Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous, Legislative Branch, U.S. Elections

Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking

Name: Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking
Author: Professor Barbara Sinclair
ISBN: 9780801849558

by Professor Barbara Sinclair

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Overview

In Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmakers Sinclair traces the emergence during the 1980s of a House majority party leadership that is highly active and deeply involved in multiple aspects of the legislative process, but one that leads by means of a participatory and inclusive style. Drawing on extensive interviews with House members, staffs, and informed observers, she describes the changing role of the leadership from the prereform period, through the immediate postreform years, to the present.

About the Author, Professor Barbara Sinclair

Barbara Sinclair is Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of The Transformation of the U.S. Senate and Majority Leadership in the U.S. House, both available from Johns Hopkins.

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Editorials

Booknews

Congress has been the subject of particularly relentless and bitter criticism in recent years. Many Americans say that gridlock is the central problem plaguing the government and that Congress is to blame. Meanwhile, deep policy differences have divided the president and congressional majorities. In this political environment, interviews with members, their staffs, and disinterested observers shed light on how the House of Representatives has not only performed its legislative functions but also managed to enhance its role in the political system-- through increasing reliance on party leadership. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Political Science Quarterly

A classic study of the postreform house for all present and future students of Congress... Applying a perceptive and disciplined mind to an impressive knowledge of the topic, the author provides a detailed and instructive account of the relations between majority leaders and members in the postreform House, as well as valuable evidence and insights on such matters as the blending of substance and politics in decision making, current patterns of relationships with lobbyists, and the emerging public role of the Speaker.

— Joseph Cooper

American Political Science Review

A most remarkable undertaking. It represents a scholarly research effort that has stretched over nearly two decades. It has involved the getting and maintaining an unusual level of access to the workings of Democratic party leadership and yet an ability to remain sufficiently distant to develop the broader perspective. The end result is clearly a most important-if not the most important-book on party leadership and Congress.

— Bruce I. Oppenheimer

Congress and the Presidency

A superb combination of description and analysis that captures the Democratic-dominated House of the 1980's and early 1990's... Sinclair has provided us with both a summing up and a benchmark as we proceed to analyze the so-called Republican Revolution as it reverberates through the U.S. House. We are in her debt.

— Burdett Loomis