The Challenge of Congressional Representation

Richard F. Fenno

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English

Harvard University Press
01 April 2013

History of the Americas; Political structures: democracy; Parliamentary & legislative practice

At a moment when Congress is widely viewed 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.

When not crafting policy in Washington, the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are busy assessing and building voter support in their districts. Fenno delves into the activities of five members of the House-Republicans representing Pennsylvania and New York, and Democrats from California, Florida, and Illinois. Spanning the ideological spectrum, these former and current representatives are senior lawmakers and rookie back-benchers from both urban and rural areas. Fenno travels with them in their own political territories, watching and talking with them, conducting interviews, and meeting aides and constituents. He illuminates the all-consuming nature of representational work-the complicated lives of House members shuttling back and forth between home and Capitol, building and maintaining networks, and making compromises. Agreeing to talk on the record without protective anonymity, these elected House members emerge as real personalities, at once praiseworthy and fallible.

While voting patterns and policy analysis constitute an important window into the legislative process, the nonquantifiable human element that political scientists so frequently overlook is the essence of negotiation. Fenno focuses our attention on how congressional leaders negotiate with constituents as well as with colleagues.

By: Richard F. Fenno
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 30mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9780674072695
ISBN 10: 0674072693
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 April 2013
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard F. Fenno is William R. Kenan Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, and Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus, at the University of Rochester.

Reviews for The Challenge of Congressional Representation

This book rounds out a several-decade enterprise by the author to case out, document, and explain the relations of representation between members of the U.S. House of Representatives and their constituencies back home. Taken together, Richard Fenno's oeuvre is the most important contribution to congressional scholarship during recent generations. -- David R. Mayhew, Yale University A book by a great congressional scholar... Richard Fenno continues to remind us, even in a highly partisan era, that the 435 members of the House are representatives of highly distinct districts and, as such, each is a unique political entity. -- Burdett A. Loomis, University of Kansas