Congressional Parties, Institutional Ambition, and the Financing of Majority Control

Close competition for majority party control of the U.S. House of Representatives has transformed the congressional parties from legislative coalitions into partisan fundraising machines. With the need for ever increasing sums of money to fuel the ongoing campaign for majority control, both Republicans and Democrats have made large donations to the party and its candidates mandatory for members seeking advancement within party and congressional committee hierarchies. Eric S. Heberlig and Bruce A. Larson not only analyze this development, but also discuss its implications for American government and democracy. They address the consequences of selecting congressional leaders on the basis of their fundraising skills rather than their legislative capacity and the extent to which the battle for majority control leads Congress to prioritize short-term electoral gains over long-term governing and problem-solving.

Politics & Social Sciences

Heberlig, Eric S.

Larson, Bruce A.

Politics & Government

University of Michigan Press

With the need for ever increasing sums of money to fuel the ongoing campaign for majority control, both Republicans and Democrats have made large donations to the party and its candidates mandatory for members seeking advancement within party and congressional committee hierarchies. Eric S. Heberlig and Bruce A. Larson analyze this development and discuss its implications for American government and democracy. They address the consequences of selecting congressional leaders on the basis of their fundraising skills rather than their legislative capacity and the extent to which the battle for majority control leads Congress to prioritize short-term electoral gains over long-term governing and problem-solving.

Larson, Prof. Bruce A.

Are contemporary U.S. labor unions irrelevant, or in fact a changing force to be reckoned with as they grow into a new economy in a globalized America? Is the current political power exercised by U.S. labor unions more akin to the social movements of the sixties or the interest politics of the nineties? After winning the presidency of the AFL-CIO in 1995, John Sweeney and his colleagues have taken strides to make labor more important in the United States economically and politically, despite reduced membership. Here, four authors come together to survey the status of labor unions past, present, and future, nationally as well as through the microcosm of the labor situation in Ohio, one of the largest, most representative, and most electorally significant states in the country. The authors focus on union membership, leadership, political attitudes, strategies, and grassroots mobilization to paint a picture of union revitalization in a context of economic and social change. American labor still wields clout on Election Day, but union revitalization is a work in progress. For unions to matter every day to their members and leaders, they must consolidate their economic bases and rise to the challenges carefully documented in this book.

American Labor Unions in the Electoral Arena

Business & Money

Snyder, Karen

Ripley, Randall B.

Asher, Herbert B.

Economics

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Uncovers the politics involved when a city recruits and implements a presidential convention. Political party conventions have lost much of their original political nature, serving now primarily as elaborate infomercials while ratifying the decisions made by voters in state primaries and caucuses. While this activity hasn’t changed significantly since the 1970s, conventions themselves have changed significantly in terms of how they are recruited, implemented, and paid for. American Cities and the Politics of Party Conventions analyzes how and why cities advance through the site selection process. Just as parties use conventions to communicate their policies, unity, and competence to the electorate, cities use the convention selection process to communicate their merits to political parties, businesses and residents. While hosting such a “mega event” provides some direct economic stimulus for host cities, the major benefit of the convention is the opportunity it provides for branding and signaling status. Combining a case studies approach as well as interviews with party and local officials, Eric S. Heberlig, Suzanne M. Leland, and David Swindell bring party convention scholarship up to date while highlighting the costs and benefits of hosting such events for tourism bureaus, city administrators, elected officials, and the citizens they represent.

American Cities and the Politics of Party Conventions

Swindell, David

Leland, Suzanne M.

Social Sciences

State University of New York Press

Uncovers the politics involved when a city recruits and implements a presidential convention. Political party conventions have lost much of their original political nature, serving now primarily as elaborate infomercials while ratifying the decisions made by voters in state primaries and caucuses. While this activity hasn’t changed significantly since the 1970s, conventions themselves have changed significantly in terms of how they are recruited, implemented, and paid for. American Cities and the Politics of Party Conventions analyzes how and why cities advance through the site selection process. Just as parties use conventions to communicate their policies, unity, and competence to the electorate, cities use the convention selection process to communicate their merits to political parties, businesses and residents. While hosting such a “mega event” provides some direct economic stimulus for host cities, the major benefit of the convention is the opportunity it provides for branding and signaling status. Combining a case studies approach as well as interviews with party and local officials, Eric S. Heberlig, Suzanne M. Leland, and David Swindell bring party convention scholarship up to date while highlighting the costs and benefits of hosting such events for tourism bureaus, city administrators, elected officials, and the citizens they represent.

State Univ of New York Pr

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