A01=Gregory Koger
A01=Matthew J. Lebo
affordable care act
agenda setting
appropriations
Author_Gregory Koger
Author_Matthew J. Lebo
campaign
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=JPHC
Category=NL-JP
citizens
competition
congress
COP=United States
democrat
Discount=15
discourse
elections
electorate
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
extremism
filibuster
Format=BB
Format_Hardback
fundraising
government
grassroots
HMM=229
ideology
IMPN=University of Chicago Press
ISBN13=9780226424576
Language_English
legislative majority
legislators
loyalty
nonfiction
obama
PA=To order
partisanship
party platforms
PD=20170324
polarization
political parties
politics
power
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
PUB=The University of Chicago Press
republican
SN=Chicago Studies in American Politics
stimulus
Subject=Politics & Government
voters
voting
WMM=152
Product details
- ISBN 9780226424576
- Format: Hardback
- Weight: 595g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 30 Jan 2017
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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Why is Congress mired in partisan polarization? The conventional answer is that members of Congress and their constituencies fundamentally disagree with one other along ideological lines. But Gregory Koger and Matthew J. Lebo uncover a more compelling reason that today's political leaders devote so much time to conveying their party's positions, even at the expense of basic government functions: Both parties want to win elections. In Strategic Party Government, Koger and Lebo argue that Congress is now primarily a forum for partisan competition. In order to avoid losing, legislators unite behind strong party leaders, even when they do not fully agree with the policies their party is advocating. They do so in the belief that party leaders and voters will reward them for winning or at least trying to win these legislative contests. And as the parties present increasingly united fronts, partisan competition intensifies and pressure continues to mount for a strong party-building strategy despite considerable disagreement within the parties.
By bringing this powerful but underappreciated force in American politics to the forefront, Koger and Lebo provide a new interpretation of the problems facing Congress that is certain to reset the agenda for legislative studies.
Gregory Koger is associate professor of political science at the University of Miami. He is the author of Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Matthew J. Lebo is professor of political science at Stony Brook University, where he also directs the Center for Behavioral Political Science.
