A01=Frances E. Lee
across the aisle
Author_Frances E. Lee
bloc voting
Category=JPF
Category=JPQ
competition
conflict
congress
conservatives
dealmaking
democrats
difference
disagreement
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
floor debate
government
ideology
legislators
liberals
nonfiction
partisanship
party
polarization
political science
politics
power
presidency
public opinion
republicans
roll-call votes
senate
social issues
Product details
- ISBN 9780226470764
- Weight: 397g
- Dimensions: 15 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2009
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The congressional agenda includes many issues about which liberals and conservatives generally agree. Even over these matters, though, Democratic and Republican senators tend to fight with each other. What explains this discord? "Beyond Ideology" argues that many partisan battles are rooted in competition for power rather than disagreement over the rightful role of government. The first book to systematically distinguish Senate disputes centering on ideological questions from the large proportion of them that do not, this volume foregrounds the role of power struggle in partisan conflict. Presidential leadership, for example, inherently polarizes legislators who can influence public opinion of the president and his party by how they handle his agenda. Senators also exploit good government measures and floor debate to embarrass opponents and burnish their own party's image - even when the issues involved are broadly supported or lowstakes. Moreover, Frances E. Lee contends, the congressional agenda itself amplifies conflict by increasingly focusing on issues that reliably differentiate the parties.
With the new president pledging to stem the tide of partisan polarization, "Beyond Ideology" provides a timely taxonomy of exactly what stands in his way.
Frances E. Lee is associate professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland.
