Party Polarization in Congress

Author: Sean M. Theriault  

Publisher: Cambridge University Press‎

Publication year: 2008

E-ISBN: 9780511433818

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780521888936

Subject: D0 Political Theory

Keyword: 政治理论

Language: ENG

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Party Polarization in Congress

Description

The political parties in Congress are as polarized as they have been in 100 years. This book examines more than 30 years of congressional history to understand how it is that the Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have become so divided. It finds that two steps were critical for this development. First, the respective parties' constituencies became more politically and ideologically aligned. Second, members ceded more power to their party leaders, who implemented procedures more frequently and with greater consequence. In fact, almost the entire rise in party polarization can be accounted for in the increasing frequency of and polarization on procedures used during the legislative process.

Chapter

I. Party Polarization in the 108th Congress (2003–4)

II. Party Polarization since Reconstruction

Party Polarization at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Party Dynamics in the Middle of the Twentieth Century

Party Polarization in the Post-Reform Congress

III. The Development of Polarization Scores

IV. Polarization Scores within State Delegations

V. The Mechanisms Underlying Polarization

VI. Conclusion

3 Explanations for Party Polarization

I. The Redistricting Explanation

II. The Geographic and Political Sorting of Constituents

III. Extremism of Party Activists

IV. The Institutional Explanation

V. An Integrated Argument of Party Polarization

VI. Adding Complexity to the Integrated Explanation

VII. A Conclusion of Caveats

PART II CONSTITUENCY CHANGE

4 Redistricting

I. The Ideology of New and Obliterated Districts

II. A Direct Test of Redistricting's Effect on Polarization

III. Redistricting Category Analysis

IV. A Multivariate Assessment of Redistricting

V. Conclusion

5 The Political and Geographic Sorting of Constituents

I. Ideological Sorting of Voters

II. Sorting into Homogeneous Jurisdictions

Demographic Polarization in Members’ Constituencies

Partisan Outcomes by Congressional District and State

The Partisanship of Members’ Constituencies

Consistency across Races in the Same Election

Consistency Across Elections

III. The Ideology of Members from Strong and Weak States

IV. Conclusion

6 Extremism of Party Activists

I. The Extremism of Convention Delegates

II. The Impact of State Delegations on Senators' Ideologies

A More Sophisticated Analysis

III. The Impact of Party Activists' Extremism on Member Polarization

IV. Conclusion

PART III INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

7 Connecting Constituency Change to Institutional Change

I. The Growing Ideological Homogeneity of Political Parties

II. The Polarization of Congressional Leaders

III. The Growing Power of More Polarized Leaders

Rewards and Punishment

Structuring the Legislative Agenda

The Utility of Using Procedures

The Frequency of Procedural Votes

IV. Conclusion

8 The Interaction in the Legislative Process

I. Categorizing the Votes

II. The Interaction of Constituency Change and Institutional Change

A Reality Check between Data and Theory

IV. Conclusion

Appendix: Verifying the Results with Different Statistical Models

Time Trends in One Regression Model

Separate Estimates for Each Congress

Conclusion

9 The Link between the House and the Senate

I. Comparing Senate Polarization to House Polarization

II. The Effect of House Experience on Senator Ideology

III. The Gingrich Senators

Representation among the Gingrich Senators

IV. Conclusion

10 Procedural Polarization in the U.S. Congress

I. Mandates for Future Research

More than Electoral Changes Have Caused Polarization

Procedural Votes Must Be a Part of the Polarization Conversation

Not All Votes Are the Same

II. Avenues for Future Research

Fleshing Out the Comprehensive Model

Is Polarization Bad?

Is the Polarization Real?

A Theory of Polarization?

Bibliography

Index

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