Torn and Frayed: Congressional Norms and Party Switching in an Era of Reform

Members come and go, reforms are attempted and abandoned, but congressional norms of seniority, specialization, and reciprocity adapt, survive, and continue to influence the course of American government. In the first major look at congressional normative behavior in 25 years, Choate argues these resilient folkways survive because members value the institutional stability and continuity they provide. Working from extensive on-the-record interviews with past and present House members, Choate's work is the first to study the unsettling effects on norms brought on by party switching.

Table of Contents:
An Examination of Congressional Norms Project and Methods Norms in the House: A Historical Examination Challenging the Norms: 104th Congress Party Switching in an Institutionalized Congress Stability of the Norms: 104th Congress Conclusion and Speculation List of References

About the Author :
JUDD CHOATE a former assistant professor of political science at the University of Nebraska and faculty fellow at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center. From 2000 to 2002, he served as director of the Nebraska Minority and Justice Task Force, researching racial and ethnic bias in the Nebraska court system.

Review :
?[T]his is a well-constructed study that properly centers its analysis on the attitudes of House members. In a field that sometimes tends to view the House primarily through highly stylized theoretical lenses, Choate's calls for increasingly tapping members as a resource and a greater behavioral focus are well taken....[t]his book will undoubtedly lead its readers to reconsider the importance of congressional norms, For this alone, it is well worth reading.?-Political Science Quarterly ?Choate's book is a careful treatise that sticks close to the literature describing the establishment of norms of behavior for members of Congress over the 19th and 20th centuries, and the partial unraveling of these norms in the harsh partisan climate of the last three decades....Recommended. Undergraduates and above.?-Choice "ÝT¨his is a well-constructed study that properly centers its analysis on the attitudes of House members. In a field that sometimes tends to view the House primarily through highly stylized theoretical lenses, Choate's calls for increasingly tapping members as a resource and a greater behavioral focus are well taken....Ýt¨his book will undoubtedly lead its readers to reconsider the importance of congressional norms, For this alone, it is well worth reading."-Political Science Quarterly "Choate's book is a careful treatise that sticks close to the literature describing the establishment of norms of behavior for members of Congress over the 19th and 20th centuries, and the partial unraveling of these norms in the harsh partisan climate of the last three decades....Recommended. Undergraduates and above."-Choice "[T]his is a well-constructed study that properly centers its analysis on the attitudes of House members. In a field that sometimes tends to view the House primarily through highly stylized theoretical lenses, Choate's calls for increasingly tapping members as a resource and a greater behavioral focus are well taken....[t]his book will undoubtedly lead its readers to reconsider the importance of congressional norms, For this alone, it is well worth reading."-Political Science Quarterly