Congress and Its Members

Congress and Its Members has been the gold standard for Congress courses for thirty years. Now in its 19th edition, the book offers comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Congress and the legislative process by examining the tension between Congress as a lawmaking institution and as a collection of politicians constantly seeking re-election. The 19th edition covers the outcomes of the 2022 election and subsequent changes in in congressional organization and leadership, including the protracted battle for the House speakership. The book’s election coverage details regional shifts in party strength, voting behavior, the use of digital media in congressional elections, and state-level efforts to expand and restrict voting access. Up-to-date information on the diversity of the new Congress in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background is provided. The politics and outcomes of the 2022 primary elections are covered, as well.
 
Always balancing great scholarship with currency, the book features lively case material along with relevant data, charts, maps, and photos.

Table of Contents:
Part I • In Search of the Two Congresses Chapter 1 • The Two Congresses Chapter 2 • Evolution of the Modern Congress Part II • A Congress of Ambassadors Chapter 3 • Going for It: Recruitment and Candidacy Chapter 4 • Making It: The Electoral Game Chapter 5 • Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles Part III • A Deliberative Assembly of One Nation Chapter 6 • Leaders and Parties in Congress Chapter 7 • Committees: Workshops of Congress Chapter 8 • Congressional Rules and Procedures Chapter 9 • Decision Making in Congress Part IV • Policy Making and Change in the Two Congresses Chapter 10 • Congress and the President Chapter 11 • Congress and the Bureaucracy Chapter 12 • Congress and the Courts Chapter 13 • Congress and Organized Interests Chapter 14 • Congress, Budgets, and Domestic Policy Making Chapter 15 • Congress and National Security Policies Part V • Conclusion Chapter 16 • The Two Congresses and the American People Appendix A: Party Control: Presidency, Senate, House, 1901–2023 Appendix B: Internships: Getting Experience on Capitol Hill Suggested Readings Notes Index

About the Author :
Roger H. Davidson was professor emeritus of government and politics at the University of Maryland and served as visiting professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was a senior fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. During the 1970s, he served on the staffs of reform efforts in both the House (Bolling-Martin Committee) and the Senate (Stevenson-Brock Committee). For the 2001–2002 academic year, he served as the John Marshall chair in political science at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. His books include Remaking Congress: Change and Stability in the 1990s, co-edited with James A. Thurber (1995), and Understanding the Presidency, 7th ed., co-edited with James P. Pfiffner (2013). Davidson was co-editor with Donald C. Bacon and Morton Keller of The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress (1995).   Walter J. Oleszek is a senior specialist in the legislative process at the Congressional Research Service. He has served as either a full-time professional staff aide or consultant to many major House and Senate congressional reorganization efforts beginning with the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. In 1993, he served as policy director of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. A former adjunct faculty member at American University, Oleszek is a frequent lecturer to various academic, governmental, and business groups. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, 11th ed. (2020), and Congress Under Fire: Reform Politics and the Republican Majority, with C. Lawrence Evans (1997). Frances E. Lee is professor of politics and public affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Politics at Princeton University. She has been a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and an APSA congressional fellow. Most recently, she is co-author of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era (2020). She is also the author of Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (2016) and Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U.S. Senate (2009) and co-author, with Bruce I. Oppenheimer, of Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation (1999). Her articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and American Journal of Political Science, among others. Eric Schickler is Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of three books that have won the Richard F. Fenno Jr. Prize for the best book on legislative politics: Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress (2001), Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the United States Senate (2006, with Gregory Wawro), and Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power (2016, with Douglas Kriner; also a winner of the Richard E. Neustadt Prize for the best book on executive politics). His book Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965 was the winner of the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book on government, politics, or international affairs published in 2016, and is co-winner of the J. David Greenstone Prize for the best book in history and politics from the previous two calendar years. He is also the co-author of Partisan Hearts and Minds, which was published in 2002. James M. Curry is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. He is coauthor of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era (2020); author of Legislating in the Dark: Information and Power in the House of Representatives (2015); and winner of the Alan Rosenthal Prize, the E. E. Schattschneider Award, and the Carl Albert Award. His research appears in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Legislative Studies Quarterly, among other outlets. He received his Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, and he previously worked on Capitol Hill in the offices of Rep. Daniel Lipinski and the House Appropriations Committee.