"The theme is that the principal motivation of a congressman is reelection. This 'electoral connection' profoundly affects not only his own behavior and accountability but the structure of Congress and the way it makes public policy."

Congress: The Electoral Connection (Yale Studies in Political Science)

Politics & Social Sciences

Mayhew, David R.

Social Sciences

Yale Univ

"In this prize-winning book, a renowned political scientist debunks the commonly held myth that the American national government functions effectively only when one political party controls the presidency and Congress. For this new edition, David R. Mayhew has provided a new Preface, a new appendix, and a new concluding chapter that brings the historical narrative up to date."--BOOK JACKET.

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990

Politics & Government

Yale University Press

In this prize-winning book, which analyzes data from a 44-year period, Mayhew refutes the commonly held myth that the American national government functions effectively only when one political party controls the presidency and Congress. This edition has a new epilogue covering 1991-1992.

To understand American politics and government, we need to recognize not only that members of Congress are agents of societal interests and preferences but also that they act with a certain degree of autonomy and consequence in the country’s public sphere. In this illuminating book, a distinguished political scientist examines actions performed by members of Congress throughout American history, assessing their patterns and importance and their role in the American system of separation of powers. David R. Mayhew examines standard history books on the United States and identifies more than two thousand actions by individual members of the House and Senate that are significant enough to be mentioned. Mayhew offers insights into a wide range of matters, from the nature of congressional opposition to presidents and the surprising frequency of foreign policy actions to the timing of notable activity within congressional careers (and the way that congressional term limits might affect these performances). His book sheds new light on the contributions to U.S. history made by members of Congress.

America`s Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison Through Newt Gingrich

The study of electoral realignments is one of the most influential and intellectually stimulating enterprises undertaken by American political scientists. Realignment theory has been seen as a science able to predict changes, and generations of students, journalists, pundits, and political scientists have been trained to be on the lookout for "signs" of new electoral realignments. Now a major political scientist argues that the essential claims of realignment theory are wrong - that American elections, parties, and policy making are not (and never were) reconfigured according to the realignment calendar. David R. Mayhew is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University.

Electoral Realignments: A Critique of an American Genre

History

Americas

The study of electoral realignments is one of the most influential and intellectually stimulating enterprises undertaken by American political scientists. Realignment theory has been seen as a science able to predict changes, and generations of students, journalists, pundits, and political scientists have been trained to be on the lookout for “signs” of new electoral realignments. Now a major political scientist argues that the essential claims of realignment theory are wrong―that American elections, parties, and policymaking are not (and never were) reconfigured according to the realignment calendar. David Mayhew examines fifteen key empirical claims of realignment theory in detail and shows us why each in turn does not hold up under scrutiny. It is time, he insists, to open the field to new ideas. We might, for example, adopt a more nominalistic, skeptical way of thinking about American elections that highlights contingency, short-term election strategies, and valence issues. Or we might examine such broad topics as bellicosity in early American history, or racial questions in much of our electoral history. But we must move on from an old orthodoxy and failed model of illumination.

Electoral Realignments

In this prize-winning book, a renowned political scientist debunks the commonly held myth that the American national government functions effectively only when one political party controls the presidency and Congress. For this new edition, David R. Mayhew has provided a new Preface, a new appendix, and a new concluding chapter that brings the historical narrative up to date. “Important, accessible, and compelling, David Mayhew’s second edition of Divided We Govern takes the best book on the history of US lawmaking and―against all odds―makes it better.”―Keith Krehbiel, Stanford University “In this welcome updating of his agenda-setting classic, David Mayhew cogently defends his original methodology and finds that divided government remains no less productive of important legislation than unified government, although it is now (thanks mainly to Clinton’s impeachment) strongly associated with prominent investigations of the executive branch. Written with Mayhew’s usual clarity and grace, this is a book to be enjoyed by beginning and veteran students of Congress alike.”―Gary Jacobson From reviews of the first edition: "First-rate. . . . Mayhew’s tabulations and analysis are, quite simply, unimpeachable."―Morris Fiorina, Washington Monthly "Will stand for years as a classic."―L. Sandy Maisel, Political Science Quarterly "Should be read by every student of American politics."―Gillian Peele, Times Higher Education Supplement

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-2002, Second Edition

In this second edition to a book that has now achieved canonical status, David R. Mayhew argues that the principal motivation of legislators is reelection and that the pursuit of this goal affects the way they behave and the way that they make public policy. In a new foreword for this edition, R. Douglas Arnold discusses why the book revolutionized the study of Congress and how it has stood the test of time. The book also contains a new preface by the author.

Congress: The Electoral Connection

In this wide-ranging new volume, one of our most important and perceptive scholars of the workings of the American government investigates political parties, politicians, elections, and policymaking to discover why public policy emerges in the shape that it does. David R. Mayhew looks at two centuries of policy making—from the Civil War and Reconstruction era through the Progressive era, the New Deal, the Great Society, the Reagan years, and the aspirations of the Clinton and Bush administrations—and offers his original insights on the ever-evolving American policy experience.
These fourteen essays were written over the past three decades and collectively showcase Mayhew’s skepticism of the usefulness of political parties as an analytic window into American politics. These writings, which include a new introductory essay, probe beneath the parties to the essentials of the U.S. constitutional system and the impulses and idiosyncrasies of history.

Parties and Policies: How the American Government Works

What kind of job has America's routinely disparaged legislative body actually done? In The Imprint of Congress, the distinguished congressional scholar David R. Mayhew gives us an insightful historical analysis of the U.S. Congress’s performance from the late eighteenth century to today, exploring what its lasting imprint has been on American politics and society. Mayhew suggests that Congress has balanced the presidency in a surprising variety of ways, and in doing so, it has contributed to the legitimacy of a governing system faced by an often fractious public.

The Imprint of Congress (The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series)

Legal Theory & Systems

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mayhew, David R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mayhew, David R.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mayhew, David R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Congress: The Electoral Connection (Yale Studies in Political Science)

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990

America`s Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison Through Newt Gingrich

Electoral Realignments: A Critique of an American Genre

Electoral Realignments

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-2002, Second Edition

Congress: The Electoral Connection

Parties and Policies: How the American Government Works

The Imprint of Congress (The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series)