Richard F. Fenno's Books

How American Politics Works

Philosophy, Pragmatism, Personality and Profit

By: Richard J. Gelm

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How American Politics Works

Philosophy, Pragmatism, Personality and Profit

By: Richard J. Gelm

American politics is criticized and belittled by media critics and the public, yet the system is held out as a model for the world. The paradox of this simultaneous cynicism and adulation is rooted in the conflict between the human motives that drive politics. Crisply and clearly written with numerous historical examples, How American Politics Works explains the complex and sometimes confusing American political system in a vibrant and accessible light. Documented with recent and historical scholarship presented clearly in laymen’s terms, How American Politics Works explores the multiple dimensions of politics and the source of Americans’ disillusionment with their government through the “four Ps”: Philosophy, Pragmatism, Personality and Profit. Philosophical and moral principles underpin the key political institutions in America, but values are challenged in the quest to achieve workable political solutions. Policy is rarely made to conform to lofty principles alone. It often results from short-term incremental compromise, driven by people in pursuit of the public good and their own personal self-interest and profit. How American Politics Works explains the inner workings of the American political system, including the power of ideas, political compromise, powerful personalities and the preeminent position of money. While Americans’ high ideals are often illusive in the rough and tumble of political battles, and the public’s trust is bruised with every political scandal, balancing idealism and individual virtue with ambition and self-interest is the dynamic and safeguard of American politics. How American Politics Works offers a comprehensive presentation of the realities, challenges and possibilities of the American political system to bring an understanding, fascination and dedication to the wider public.

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Page Count

225

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1443808814

ISBN 13

9781443808811

Going Home

Black Representatives and Their Constituents

By: Richard F. Fenno

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Going Home

Black Representatives and Their Constituents

By: Richard F. Fenno

Thirty years ago there were nine African Americans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today there are four times that number. In Going Home, the dean of congressional studies, Richard F. Fenno, explores what representation has meant—and means today—to black voters and to the politicians they have elected to office. Fenno follows the careers of four black representatives—Louis Stokes, Barbara Jordan, Chaka Fattah, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones—from their home districts to the halls of the Capitol. He finds that while these politicians had different visions of how they should represent their districts (in part based on their individual preferences, and in part based on the history of black politics in America), they shared crucial organizational and symbolic connections to their constituents. These connections, which draw on a sense of "linked fates," are ones that only black representatives can provide to black constituents. His detailed portraits and incisive analyses will be important for anyone interested in the workings of Congress or in black politics.

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Page Count

317

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226241327

ISBN 13

9780226241326

Congressional Travels

Places, Connections, and Authenticity; Tenth Anniversary Edition, With a New Foreword by Morris P. Fiorina

By: Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

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Congressional Travels

Places, Connections, and Authenticity; Tenth Anniversary Edition, With a New Foreword by Morris P. Fiorina

By: Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

Written in preeminent legislative studies scholar Richard Fenno’s "homespun" story-telling style, Congressional Travels argues that authenticity -- knowing what a representative is like in his/her district and looking beyond mere roll-call voting -- contributes significantly to understanding the full body of work done by our members of Congress. It further posits that the best way to gain a sense of authenticity is to do what Fenno is most famous for, i.e., making multiple trips and spending a great deal of time observing representatives at home in their districts, with their constituents. The book is engaging, quietly provocative, and unique, offering an alternative to what some consider the increasingly specialized and technical nature of political science. This tenth anniversary edition includes an illuminating new Foreword by renowned congressional scholar Morris P. Fiorina, adding to the appreciation of Richard Fenno and this work over the years.

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Page Count

477

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351581775

ISBN 13

9781351581776

The Challenge of Congressional Representation

By: Richard F. Fenno

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The Challenge of Congressional Representation

By: Richard F. Fenno

At a moment when Congress is viewed by a skeptical public as hyper-partisan and dysfunctional, Richard Fenno provides a variegated picture of American representational politics. The Challenge of Congressional Representation offers an up-close-and-personal look at the complex relationship between members of Congress and their constituents back home.

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Page Count

270

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674074289

ISBN 13

9780674074286

The Development of the American Presidency

By: Richard J. Ellis

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The Development of the American Presidency

By: Richard J. Ellis

A full understanding of the institution of the American presidency requires us to examine how it developed from the founding to the present. This developmental lens, analyzing how historical turns have shaped the modern institution, allows for a richer, more nuanced understanding beyond the current newspaper headlines. The Development of the American Presidency pays great attention to that historical weight but is organized by the topics and concepts relevant to political science, with the constitutional origins and political development of the presidency its central focus. Through comprehensive and in-depth coverage, this text looks at how the presidency has evolved in relation to the public, to Congress, to the Executive branch, and to the law, showing at every step how different aspects of the presidency have followed distinct trajectories of change. All the while, Ellis illustrates the institutional relationships and tensions through stories about particular individuals and specific political conflicts. Ellis's own classroom pedagogy of promoting active learning and critical thinking is well reflected in these pages. Each chapter begins with a narrative account of some illustrative puzzle that brings to life a central concept. A wealth of photos, figures, and tables allow for the visual presentations of concepts. A companion website not only acts as a further resources base—directing students to primary documents, newspapers, and data sources—but also presents interactive timelines and practice quizzes to help students master the book's lessons. The second edition a new chapter on unilateral powers that brings greater attention to domestic policymaking.

