The U.S. Senate: From Deliberation to Dysfunction / Edition 1

by Burdett A. Loomis

Overview

With an avalanche of scholarship on the House, it can be tough to balance out coverage in a typical Congress course with appropriate readings on the "slow institution. "

Offering top-notch research geared to an undergraduate audience, Loomis' new edited volume represents a broad picture of the contemporary Senate and how it came to be. While addressing issues of delay, obstruction, and polarization in a variety of ways, the scholars in this collection are not proposing a reform agenda, but instead, explore the historical and political contexts for how difficult it can be to change a non-majoritarian, highly individualistic institution. Students will come away from these chapters with a much greater appreciation of the Senate's unique combination of tradition, precedent, and constitutional mandate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608717279
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/26/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Burdett A. Loomis is professor of political science at the University of Kansas. A former American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and recipient of a Kemper Teaching Award, he has written extensively on legislatures, political careers, interest groups, and policymaking.

Table of Contents

The Senate at Mid-20th Century - Eric Schickler
Senate Elections and Campaigns, 1960-2010 - Alan Abramowitz
Senators’ Careers and Enterprises: From Individual Operator to CEO - Burdett Loomis
Individual Senators and the Party Linkage - Frances Lee
Parties in the Senate - Barbara Sinclair
The Procedural Senate - Steven Smith
The Filibuster Then and Now: Civil Rights in the 1960s and Health Care, 2009-10 - Greg Koger
The Senate and the House: Bicameral Relations, 1960-2010 - Ross Baker
The Senate and the Executive: Nomination Politics - Sarah Binder
Domestic Policy: The Politics of Energy - Bruce Oppenheimer
The Senate and Foreign Policy - James Lindsay
The 21st Century Senate - David Rohde