Proven and compelling, the book's core theme--the tension between Congress as a lawmaking institution and Congress as a collection of re-election-minded politicians--gives students a powerful way to understand Congress and the legislative process. Davidson and Oleszek use colorful and often witty examples, noteworthy quotations, telling cases, memorable photos, and helpful tables and figures, wrapping their strong narrative around this tightly organized conceptual framework. Every chapter features new analysis and the most recent and important scholarship.
Roger H. Davidson is professor emeritus of government and politics at the University of Maryland, and has served as visiting professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. For the 2001-2002 academic year, he served as the John Marshall Chair in political science at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. His books include
Remaking Congress: Change and Stability in the 1990's, co-edited with James A. Thurber (1995), and
Understanding the Presidency, Third Edition, co-edited with James P. Pfiffner (2003). Davidson is co-editor with Donald C. Bacon and Morton Keller of
The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress (1995).
Walter J. Oleszek is a senior specialist in the legislative process at the Congressional Research Service. He has served as either a full-time professional staff aide or consultant to every major House and Senate congressional reorganization effort beginning with the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. In 1993, he served as Policy Director of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. A long-time adjunct faculty member at The American University, Oleszek is a frequent lecturer before various academic, governmental and business groups. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Congress and Its Members, 10th ed. (2006),with Roger H. Davidson, and Congress Under Fire: Reform Politics and the Republican Majority (1997), with C. Lawrence Evans.
Frances E. Lee is associate professor of government and politics at University of Maryland. She has been a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution and an APSA Congressional Fellow. She coauthored Sizing Up The Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation with Bruce I. Oppenheimer, which won the D. B. Hardeman Prize in 1999. Her articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and American Journal of Political Science, among others.
