Matthew J. Lebo's Books

Strategic Party Government

Why Winning Trumps Ideology

By: Gregory Koger,Matthew J. Lebo

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Strategic Party Government

Why Winning Trumps Ideology

By: Gregory Koger,Matthew J. Lebo

Why is Congress mired in partisan polarization? The conventional answer is that members of Congress and their constituencies fundamentally disagree with one other along ideological lines. But Gregory Koger and Matthew J. Lebo uncover a more compelling reason that today’s political leaders devote so much time to conveying their party’s positions, even at the expense of basic government functions: Both parties want to win elections. In Strategic Party Government, Koger and Lebo argue that Congress is now primarily a forum for partisan competition. In order to avoid losing, legislators unite behind strong party leaders, even when they do not fully agree with the policies their party is advocating. They do so in the belief that party leaders and voters will reward them for winning—or at least trying to win—these legislative contests. And as the parties present increasingly united fronts, partisan competition intensifies and pressure continues to mount for a strong party-building strategy—despite considerable disagreement within the parties. By bringing this powerful but underappreciated force in American politics to the forefront, Koger and Lebo provide a new interpretation of the problems facing Congress that is certain to reset the agenda for legislative studies.

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234

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022642474X

ISBN 13

9780226424743

Our Common Bonds

Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide

By: Matthew Levendusky

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Our Common Bonds

Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide

By: Matthew Levendusky

One of the defining features of twenty-first century American politics has been the rise of affective polarization: Americans increasingly report that they distrust and dislike those from the other party and want to avoid interacting with them in a wide range seemingly non-political contexts, from Thanksgiving dinners to dating. This has damaging downstream consequences: many studies and evidence from our everyday lives shows that affective polarization reduces electoral accountability, weakens support for the democratic norms, and makes it more difficult for Americans to responded to crises, such as COVID-19. What, if anything, can be done? Our Common Bonds shows that-although affective polarization has multiple causes and there is no silver bullet that will eradicate it-there are concrete interventions that can reduce it. Matthew Levendusky argues that partisan animus stems in part from individuals misperceiving how much they have in common with those from the other party. Survey and experimental evidence show that priming shared identities and connections outside of politics can help people to reframe the lens through which they evaluate the out-party and, in so doing, turn down the partisan temperature"--

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234

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University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226824705

ISBN 13

9780226824703

Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court

By: Matthew P Hitt

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Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court

By: Matthew P Hitt

The United States Supreme Court exists to resolve constitutional disputes among lower courts and the other branches of government, allowing elected officials, citizens, and businesses to act without legal uncertainty. American law and society function more effectively when the Court resolves these ambiguous questions of Constitutional law. Since lower courts must defer to its reasoning, the Court should also promulgate clear and consistent legal doctrine, giving a reason for its judgment that a majority of justices support. Yet a Court that prioritizes resolving many disputes will at times produce contradictory sets of opinions or fail to provide a rationale and legal precedent for its decision at all. In either case, it produces an unreasoned judgment. Conversely, a Court that prioritizes logically consistent doctrine will fail to resolve many underlying disputes in law and society. Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court demonstrates that over time, institutional changes, lobbied for by the justices, substantially reduced unreasoned judgments in the Court’s output, coinciding with a reduction in the Court’s caseload. Hence, the Supreme Court historically emphasized the first goal of dispute resolution, but evolved into a Court that prioritizes the second goal of logically consistent doctrine. As a result, the Court today fails to resolve more underlying questions in law and society in order to minimize criticism of its output from other elites. In so doing, the modern Court often fails to live up to its Constitutional obligation.

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235

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University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472125222

ISBN 13

9780472125227

Newt Gingrich

The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur

By: Matthew N. Green,Jeffrey Crouch

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Newt Gingrich

The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur

By: Matthew N. Green,Jeffrey Crouch

Newt Gingrich is one of the most polarizing and consequential figures in US politics. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, he rose from a minority party backbencher to become the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years. Though much has been written about Gingrich, accounts of his time in Congress are incomplete and often skewed. In their book Newt Gingrich: The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur, political scientists Matthew N. Green and Jeffrey Crouch draw from newly uncovered archival material, original interviews, and other data to provide a fresh and insightful look at Gingrich’s entire congressional career. Green and Crouch argue that Gingrich is best understood as a “party entrepreneur,” someone who works primarily to achieve their congressional party’s collective goals. From the moment he entered Congress, Gingrich was laser-focused on achieving two party-related objectives—a Republican majority in the House and a more conservative society—as well as greater influence for himself. Using a conceptual framework taken from theories of military strategy, the authors explain how Gingrich initially struggled because of a mismatch between his lofty goals and the resources available to him. After years of patiently cultivating allies, tempering his immediate objectives, and waiting for favorable circumstances to emerge, Gingrich finally claimed victory in 1994, with Republicans winning control of the House and electing Gingrich as Speaker. Yet while Gingrich had been creative, patient, and ultimately successful at gaining power for himself and his party, he proved ineffective at balancing his goals with the demands of the Speakership, and he resigned from Congress just four years later. Newt Gingrich: The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur, the latest contribution to the Congressional Leaders series, sheds new light on a historically important congressional leader whose complicated legacy is still debated today by scholars, journalists, and politicians.

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304

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

070063326X

ISBN 13

9780700633265

Book's by Matthew J. Lebo

Strategic Party Government

Strategic Party Government

Our Common Bonds

Our Common Bonds

Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court

Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich

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