Congress and Policy Making in the 21st Century

Congress is frequently said to be 'broken', 'dysfunctional', and 'weak', but how does the contemporary Congress really work? Does Congress have the capacity to solve major policy problems? Can it check an aggrandizing executive, oversee a powerful Federal Reserve, and represent the American people? Can Congress cope with vast changes in the American political economy, including rising income inequality? Congress and Policy Making in the 21st Century takes a fresh look at the performance of Congress in the domestic arena, focusing on issues such as immigration, health care, and the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. With original contributions from leading scholars, this important volume examines how Congress tackles - and fails to tackle - key policy challenges in an era of growing social diversity and ideological polarization. Rich in analysis and illuminating detail, the book reveals the full complexity of the institution at work.

1. The evolving textbook Congress: polarization and policy making on Capitol Hill in the twenty-first century Jeffery A. Jenkins and Eric M. Patashnik; Part I. Congressional Policy Making in a Polarized Age: 2. Entrepreneurial politics, policy gridlock, and legislative effectiveness Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman; 3. Partisan polarization and congressional policy making Barbara Sinclair; Part II. Congress and Society: 4. Making a rainbow military: parliamentary skill and repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Rick Vallely; 5. Who votes for inequality? Nicholas Carnes; Part III. Congress and Economic Policy: 6. Congress makes tax policy: Democrats and Republicans at two critical junctures Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and Theda Skocpol; 7. The decline of regular order in appropriations: does it matter? Nolan McCarty; 8. Congress and the Federal Reserve: independence and accountability Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel; Part IV. Congress and Domestic Policy Dilemmas: 9. The $40 trillion question: can Congress control health care spending? Jonathan Oberlander; 10. The demise of immigration reform: policy making barriers under unified and divided government Daniel J. Tichenor; 11. It's hard to get mileage out of Congress: struggling over CAFE standards, 1973–2013 Bruce I. Oppenheimer; Part V. Reflections: 12. Explaining legislative achievements R. Douglas Arnold.

Jeffery A. Jenkins is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Politics. He has published more than thirty-five articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and Studies in American Political Development. He is also the author (with Charles Stewart, III) of Fighting for the Speakership: The House and the Rise of Party Government (2013) and the editor (with Sidney M. Milkis) of The Politics of Major Policy Reform in Postwar America (Cambridge, 2014) and (with Eric M. Patashnik) Living Legislation: Durability, Change, and the Politics of American Lawmaking (2012).
Eric M. Patashnik is Professor of Public Policy and Politics and Director of the Center for Health Policy in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He is also Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Patashnik is the author of several books including Putting Trust in the US Budget: Federal Trust Funds and the Politics of Commitment (Cambridge, 2000) and Reforms at Risk: What Happens after Major Policy Changes Are Enacted (2008), which won the Louis Brownlow Book Award for outstanding contribution to the literature on public administration.