The Macropolitics of Congress

How do public laws, treaties, Senate confirmations, and other legislative achievements help us to gain insight into how our governmental system performs? This well-argued book edited by Scott Adler and John Lapinski is the first to assess our political institutions by looking at what the authors refer to as legislative accomplishment. The book moves beyond current research on Congress that focuses primarily on rules, internal structure, and the microbehavior of individual lawmakers, to look at the mechanisms that govern how policy is enacted and implemented in the United States. It includes essays on topics ranging from those dealing with the microfoundations of congressional output, to large N empirical analyses that assess current theories of lawmaking, to policy-centered case studies. All of the chapters take a Congress-centered perspective on macropolicy while still appreciating the importance of other branches of government in explaining policy accomplishment. The Macropolitics of Congress shines light on promising pathways for the exploration of such key issues as the nature of political representation. It will make a significant contribution to the study of Congress and, more generally, to our understanding of American politics. Contributors include E. Scott Adler, David Brady, Charles M. Cameron, Brandice Canes-Wrone, Robert S. Erikson, Grace R. Freedman, Valerie Heitshusen, John D. Huber, Ira Katznelson, Keith Krehbiel, John S. Lapinski, David Leblang, Michael B. MacKuen, David R. Mayhew, Nolan McCarty, Charles R. Shipan, James A. Stimson, and Garry Young.

About the Author :
E. Scott Adler is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His current research examines the factors that effect legislative activity and specialization by members of Congress over the course of their careers. He has published articles in the "American Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly," and "Urban Affairs Review", and is the author of "Why Congressional Reforms Fail: Reelection and the House Committee System". John S. Lapinski is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Resident Fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. His current research examines how preferences, environmental conditions, and institutional change affect lawmaking. He has published articles in the "American Journal of Political Science", the "Journal of Politics", and the "British Journal of Political Science".

Review :
"The Macropolitics of Congress brings together an impressive array of scholarship on the dynamics of lawmaking in the American political system. Readers will enjoy the broad range of historical, theoretical, and methodological contributions offered throughout the book."--Sarah Binder, George Washington University "Adler and Lapinski open the first significant window into the macropolitical role that Congress plays in society, bringing together the leaders in the field of American politics to begin a cohesive treatment of the subject."--Jeffery Jenkins, Northwestern University "An impressive set of contributions."--Steven S. Smith, Washington University, St. Louis