Overview

Full Product Details

9781498515368

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Death of Deliberation is a significant contribution to our understanding of the contemporary Senate; it is provocative and well-argued and provides considerable empirical substantiation for a view counter to the conventional wisdom on the Senate. The author argues that, rather than being gridlocked, the contemporary Senate operates through a mode of decision making he calls structured consent that depends on cooperation between the party leaders; more controversially, he contends that partisan cooperation or partisan agreement at the leadership level is the most significant characteristic of the contemporary Senate. -- Barbara Sinclair, professor of political science, University of California, Los Angeles In this perceptive study, Wallner grapples with the central question about the U.S. Senate today: how does a body with such permissive rules function under conditions of party polarization? Rather than rehash preexisting debates, he offers a new interpretation of the role and function of Senate leaders. In Wallner's analysis, party leaders-including both the majority and minority party-play a managerial role behind the scenes, leading negotiations and moderating the conflict that always threatens to spiral out of control. Such leaders enable the Senate to function under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. The cost is that important deliberation no longer occurs in public view. Scholars, journalists, and interested citizens will all find much value in Wallner's study. -- Frances Lee, professor of government and politics, University of Maryland The U.S. Senate has evolved from norm-based through collegial, majoritarian, and structured consent modes of policymaking during the last half century. This immensely readable book tells that story. Its account is shrewd, surefooted, anchored in experience on Capitol Hill, and convincing. These days, the author argues, the problem isn't really that nothing gets done, it is that the chamber's processes of open deliberation have gotten ragged. -- David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of political science, Yale University In a time of hyper-partisanship, some Senate-watchers have alleged that the institution is broken and cannot be repaired without changes to its fundamental character. In this probing and thoughtful analysis, James Wallner demonstrates that such conclusions are too simplistic, and why the Senate remains highly functional and true to the Framers' purposes. Concerned citizens will benefit from his scholarship. -- Martin B. Gold The Death of Deliberation opens up future research opportunities for those interested in the interactions between the two chambers...Professor Wallner provides the reader with a new way of looking at the Senate, and introduces an important nuance for those interested in researching the 'broken Congress.' Taylor & Francis Online

Author Information

James Wallner is the executive director of the Senate Steering Committee; prior to this, he served as Legislative Director to two U.S. senators. He is also adjunct professor in the department of politics and the Congressional and Presidential Studies Program at the Catholic University of America.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available