Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 252
•
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-0-7425-4769-8 • Hardback • August 2008 • $145.00 • (£112.00)
978-0-7425-4770-4 • Paperback • August 2008 • $58.00 • (£45.00)
978-0-7425-6482-4 • eBook • August 2008 • $55.00 • (£42.00)
Michael L. Mezey is Professor of political science at DePaul University in Chicago.
Chapter 1 Representation and Democracy
Chapter 2 Representation: A Theoretical Discussion
Chapter 3 Constituencies and Interests
Chapter 4 Earmarks and Errands
Chapter 5 Representation and Public Policy
Chapter 6 Interest Groups and Representation
Chapter 7 Representative Government and its Critics
Chapter 8 Appendix: 30 Questions for Discussion
Mezey has produced a broadly-informed study that speaks to all interested in representative democracy. Furthermore, it is an accessible and appropriate text for teaching undergraduates, especially for courses on Congress, comparative legislatures, or democratic governance.
— APSA Legislative Studies Section Newsletter, Book Notes
Mezey displays his treasure of scholarly talents in this concise yet inclusive book on representation. He gives order and meaning to a wide array of existing empirical and normative literature on the concept of representation across a range of representative institutions, blending an emphasis on the U.S. Congress with findings from non-American legislatures that make the reader keenly sensitive to contextual variation.
— Bruce Oppenheimer, Vanderbilt University
Michael Mezey has written a comprehensive analysis of the complex relationship between constituents and legislators in the United States, and in comparative perspective. It is based on his astonishing command of the relevant literature. Far more than a textbook, it makes a valuable contribution to all scholars in this field by offering an overview that integrates and organizes the accumulated findings of three decades of legislative research.
— Gerhard Loewenberg, University of Iowa; University Of Iowa
Mezey has written a well-documented and clearly laid out book. A]n appropriate text for upper-division undergraduate or survey graduate courses that examine legislative politics and/or political representation... [I]t draws together key components of representation in a valuable manner....
— Political Science Quarterly, Fall 2009
I can think of no one more qualified than Mezey to write a synthetic treatment of representative institutions since he combines a theoretician's reflectiveness with an empiricist's analytical acumen; a comparativist's breadth of perspective with a Congress scholar's utilization of an impressively wide range of data. The chapter on "Earmarks and Errands" alone is worth the purchase price.
— John R. Hibbing, University of Nebraska
Mezey has written a well-documented and clearly laid out book. A]n appropriate text for upper-division undergraduate or survey graduate courses that examine legislative politics and/or political representation... [I]t draws together key components of representation in a valuable manner.
— Political Science Quarterly, Fall 2009
• Although the emphasis is on the United States Congress, material from legislatures outside the United States is incorporated in the discussion. Specifically, the impact of different party and electoral systems on the nature of representation is considered.
• Treats the theoretical as well as the empirical literature on representation.
• Contains an up-to-date discussion of "earmarks," an issue that in recent months has been prominently featured in press discussions of the Congress.
• Includes an analysis of the various critiques of representative institutions that have come both from advocates of forms of direct democracy as well as from advocates for more executive-centered, more authoritarian polities.
• Includes extensive discussion questions which encourage students to think critically about the nature of the relationship between representatives and their constituents.