The Politics of Congressional Elections

By (author) Gary C. Jacobson, Jamie L. Carson

Publication date:

02 October 2019

Length of book:

376 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781538123416

Jacobson and Carson provide students with a comprehensive introduction to congressional elections and the electoral process. The tenth edition offers an engaging examination of congressional candidates, campaigns, and elections by incorporating coverage of the most recent elections and the changing roles of voters, incumbents, challengers, and campaign contributions. It examines the first two years of the Trump presidency and its impact on the 2018 midterms with respect to the large number of female candidates running for office and the enormous amounts of money spent by challengers. This edition also highlights the referendum narrative underlying the election in response to behavior and events in the Trump administration. By pairing historical data analysis and original research with fundamental concepts of representation and responsibility, The Politics of Congressional Elections presents students with the tools to evaluate representative government, as well as their own role in the electoral process.

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.