Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress

by Eric Schickler

Overview

From the 1910 overthrow of "Czar" Joseph Cannon to the reforms enacted when Republicans took over the House in 1995, institutional change within the U.S. Congress has been both a product and a shaper of congressional politics. For several decades, scholars have explained this process in terms of a particular collective interest shared by members, be it partisanship, reelection worries, or policy motivations. Eric Schickler makes the case that it is actually interplay among multiple interests that determines institutional change. In the process, he explains how congressional institutions have proved remarkably adaptable and yet consistently frustrating for members and outside observers alike.


Analyzing leadership, committee, and procedural restructuring in four periods (1890-1910, 1919-1932, 1937-1952, and 1970-1989), Schickler argues that coalitions promoting a wide range of member interests drive change in both the House and Senate. He shows that multiple interests determine institutional innovation within a period; that different interests are important in different periods; and, more broadly, that changes in the salient collective interests across time do not follow a simple logical or developmental sequence. Institutional development appears disjointed, as new arrangements are layered on preexisting structures intended to serve competing interests. An epilogue assesses the rise and fall of Newt Gingrich in light of these findings.


Schickler's model of "disjointed pluralism" integrates rational choice theory with historical institutionalist approaches. It both complicates and advances efforts at theoretical synthesis by proposing a fuller, more nuanced understanding of institutional innovation—and thus of American political development and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691049267
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	05/06/2001
Series:	Princeton Studies in American Politics , #76
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	1,316,679
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Eric Schickler is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter 1. Disjointed Pluralism and Institutional Change 3
Chapter 2. Institutional Development, 1890-1910: An Experiment in Party Government 27
Chapter 3. Institutional Development, 1919-1932: Cross-Party Coalitions, Bloc Government, and Republican Rule 85
Chapter 4. Institutional Development, 1937-1952: The Conservative Coalition, Congress against the Executive, and Committee Government 136
Chapter 5. Institutional Development, 1970-1989: A Return to Party Government or the Triumph of Individualism? 189
Chapter 6. Understanding Congressional Change 249
Epilogue. Institutional Change in the 1990s 270
Appendix A. Case Selection 277
Appendix B. Votes Pertaining to Institutional Changes in
Each Period 281
Notes 295
References 329
Index 349

What People are Saying About This

David Brady

This is an excellent piece of work,which will be influential. Both rational choice and developmental theorists and congressional scholars will read it. This book will be required reading for all Americanists in political science. It should win several prizes for its thoughtfulness,appropriateness,and careful,knowledgeable use of history.

Steven S. Smith

This is an ambitious piece of work on an important topic. I am impressed with the exhaustive search for sources and the splendid,integrated account of so much of Congress's institutional development. It is a remarkable achievement.

Smith

This is an ambitious piece of work on an important topic. I am impressed with the exhaustive search for sources and the splendid, integrated account of so much of Congress's institutional development. It is a remarkable achievement.
— Steven S. Smith, University of Minnesota

From the Publisher

"This is an excellent piece of work, which will be influential. Both rational choice and developmental theorists and congressional scholars will read it. This book will be required reading for all Americanists in political science. It should win several prizes for its thoughtfulness, appropriateness, and careful, knowledgeable use of history."—David Brady, Stanford University

"This is an ambitious piece of work on an important topic. I am impressed with the exhaustive search for sources and the splendid, integrated account of so much of Congress's institutional development. It is a remarkable achievement."—Steven S. Smith, University of Minnesota

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the Fenno Prize

From the Publisher

"This is a very good read for students of Congress who puzzle over the institution's configuration. . . . An excellent examination of institutional change."

Choice

This book is essential reading for those interested in internal legislative politics, and an important contribution to the more general literature on American politics.

Congress and the Presidency - Keith E. Whittington

If we know anything about the U.S. Congress it is this: Congress is a dynamic, ever-changing institution. . . . Alas, for good reasons our theories of congressional organization tend to the static and our empirical analyses tend to the cross-sectional. Eric Schickler's fine book joins a growing set of efforts to understand how and why Congress changes.

Political Science Quarterly - Garry Young

This book is essential reading for those interested in internal legislative politics, and an important contribution to the more general literature on American politics.
— Keith E. Whittington

Congress and the Presidency

If we know anything about the U.S. Congress it is this: Congress is a dynamic, ever-changing institution. . . . Alas, for good reasons our theories of congressional organization tend to the static and our empirical analyses tend to the cross-sectional. Eric Schickler's fine book joins a growing set of efforts to understand how and why Congress changes.
— Garry Young

Political Science Quarterly