The American Congress reader / edited by Steven S. Smith, Jason M. Roberts, Ryan J. Vander Wielen.

The American Congress: modern trends. What is wrong with the American political system? / John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse -- A reassessment of who's to blame: a positive case for the public evaluation of Congress / David W. Brady and Sean M. Theriault -- Between the campaigns: public approval and disapproval of government / James A. Stimson -- Representation and lawmaking in Congress: the constitutional and historical context. U.S. Constitution, Articles I, II, III, and amendments -- The Federalist, nos. 10 and 51 / James Madison -- U.S. House members in the constituencies: an exploration / Richard F. Fenno, Jr. -- Collective vs. dyadic representation in Congress / Robert Weissberg -- Congressional elections and policy alignments. Elbridge Gerry's Salamander: the electoral consequences of the reapportionment revolution (excerpts) / Gary W. Cox and Jonathan N. Katz -- Strategic politicians and the dynamics of U.S. House elections, 1946-1986 / Gary C. Jacobson -- Congress: the electoral connection / David R. Mayhew -- Members, goals, resources, and strategies. Senate representation and coalition building in distributive politics / Frances E. Lee -- Risk-bearing and progressive ambition: the case of members of the United States House of Representatives / David W. Rohde -- Issue politics in Congress (excerpts) / Tracy Sulkin -- Parties and leaders. Institutional context and leadership style: the House from Cannon to Rayburn / Joseph Cooper and David W. Brady -- Setting the agenda / Gary W. Cox and Mathew D. McCubbins -- Party influence in Congress / Steven S. Smith -- The standing committees. Distributive and partisan issues in agriculture policy in the 104th House / Mark s. Hurwitz, Roger J. Moiles, and David W. Rohde -- Principals, goals, dimensionality, and Congressional committees / Forrest Maltzman and Steven S. Smith -- Nonlegislative hearings and policy change in Congress / Jeffrey C. Talbert, Bryan D. Jones, and Frank R. Baumgartner -- The rules of the legislative game. Sample of a special rule -- Sample of a unanimous consent agreement -- On the effects of legislative rules / Gary W. Cox -- The partisan basis of procedural choice: allocating Parliamentary rights in the House, 1789-1990 / Sarah A. Binder -- The evolution of agenda-setting institutions in Congress: path dependency in House and Senate institutional development / Jason M. Roberts and Steven S. Smith -- The floor and voting. Greasing the wheels: using pork barrel projects to build majority coalitions in Congress (excerpt) / Diana Evans -- Models of legislative voting / John W. Kingdon -- Pivotal politics: a theory of U.S. lawmaking / Keith Krehbiel -- Congress and the President. Presidential veto messages -- Presidential signing statement -- Veto bargaining: presidents and the politics of negative power / Charles Cameron -- The dynamics of legislative gridlock, 1947-1996 / Sarah A. Binder -- The politics of shared power: Congress and the executive (excerpt) / Louis Fisher -- Conscience of a conservative / Jeffrey Rosen -- Congress and the courts. Senate voting on Supreme Court nominees: a neoinstitutional model / Charles M. Cameron, Albert D. Cover, and Jeffrey A. Segal -- From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: why some Presidential nominations fail in the Senate / Glen S. Krutz, Richard Fleisher, and Jon R. Bond -- Congress, lobbyists, and interest groups. Buying time: moneyed interests and the mobilization of bias in Congressional committees / Richard L. Hall and Frank W. Wayman -- "Legislative lobbying" (excerpt) / John Wright -- Congress and budget politics. Appropriations in the Republican era / Diana Evans -- Pet projects' veil is only partly lifted: lawmakers find other paths to special-interest funding / John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -- Further readings on Congressional politics. Introduction to the spatial theory of legislating / Steven S. Smith, Jason M. Roberts, and Ryan J. Vander Wielen -- The institutional foundations of committee power / Kenneth A. Shepsle and Barry R. Weingast -- The return to equilibrium: controlling legislative agendas / Gerald S. Strom.

This reader compiles the best relevant scholarship on party and committee systems, leadership, voting, and floor activity to broaden and illuminate the key features of the text.