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Page Count

671

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317552962

ISBN 13

9781317552963

Congress at the Grassroots

Representational Change in the South, 1970-1998

By: Richard F. Fenno Jr.

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Congress at the Grassroots

Representational Change in the South, 1970-1998

By: Richard F. Fenno Jr.

However much politicians are demeaned and denounced in modern American society, our democracy could not work without them. For this reason, says Richard Fenno, their activities warrant our attention. In his pioneering book, Home Style, Fenno demonstrated that a close look at politicians at work in their districts can tell us a great deal about the process of representation. Here, Fenno employs a similarly revealing grassroots approach to explore how patterns of representation have changed in recent decades. Fenno focuses on two members of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the same west-central Georgia district at different times: Jack Flynt, who served from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Mac Collins, who has held the seat in the 1990s. His on-the-scene observation of their differing representational styles--Flynt focuses on people, Collins on policy--reveals the ways in which social and demographic changes inspire shifts in representational strategies. More than a study of representational change in one district, Congress at the Grassroots also helps illuminate the larger subject of political change in the South and in the nation as a whole.

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Page Count

187

Publisher

Univ of North Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807860638

ISBN 13

9780807860632

Senators on the Campaign Trail

The Politics of Representation

By: Richard F. Fenno

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Senators on the Campaign Trail

The Politics of Representation

By: Richard F. Fenno

This is a book about the politics of representative democracy, written from the perspective of the politicians who make it work. Typically, political scientists study campaigns from the perspective of the voter and for the purpose of explaining election outcomes. But campaigns also need to be studied from the perspective of the candidate, for the purpose of understanding representation. Richard F. Fenno, Jr., traveled with ten U.S. senators as they campaigned in their home states-using what he calls the "drop in/drop out, tag along/hang around" method of research-to present a developmental picture of their activities. His focus here is on three such activities—pursuing a career, campaigning for office, and building constituency connections. Taken together, the three constitute the political underpinnings of representative democracy. Fenno describes the achievement, the testing, and the maintenance of representational relationships. He examines challengers and incumbents, winners and losers, and motivations, strategies, and behaviors; and he reports on differences, similarities, and patterns among them. In studying the candidates' varied careers, campaigns, and connections in stages and sequences and in depth—and in allowing us to hear them reflect on these experiences—Fenno has been able to offer rare insights into campaigns and elections, insights very different from conventional ones that concentrate on the behavior of voters. In its focus on the process of representative democracy, Senators on the Campaign Trail offers a rich, rounded, developmental view of some high-level individuals who work at the business of representation. For scholars, the book suggests some qualitative confirmation and added stimulation in forging generalizations about politicians. For citizens, the book argues for replacing the conventional blanket condemnation of our politicians, so prevalent today, with more discriminating judgments about what they do, and why and to what purpose they do it.

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Page Count

392

Publisher

University of Oklahoma Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806130628

ISBN 13

9780806130620

Congressional Travels

Places, Connections, and Authenticity

By: Richard Fenno

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Congressional Travels

Places, Connections, and Authenticity

By: Richard Fenno

A follow up book to his classic Home Style: House Members in their Districts, this new book by the preeminent legislative studies scholar, Dick Fenno, is intended for use in courses on Congress, political campaigning, and American government. Written in Fenno’s “homespun” story-telling style, this book argues that authenticity — knowing what a representative is like in his/her district and looking beyond mere roll call voting — contributes significantly to understanding the full body of work done by our members of Congress. It further posits, by recounting Fenno’s actual life’s work, that the best way to gain a sense of authenticity is to do what Fenno is most famous for — i.e., making multiple trips and spending a great deal of time observing representatives at home, with their constituents, in their districts. The book is an engaging, quietly provocative, and unique title that offers an alternative to what some consider the increasingly specialized and technical nature of political science

