Act of Congress

Act of Congress PDF Author: Robert G. Kaiser
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307744515
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
A Washington Post Notable Book An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works—and how it doesn’t— Act of Congress focuses on two of the major players behind the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008: colorful, wisecracking congressman Barney Frank, and careful, insightful senator Christopher Dodd, both of whom met regularly with Robert G. Kaiser during the eighteen months they worked on the bill. In this compelling narrative, Kaiser shows how staffers play a critical role, drafting the legislation and often making the crucial deals. Kaiser’s rare insider access enabled him to illuminate the often-hidden intricacies of legislative enterprise and shows us the workings of Congress in all of its complexity, a clearer picture than any we have had of how Congress works best—or sometimes doesn’t work at all.

Act of Congress

Act of Congress PDF Author: Robert G. Kaiser
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307744515
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book

Book Description
A Washington Post Notable Book An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works—and how it doesn’t— Act of Congress focuses on two of the major players behind the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008: colorful, wisecracking congressman Barney Frank, and careful, insightful senator Christopher Dodd, both of whom met regularly with Robert G. Kaiser during the eighteen months they worked on the bill. In this compelling narrative, Kaiser shows how staffers play a critical role, drafting the legislation and often making the crucial deals. Kaiser’s rare insider access enabled him to illuminate the often-hidden intricacies of legislative enterprise and shows us the workings of Congress in all of its complexity, a clearer picture than any we have had of how Congress works best—or sometimes doesn’t work at all.

America's Congress

America's Congress PDF Author: David R. Mayhew
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300093353
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
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.

The American Congress

The American Congress PDF Author: Steven S. Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781107654358
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
The American Congress provides the most current treatment of congressional politics available in an undergraduate text. Informed by the authors' Capitol Hill experience and scholarship, this book presents a crisp introduction to major features of Congress: parties and committee systems, leadership, voting, and floor activity. This text contains discussions of the importance of presidents, courts, and interest groups in congressional policy making. Recent developments are also discussed within the context of congressional political history. The seventh edition includes complete coverage of the first Congress of the Obama presidency, the 2010 midterm elections, healthcare reform, and an early perspective on the 112th Congress with a Republican majority.

Congressional Record

Congressional Record PDF Author: United States. Congress
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1078

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Book Description


Witnessing America

Witnessing America PDF Author: Library of Congress
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
Presents a portait of America's social and cultural history between 1600 and 1900, told through letters, diaries, memoirs, tracts, and other articles and first-hand accounts found in the collections of the Library of Congress.

The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction

The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Donald A. Ritchie
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190280166
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
In the second edition of The U.S. Congress, Donald A. Ritchie, a congressional historian for more than thirty years, takes readers on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill, pointing out the key players, explaining their behavior, and translating parliamentary language into plain English. No mere civics lesson, this eye-opening book provides an insider's perspective on Congress, matched with a professional historian's analytical insight. After a swift survey of the creation of Congress by the constitutional convention, he begins to unscrew the nuts and pull out the bolts. What is it like to campaign for Congress? To attract large donors? To enter either house with no seniority? He answers these questions and more, explaining committee assignments and committee work, the role of staffers and lobbyists, floor proceedings, parliamentary rules, and coalition building. Ritchie explores the great effort put into constituent service-as representatives and senators respond to requests from groups and individuals-as well as media relations and news coverage. He also explores how the grand concepts we all know from civics class--checks and balances, advise and consent, congressional oversight--work in practice in an age of strong presidents and a muscular Senate minority.

The American Congress Reader

The American Congress Reader PDF Author: Steven S. Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521720199
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
The American Congress Reader provides a supplement to the popular and newly updated American Congress undergraduate textbook. By the same authors who drew upon Capitol Hill experience and nationally recognized scholarship to present a crisp introduction and analysis of Congress's inner mechanics, the Reader compiles the best relevant scholarship on party and committee systems, leadership, voting, and floor activity to broaden and illuminate the key features of the text.

America and the Great War

America and the Great War PDF Author: Margaret E. Wagner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620409836
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles of the Year for 2017 "A uniquely colorful chronicle of this dramatic and convulsive chapter in American--and world--history. It's an epic tale, and here it is wondrously well told." --David M. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of FREEDOM FROM FEAR From August 1914 through March 1917, Americans were increasingly horrified at the unprecedented destruction of the First World War. While sending massive assistance to the conflict's victims, most Americans opposed direct involvement. Their country was immersed in its own internal struggles, including attempts to curb the power of business monopolies, reform labor practices, secure proper treatment for millions of recent immigrants, and expand American democracy. Yet from the first, the war deeply affected American emotions and the nation's commercial, financial, and political interests. The menace from German U-boats and failure of U.S. attempts at mediation finally led to a declaration of war, signed by President Wilson on April 6, 1917. America and the Great War commemorates the centennial of that turning point in American history. Chronicling the United States in neutrality and in conflict, it presents events and arguments, political and military battles, bitter tragedies and epic achievements that marked U.S. involvement in the first modern war. Drawing on the matchless resources of the Library of Congress, the book includes many eyewitness accounts and more than 250 color and black-and-white images, many never before published. With an introduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David M. Kennedy, America and the Great War brings to life the tempestuous era from which the United States emerged as a major world power.

Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy

Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy PDF Author: James M. Lindsay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Have we entered an era of the "Imperial Congress"? How and why do members of Congress wield power over foreign policy? DOes Congress undermine the national interest when it asserts itself in foreign affairs? Congress is more active in foreign policy than at any time since the 1930s, notes James lindsay, but the important questions raised by this activism have not been fully addressed by contemporary scholars and commentors. In Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy Lindsay offers a timely and comprehensive examination of the role the modern Congress plays in foreign policy. He shows how the resurgence of congressional activism marks a return to the pattern that was once the norm in American politics. He analyzes the distribution of decision-making authority in Congress, reviews the constraints and incentives for members of Congress to become involved in foreign policy,describes committe work, the legislative process, and other institutional structures.

Is Congress Broken?

Is Congress Broken? PDF Author: William F. Connelly
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0815730365
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Making Congress Work, Again, Within the Constitutional System Congress for many years has ranked low in public esteem--joining journalists, bankers, and union leaders at the bottom of polls. And in recent years there's been good reason for the public disregard, with the rise of hyper-partisanship and the increasing inability of Congress to carry out its required duties, such as passing spending bills on time and conducting responsible oversight of the executive branch. Congress seems so dysfunctional that many observers have all but thrown up their hands in despair, suggesting that an apparently broken U.S. political system might need to be replaced. Now, some of the country's foremost experts on Congress are reminding us that tough hyper-partisan conflict always has been a hallmark of the constitutional system. Going back to the nation's early decades, Congress has experienced periods of division and turmoil. But even in those periods Congress has been able to engage in serious deliberation, prevent ill-considered proposals from becoming law--and, over time, help develop a deeper, more lasting national consensus. The ten chapters in this volume focus on how Congress in the twenty-first century can once again fulfill its proper functions of representation, deliberation, legislation, and oversight. The authors offer a series of practical reforms that would maintain, rather than replace, the constitutional separation of powers that has served the nation well for more than 200 years.