Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 376
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-5381-2341-6 • Paperback • October 2019 • $61.00 • (£47.00)
978-1-5381-2342-3 • eBook • October 2019 • $57.50 • (£44.00)
Gary C. Jacobson is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Political Science at UCSD. His field of interest is American national politics, with a subfield focus on Congress and congressional elections. He is the author of Money in Congressional Elections; The Politics of Congressional Elections; and The Electoral Origins of Divided Government; and co-author of Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, American Parties in Decline, and The Logic of American Politics. His current research is on the electoral basis of partisan polarization in Congress.
Jamie Carson is the UGA Athletic Association Professor of Public and International Affairs II in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia. His research interests include American politics and methods. He regularly teaches courses on the U.S. Congress, the presidency, the politics of congressional elections, and American political development. Recent books include (with Joel Sievert) Electoral Incentives in Congress (2018) and (with John Aldrich, Brad Gomez, and David W. Rohde) Change and Continuity in the 2016 and 2018 Elections (2020).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Context
The Constitutional Framework
Congressional Districts
Partisan Gerrymandering
Redistricting between Censuses
Racial Gerrymandering
Bipartisan Gerrymanders
The Republican Advantage in House Districts
States as Electoral Units
Election Laws
Political Parties
Social and Political Contexts
Conclusion
3. Congressional Candidates
The Incumbency Factor
Measuring the Value of Incumbency
The Vanishing Marginals
Sources of the Incumbency Advantage
The Institutional Characteristics of Congress
Changes in Voting Behavior
Constituency Service
The Variability of the Incumbency Advantage
Discouraging the Opposition
Money in Congressional Elections
The Connection between Money and Success
Why Campaign Money Is More Important to Challengers Than to Incumbents
The Career in the District
Motivating Challengers
4. Congressional Campaigns
Campaign Money
Contributions to Candidates
PACs
PACs and the Pivotal 1994 Election
Party Money
Contributions from Other Members of Congress
Self-Financing by Candidate
Fund-Raising Tactics and Donors
Independent, Voter-Education, and Issue-Advocacy Campaigns
Campaign Organizations
Campaign Strategies
Campaign Media
Personal Campaigning
Campaign Messages
Challengers’ Campaigns
Going Negative
Incumbents’ Campaigns
Candidates for Open Seats
Senate Campaigns
Manipulating Turnout
Conclusion
5. Congressional Voters
Turnout in Congressional Elections
Who Votes?
Partisanship in Congressional Elections
Alternative Interpretations of Party Identification
Partisanship and Voting
Partisanship and Incumbency
Information and Voting
Recall and Recognition of Candidates
Contacting Voters
Changing Evaluations of Incumbents
Issues in Congressional Elections
6. National Politics and Congressional Elections
Political Interpretations of Congressional Elections
Models of Aggregate Congressional Election Results
Presidential Coattails
National Conditions and Strategic Politics
Campaign Themes
House Elections, 1992–2014
1992–2000
2002–2010
2012 and 2014
Senate Elections, 1992–2014
1992–2000
2002–2010
2012 and 2014
Conclusion
7. Elections, Representation, and the Politics of Congress
Representation
Policy Congruence
The Changing Relationship between Constituencies and Roll-Call Votes
Constituents, Interests, and Causes
Representation by Referendum
Descriptive Representation
Policy Consequences
Particularism
Serving the Organized
Responsiveness without Responsibility
The Congressional Parties: Decline and Revival
The Revival of Party Cohesion, 1980–2014
Ideological Polarization in Congress and the Electorate
Polarization in Presidential Support
Party Polarization: The Electoral Connection
Diverging Electoral Constituencies
Chicken or Egg?
The Downside of Strong Party Government
The Public’s Evaluations of Congress
Reforming Congress
Term Limits
2016 and Beyond: Geography and Demography
Bibliography
Index
This is the most comprehensive and authoritative account of how congressional elections work. It is the book of record for anyone who wants to know how elections have changed over the past thirty years, and how elections can change the way congress operates.
— Robert Boatwright, Clark University
This single volume contains all that a student would need to know to achieve a firm grasp of congressional elections… I would not adopt any title other than Jacobson’s Politics of Congressional Elections. It is the best of the breed.
— Ross K. Baker, Rutgers University
- Join authors Jamie L. Carson, Brad T. Gomez, and Jennifer L. Merolla for a discussion of the 2022 midterm elections and their books, Change & Continuity in the 2020 Elections and The Politics of Congressional Elections, 10th edition. You’ve seen the results from Election Day, but tune in to this webinar to dig deeper into an analysis of how this election cycle compares with what political scientists expected and with past elections. The panelists will discuss the new partisan balance of power in Congress, who turned out to vote, what issues mattered, and what the results mean for the future of governing the American polity.