introduction to the Spatial Theory of Legislating 441 Steven S. Smith, Jason M. Roberts, and Ryan J. Vander Wielen 41 The Institutional Foundations of Committee Power 449 Kenneth A. Shepsle and Barry R. Weingast 42 The Return to Equilibrium: Controlling Legislative Agendas 460 Gerald S. Strom
the american congress reader