Summary
Contents
Subject index
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.
Individual and Partisan Activism on the Senate Floor
Individual and Partisan Activism on the Senate Floor
We've abandoned any discipline. We end up with 100 Proxmires in the Senate. One Proxmire makes a real contribution. All you need is 30 of them to guarantee that the place doesn't work.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), 19821
I value my independence. I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology. These traits may be useful in many walks of life, but unfortunately they are not highly valued in Congress.
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), 20102
It is remarkable that an institution that moves as slowly as the U.S. Senate can change so quickly. In 1982 Sen. Joseph Biden located the problems of the Senate of his era in the undisciplined activism of ...
- Loading...