Analyzing Congress

The New Institutionalism in American Politics

by Charles Stewart III

The first undergraduate Congress text written from a rational-choice perspective, Analyzing Congress provides students with the basic analytical tools for understanding congressional politics. In addition to introducing the fundamental concepts of rational-choice theory, the text includes many empirical examples drawn from classic scholarship on Congress. Several chapters conclude with exercises that encourage students to apply the analytical tools they learn. Make the rational choice. Choose Analyzing Congress for your course.

Genres: Nonfiction

464 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Dr. Charles Haines Stewart III, Ph.D. (Stanford University, 1985; S.M., Stanford U., 1982; B.A., Political Science, Emory University, 1979), is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has taught since 1985, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research and teaching areas include elections, congressional politics, and American political development.

Reviews

[Nicko · Rating 2 out of 5]

A concise look at the driving force in American politics. Stewart's book is probably the one that I will remember best from graduate school.

Forget everything you learned in High School civics, this is the bitter truth about our form of the democratic process. Stewart utterly demolishes the idea that legislators are engaged in some high-minded pursuit of the "public interest," partisan ideological struggle, or that policies are adopted based on facts or reason. The resounding message of this thoroughly convincing but highly readable tome is that politicians, like the rest of us, pursue their own self interest. That interest is entirely dictated by the determination to get reelected at all costs. Positions are taken, votes are cast, and gestures are made with that first and foremost in mind.
What does that mean? It means that well organized groups of voters (the much maligned but rarely understood "special interest groups") dictate policy. The founding fathers called these groups "factions" and believed that they were the biggest threat to self government. They were right. Organized groups of politically active voters call the shots, and their agendas rarely comport with the public interest.

Stewart simply calls it as he sees it. He draws no conclusions, but they should be self evident to the reader. To understand democratic government, one must understand politics. And to understand politics, one simply must read Stewart.

The book is also relevant beyond the realm of theory. Stewart casts serious doubt upon the conventional belief that campaign finance reform, term limits, or a host of other proposed reforms will control the power of these factions.

I've been studying public policy for the past 3 years, and everything Stewart argues comports well with my research in dealing with elected officials and their staff members. The bitter truth is that neither facts, data, nor reasoned analysis has anything to do with public policy in America.

Even if you disagree with Stewart, you can't have an informed opinion about politics without grappling with the arguments in this book.

[Alex Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to learn how to apply game theory to American congressional politics, this is a great first book on the subject. It's written at an undergraduate level, so it's very gentle explaining backwards induction, etc.

That said, this is an undergraduate textbook. There are exercises, which vary in usefulness. Quite a few are "Here's a situation with different numbers, you do the mundane calculation."

Overall, it's a great introduction to how Congress actually works.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

much better than i thought it'd be, for an assigned reading.

[Nicolette]

One of the books for the Analytical Politics II course. Interesting, and probably should be required reading if you don’t know how Congress works.