Party Influence in Congress [Paperback]

Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of parties in the US Congress.Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of parties in the U.S. Congress. Political scientists differ in their evaluations of the influence of congressional parties over policy outcomes. Steven S. Smith reviews the arguments and offers an enriched, more nuanced view of party influence.Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of parties in the U.S. Congress. Political scientists differ in their evaluations of the influence of congressional parties over policy outcomes. Steven S. Smith reviews the arguments and offers an enriched, more nuanced view of party influence.Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of parties in the U.S. Congress. Political scientists differ in their evaluations of the influence of congressional parties over policy outcomes. Steven S. Smith reviews the arguments and finds them deficient in many respects. In their place, he offers an enriched, more nuanced view of the way parties influence the behavior of legislators and shape legislative outcomes.1. Introduction; 2. The micro-foundations of theories of congressional parties; 3. The types and sources of party influences; 4. The search for direct party effects; 5. Recent theories of party influence: cartel and conditional party government theory; 6. Revisiting pivotal and party politics; 7. Reexamining the direct and indirect influence of party in the House and Senate; 8. More than a conclusion. Party Influence in Congress is required reading for students of Congress, parties, and national institutions more generally. Smith critiques a generation of scholarship on the impact of political parties on legislative behavior and outcomes, identifying both the strengths and shortcomings of existing theory and empirical work on partlM