More than a feeling : personality, polarization, and the transformation of the U.S. Congress / Adam J. Ramey, Jonathan D. Klingler, Gary E. Hollibaugh, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ramey, Adam J., author.

Klingler, Jonathan D., author.

Hollibaugh, Gary E., Jr., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Congress--Decision making--Psychological aspects.

United States.

United States. Congress.

Legislation--United States--Psychological aspects.

Legislation.

Legislators--United States--Psychology.

Legislators.

Psychology.

Psychological aspects.

Decision making.

Physical Description:

xviii, 244 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2017.

Summary:

Whatever you think about the widening divide between Democrats and Republicans, ideological differences do not explain why politicians from the same parties, who share the same goals and policy preferences, often argue fiercely about how best to attain them. This perplexing misalignment suggests that we are missing an important piece of the puzzle. Political scientists have increasingly drawn on the relationship between voters' personalities and political orientation, but there has been little empirically grounded research looking at how legislators' personalities influence their performance on Capitol Hill. Adam J. Ramey, Jonathan D. Klingler, and Gary E. Hollibaugh, Jr. have developed an innovative framework incorporating what are known as the Big Five dimensions of personality-openness to experience, conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism-to improve our understanding of political behavior among members of Congress. They determine how strongly individuals display these traits and then show how we might expect to see the influence of these traits across all aspects of Congress members' political behavior-from the type and quantity of legislation they sponsor to whether they decide to run again or seek a higher office. They also argue convincingly that the types of personalities that have come to dominate Capitol Hill in recent years may be contributing to the gridlock and frustration plaguing the American political system. Book jacket.

Contents:

Foundations. Introduction ; Modeling individual differences: translating personality traits into mathematical parameters ; Read my lips: measuring personality through legislative speech

Revisiting the Textbook Congress. Securing reelection: deterrence and disbursements ; Committee assignments ; Proposing and passing legislation ; Cooperation, obstruction, and party discipline: shifting norms in the US Congress ; Media presence and home style ; Moving on

Bringing it all together. More than a conclusion: personality, politics, and polarization.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226455846

022645584X

9780226455983

022645598X

OCLC:

958781128