Thinking About Congress Essays on Congressional Change [Paperback]

Observing the polarized, debilitating politics of todays Congress, one wonders whether change is possible on Capitol Hill. In Thinking about Congress, Lawrence Dodd reminds us that Congress seemed equally intransigent at times the past, yet change and rejuvenation came. Reading his classic essays, one sees Congress move from Committee Government in mid-twentieth century to Liberal Democratic reforms in the 1970s to the 1994 Republican Revolution to Party Government today. Simultaneously, one proceeds with Dodd to an ever-deeper understanding of the dynamic character of Congress.

Across forty years of watching paralysis give way to change, Dodd crafts a theory of congressional cycles  essay by essay  that explains why Congress evolves. However permanent periods of intransigency appear, the theory argues, they can and do give way to growing concern by legislators and parties for the collective public-interest; to citizen demand for change generated by social crises; and to innovative ideas about politics and policy. With these developments come policy breakthrough, institutional renewal, and enormous social progress.

A rare book, Thinking about Congressholds out hope for the future while illuminating both the process and object of inquiry.

Foreword: Eric Schickler, University of California-BerkeleyPreface: The Origin, Development and Plan of the Book Introduction 1. Congress as Public Mirror Part I. Member Goals and Institutional Context 2. Congress and the Quest for Power 1977 3. Congress, the Constitution and the Crisis of Legitimation 19814. Bicameralism in Congress: The Changing Partnership, with Edward Carmines 1985Part II. Political Parties, Institutional Cycles and Era Transformations 5. The Cycles of Legislative Change: lC(