Includes bibliographical references (pages 182-184) and index.
Contents:
Introduction and overview -- Bicameral agreement : conferences and ping-ponging -- Running the polarized house : polarization, the Hastert Rule, and the fettered floor -- Trying to work with the polarized Senate -- Cloture in the often-blocked Senate -- The budget process serving polarized chambers -- Appropriations -- Change.
Summary:
"[This book] argues that the rise of the polarized Congress means a totally different Congressional procedure, especially after 2007, compared to the accustomed 'traditional' one. Polarized Congress explores a host of lesser-known, even sometimes below the radar, aspects of the post-traditional or polarized model. These range from 'ping-ponging' of major measures between chambers (without conferencing), to the Senate Majority Leader's new 'toolkit.' They go from the now-crucial 'Hastert Rule' in the House, to the astonishment of legislating the Affordable Care Act by singular procedures including budget reconciliation. The book challenges the easy assumption, especially by the non-specialist press, that Congressional procedure is descending into nothing more than chaotic brutishness or eternal stalemate. Instead, it explains the transformation of the traditional model about 'how a bill becomes a law' before 2000, into the new current model in which Congress acts very differently.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.