Critical elections and congressional policy making

Resource Information

The work Critical elections and congressional policy making represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Critical elections and congressional policy making

Statement of responsibility

David W. Brady

Creator

• Brady, David W

Subject

• Elections -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• Elections -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Geschichte (1861-1939)
• History
• Huis van Afgevaardigden
• Political planning -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• Political planning -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Politik
• Politique publique
• Politische Krise
• USA
• United States, Congress | House -- History -- 19th century
• United States, Congress | House -- History -- 20th century
• Verkiezingen
• Wahlverhalten
• Élections
• Beleidsvorming

Genre

• History

Language

eng

Summary

As early as 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville found the House of Representatives 'remarkable for its vulgarity and its poverty of talent'. In 1925, House Speaker Nicholas Longworth said, 'we [the House] were unpopular when Lincoln was a Congressman. We were unpopular even when John Quincy Adams was a Congressman. We were unpopular even when Henry Clay was a Congressman. We have always been unpopular'. One of the major causes of the House's unpopularity throughout the years has been its inability to legislate broad public policies. Yet for all the criticism directed at the House, we know that at certain critical points it has legislated major, long-lasting public policy changes. This book examines the House during three such periods of policy innovations: the Civil War, the 1890's, and the New Deal. How and under what conditions does the House - noted for obstructionism - create majorities capable of governing? The author asserts that critical elections create conditions in the House that enable the majority party to legislate significant policy changes. House elections are normally determined by local factors, but certain elections are dominated by national, cross-cutting issues. The results of these critical elections vary from a change in the majority party to the replacement of both the majority and minority by new parties. The Civil War realignment replaced the Whigs with a new party - the Republicans. In the 1890's realignment the Democratic Party adopted the policy positions of a third party - the Populists. The New Deal realignment saw the Democrats replace the Republicans as the majority power. For each of these critical periods the author uses statistical analysis to examine the way electoral results affected the composition of the congressional parties, the structure of committees, the strength of the party system, and policy decisions. In the final chapter, the author speculates on conditions for policy change outside critical election periods.--Publisher description

Member of

• Stanford studies in the new political history

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

328.73/09

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

LC call number

JK231

LC item number

.B73 1988

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Series statement

Stanford studies in the new political history