Is Bipartisanship Dead?
Policy Agreement and Agenda-Setting in the House of Representatives

Is Bipartisanship Dead? strives to shed light on whether partisan conflict is insurmountable, and to answer questions surrounding representation and governance.

Laurel Harbridge (Author)

9781107439283, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 March 2015

268 pages, 67 b/w illus. 25 tables
23 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.36 kg

'In Is Bipartisanship Dead? Professor Harbridge makes a wonderful contribution to the growing literature on party polarization in the U.S. Congress, pointing to persistent bipartisanship in the pre-agenda stages of the legislative process that have gone largely unnoticed to date. In addition, she offers valuable insights into understanding how members balance the increasing partisan demands of the modern Congress with electoral considerations. She also justifiably challenges congressional scholars to think more critically about our measures of polarization. This book is both theoretically rich and empirically sophisticated, making it a joy to read. I anticipate that it will receive considerable praise in years to come.' Ryan J. Vander Wielen, Congress and the Presidency

Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine the extent to which bipartisan agreement in the House of Representatives has declined since the 1970s. Despite voting coalitions showing a decline in bipartisan agreement between 1973 and 2004, member's bill cosponsorship coalitions show a more stable level of bipartisanship. The declining bipartisanship over time in roll call voting reflects a shift in how party leaders structure the floor and roll call agendas. Party leaders in the House changed from prioritizing legislation with bipartisan agreement in the 1970s to prioritizing legislation with partisan disagreement by the 1990s. Laurel Harbridge argues that this shift reflects a changing political environment and an effort by leaders to balance members' electoral interests, governance goals, and partisan differentiation. The findings speak to questions of representation and governance. They also shed light on whether partisan conflict is insurmountable and whether bipartisanship in congressional politics is dead.

1. Introduction
2. A puzzle of declining bipartisanship
3. Strategic partisan agenda setting: a theoretical framework
4. Agenda setting and the decline of bipartisan cooperation
5. Variation in strategic partisan agenda setting
6. Strategic partisan agenda setting across policy areas
7. District responsiveness and member-party relationships
8. The past, present, and future of bipartisanship.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Politics & government [JP]