Unorthodox Lawmaking: New Legislative Processes in the U.S. Congress / Edition 5

by Barbara L. Sinclair

Overview

Most major measures wind their way through the contemporary Congress in what Barbara Sinclair has dubbed “unorthodox lawmaking.” In this much-anticipated Fifth Edition of Unorthodox Lawmaking, Sinclair explores the full range of special procedures and processes that make up Congress’s work, as well as the reasons these unconventional routes evolved. The author introduces students to the intricacies of Congress and provides the tools to assess the relative successes and limitations of the institution.

This dramatically updated revision incorporates a wealth of new cases and examples to illustrate the changes occurring in congressional process. Two entirely new case study chapters—on the 2013 government shutdown and the 2015 reauthorization of the Patriot Act—highlight Sinclair’s fresh analysis and the book is now introduced by a new foreword from noted scholar and teacher, Bruce I. Oppenheimer, reflecting on this book and Barbara Sinclair’s significant mark on the study of Congress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506322834
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Barbara Sinclair is Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics at the University of California at Los Angeles. She served as chair of the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association from 1993 to 1995. She is the author of several books, including Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking: The U.S. House of Representatives in the Postreform Era, Transformation of the U.S. Senate, which won the Richard F. Fenno Prize and the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and Party Wars: Polarization and the Politics of National Policy Making.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Clean Air: An Introduction to How the Legislative Process Has Changed
A Note on Data
Chapter 2: Multiple Paths: The Legislative Process in the House of Representatives
Bill Introduction
Bill Referral
Postcommittee Adjustments
Suspension of the Rules
Special Rules
On the Floor
Unorthodox Lawmaking in the House
Chapter 3: Routes and Obstacles: The Legislative Process in the Senate
Bill Introduction
Bill Referral
Postcommittee Adjustments
Scheduling Legislation for the Floor
The Senate Floor
Unorthodox Lawmaking in the Senate
Chapter 4: Getting One Bill: Reconciling House-Senate Differences
Traditional Nonconference Reconciliation Procedures
Conference Committees
The President in the Postpassage Legislative Process
The Final Step
Reconciling Differences: How Much Change?
Chapter 5: Omnibus Legislation, the Budget Process, and Summits
Omnibus Legislation
Authorizations, Appropriations, and Earmarks
The Budget Process
Congress, the President, and Summitry
What Is the Regular Process?
Chapter 6: Why and How the Legislative Process Changed
From Decentralization to Individualism in the Senate
Reform and Its Legacy in the House
Budget Reform
A Hostile Political Climate as a Force for Innovation: The 1980s and Early 1990s
How Internal Reform and a Hostile Climate Spawned Unorthodox Lawmaking
Unorthodox Lawmaking in a Hyperpartisan Era
Chapter 7: Making Nonincremental Policy Change through Hyperunorthodox Procedures: Health Care Reform in 2009-2010
The First Phase: Consultation and Drafting
Building Winning Coalitions to Pass Health Care: Postcommittee and Floor Action
A Long and Convoluted End Game
Making Nonincremental Policy Change in a Partisan Era
Chapter 8: High-Stakes Budget Politics: The 2013 Government Shutdown and the Ryan-Murray Deal
Act One: The FY2014 Budget Resolutions
Act Two: From Budget Resolution to the Ryan-Murray Deal
Unorthodox Budget Politics
Chapter 9: A Cross-Party Coalition Forces Policy Change: The USA Freedom Act
House Action in the 114th Congress
Senate Action in the 114th Congress
Unorthodox Lawmaking and Forms of Bipartisanship
Chapter 10: The Consequences of Unorthodox Lawmaking
Lawmaking in the Contemporary Congress
Unorthodox Lawmaking and Legislative Outcomes
Other Costs and Benefits
Assessing Unorthodox Lawmaking

Editorial Reviews

The concept and content of Unorthodox Lawmaking from the very beginning is well done. Sinclair’s use of case studies to illustrate the shift from ‘traditional’ to ‘unorthodox’ processes is impressive.

Carl Cavalli

Unorthodox Lawmaking does a great job of using contemporary examples to provide an in-depth look at the complicated and highly politicized process that defines how a bill becomes a law in modern Congress.

Michael Lynch

Unorthodox Lawmaking does an excellent job of synthesizing the legislative process in each chamber. I have not found another book on the market that so clearly addresses the differences like this one does.

Sophia Wallace

Barbara Sinclair does an excellent job of showing how contemporary lawmaking departs from the traditional legislative process. I can't imagine teaching a course on Congress without this text—it’s absolutely indispensable.

Philip Klinkner

Unorthodox Lawmaking is a great read, with a strong foundation about Congress as an institution. Sinclair strikes a balance between general statements and nuance, and demonstrates how complicated the policy process has become. Yet she doesn't leave the reader without some general take-away points about how the process deviates from traditional textbook explanations.

Maryann Gallagher

Unorthodox Lawmaking puts the transformation of the lawmaking process in Congress into context, documenting specific changes that have occurred and providing an argument for precisely why they took place. Sinclair illustrates the use of these new techniques in a way that keeps students interested.

Vincent Moscardelli

Unorthodox Lawmaking is a superb foundational text, exploring well-researched variations in lawmaking in ways that are not typically found in other academic resources. It is one of the best examinations of legislative practices available the academic market. Sinclair uses robust research to uncover and analyze the complexities of lawmaking in comprehensible ways. This text is a go-to resource for information about U.S. legislative practices.

Renée B. Van Vechten

Unorthodox Lawmaking is straightforward and to-the-point. Sinclair does an excellent job of covering the primary topics, and the examples of unorthodox lawmaking are equally as good. I have used this text myself since reading the second edition.

Rob Mellen

My students have enjoyed reading Unorthodox Lawmaking more than most of the other assigned texts. Sinclair’s writing makes the material approachable and helps precipitate lively discussions.

James Wallner

Unorthodox Lawmaking is a superb foundational text, exploring well-researched variations in lawmaking in ways that are not typically found in other academic resources. It is one of the best examinations of legislative practices available the academic market. Sinclair uses robust research to uncover and analyze the complexities of lawmaking in comprehensible ways. This text is a go-to resource for information about U.S. legislative practices.

Renée B. Van Vechten