Beyond ideology : politics, principles, and partisanship in the U.S. Senate / Frances E. Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, Frances E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Congress. Senate.

United States.

Political parties--United States.

Political parties.

Politics and government.

United States--Politics and government--20th century.

United States--Politics and government--21st century.

Physical Description:

xiii, 250 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Summary:

The congressional agenda, Frances E. Lee contends, 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 proper role of government.

The first book to systematically distinguish Senate disputes that center on ideological questions from the large proportion of them that do not, this volume foregrounds the role of power struggles 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 low-stakes. Moreover, Lee contends, the congressional agenda itself amplifies conflict by increasingly focusing on issues that reliably differentiate the parties. As partisan polarization continues to pervade our politics, Beyond Ideology provides a timely explanation of why a promise to reach across the aisle is so easily broken.

Contents:

Ties that bind: untangling the roots of congressional partisanship

Before "ideology": a conceptual history

Sources of party conflict: ideological disagreement and teamsmanship

Dividers, not uniters: presidential leadership and legislative partisanship

The partisan politics of good government

Procedural partisanship: intra-party dealmaking and partisan bloc voting

Agreeing to disagree, or disagreeing to agree: agenda content and rising partisanship

Beyond ideology: returning to politics

Appendix A. Coding the presidential agenda status of roll-call votes

Appendix B. Does party polarization on an issue topic increase the likelihood that presidents will include the issue on their agenda?

Appendix C. Estimates of multinomial logit model of partisan voting patterns on Senate roll-call votes, 1981-2004.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226470740

0226470741

9780226470764

0226470768

OCLC:

314381639