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Page Count

321

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317349229

ISBN 13

9781317349228

Learning to Govern

An Institutional View of the 104th Congress

By: Richard F. Fenno

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Learning to Govern

An Institutional View of the 104th Congress

By: Richard F. Fenno

The elections of 1994 produced the first Republican-controlled Congress in 40 years. What effect did being the minority party for so long have on the activities of the new House of Representatives' majority? In this book, Richard Fenno makes the case that four decades out of power left Republicans without the experience they needed to properly interpret their electoral victory... or govern the country. This inexperience produced serious consequences for the party and the American political system, including the confrontational leadership of Newt Gingrich, the deterioration of cross-party civility, the general support for term limits, and an accelerated loss of public confidence in Congress. And there was more. Although all the evidence pointed to voters' repudiation of the Democrats, the Republicans saw their victory as a mandate for wholesale change—a Republican Revolution. Instead of trying to make careful, incremental changes, their inexperience and aggressive "let's get it all, and let's get it now" tactics cost them their golden opportunity and cleared the way for the reelection of President Clinton. This book provides a timely focus on the attitudes and agendas of the inexperienced Republican freshman class and its contribution to the problem-plagued attempts to use the election campaign Contract with America as a blueprint for governing.

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Brookings Institution Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0815715668

ISBN 13

9780815715665

The End of Southern Exceptionalism

Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South

By: Byron E. Shafer,Richard Johnston

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The End of Southern Exceptionalism

Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South

By: Byron E. Shafer,Richard Johnston

The transformation of Southern politics after World War II changed the political life not just of this distinctive region, but of the entire nation. Until now, the critical shift in Southern political allegiance from Democratic to Republican has been explained, by scholars and journalists, as a white backlash to the civil rights revolution. In this myth-shattering book, Byron Shafer and Richard Johnston refute that view, one stretching all the way back to V. O. Key in his classic book Southern Politics. The true story is instead one of dramatic class reversal, beginning in the 1950s and pulling everything else in its wake. Where once the poor voted Republican and the rich Democrat, that pattern reversed, as economic development became the engine of Republican gains. Racial desegregation, never far from the heart of the story, often applied the brakes to these gains rather than fueling them. A book that is bound to shake up the study of Southern politics, this will also become required reading for pundits and political strategists, for all those who argue over what it takes to carry the South.

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Page Count

235

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674267273

ISBN 13

9780674267275

The Press and American Politics

The New Mediator

By: Richard Davis

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The Press and American Politics

The New Mediator

By: Richard Davis

Very contemporary in perspective, this book provides a well-balanced survey of "all" aspects of the relationship between the press and American politics. It portrays the relationship as "interactive and symbiotic" (rather than one-sided) and dissects the media's role as "mediator" in the political processes of American politics. Explores news-gathering and news-shaping, effects of media on the mass public, the electoral functions and effects of the news media, the interaction with political institutions and organizations, and the media's policymaking role, governmental regulation of media, global comparisons, historical and technological changes, and more. For anyone interested in the media/politics connection.

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372

Published Date

ISBN 10

0130264040

ISBN 13

9780130264046

The Evolution of Political Knowledge

Theory and Inquiry in American Politics

By: American Political Science Association. Meeting,Edward D. Mansfield,Richard Sisson

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The Evolution of Political Knowledge

Theory and Inquiry in American Politics

By: American Political Science Association. Meeting,Edward D. Mansfield,Richard Sisson

Over the course of the last century, political scientists have been moved by two principal purposes. First, they have sought to understand and explain political phenomena in a way that is both theoretically and empirically grounded. Second, they have analyzed matters of enduring public interest, whether in terms of public policy and political action, fidelity between principle and practice in the organization and conduct of government, or the conditions of freedom, whether of citizens or of states. Many of the central advances made in the field have been prompted by a desire to improve both the quality and our understanding of political life. Nowhere is this tendency more apparent than in research on American politics, a field in which concerns for the public interest have stimulated various important insights. This volume systematically analyzes the major developments within the broad field of American politics over the past three decades. Each chapter is composed of a core paper that addresses the major puzzles, conversations, and debates that have attended major areas of concern and inquiry within the discipline. These papers examine and evaluate the intellectual evolution and "natural history" of major areas of political inquiry and chart particularly promising trajectories, puzzles, and concerns for future work Each core paper is accompanied by a set of shorter commentaries that engage the issues it takes up, thus contributing to an ongoing and lively dialogue among key figures in the field.

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Page Count

380

Publisher

Ohio State University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0814209335

ISBN 13

9780814209332

Book's by Richard F. Fenno

How American Politics Works

How American Politics Works

Going Home

Going Home

Congressional Travels

Congressional Travels

The Challenge of Congressional Representation

The Challenge of Congressional Representation

The Development of the American Presidency

The Development of the American Presidency

Congress at the Grassroots

Congress at the Grassroots

Senators on the Campaign Trail

Senators on the Campaign Trail

Congressional Travels

Congressional Travels

Learning to Govern

Learning to Govern

The End of Southern Exceptionalism

The End of Southern Exceptionalism

The Press and American Politics

The Press and American Politics

The Evolution of Political Knowledge

The Evolution of Political Knowledge

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