The citizen and government connection needs to be encouraged. American legislators generally agree that their constituents often feel disconnected from government. But other than responding to telephone calls or personal requests, legislators are often at a loss about how to strengthen the citizen connection. There are some exciting programs that are aimed at doing just that.--Publisher's description.

One part research studies, one part interviews and focus groups, and one part experience, this text provides practical guidance on preparing for and meeting with elected officials and staff, writing effective letters and e-mails to elected officials, and strategies for influencing legislators face to face.

During the 1990s, many members of the House of Representatives could be characterized as citizen legislators - they either voluntarily limited their term in office or they had no prior political experience. Representing America compares the representational styles of these legislators with the professional legislators, who make a career out of being a legislator, elected at the time.

Lawrence Rothenberg examines some of the most elusive aspects of interest group operations through an in-depth study of one of the largest interest groups in Washington, Common Cause. In developing what might be called a membership theory, he asks such questions as: why do members join a group? Who stays and who leaves and why? What is the nature of the relationships among the activists, the group leaders and the rank-and-file members? How do these relationships shape the lobbying policies of the group? How is the lobbying impact of a group related to the nature of its membership? In addition, Rothenberg analyses the impact the lobbying efforts of Common Cause have had through case studies of the Congressional vote on the MX missile system and of the agenda setting behind the campaign finance reform bill.

Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

My dissertation examines how and why political parties and ultimately party systems become programmatic. I develop a model that shows how the combination of relatively low party-system fragmentation and low electoral volatility, along with high legislative capabilities, creates incentives for legislative parties to specialize consistently in relatively more policy areas in the legislature (to obtain ownership of these issues). Under these circumstances, political parties participate in legislative activities (e.g., bill initiation) to more actively signal constituencies and potential supporters about their policy preferences and achieve ownership of policy issues with the goal of enhancing electoral support in future elections. Greater specialization contributes to the development of knowledge about party programmatic (policy) strengths and helps to reinforce the linkages between political parties and their supporters. To test this theory, my dissertation examines a variety of data, including several years of bill initiation and surveys. From this analysis, I conclude that in addition to the well-known functions attributed to legislative parties for solving social choice and collective action problems, legislative parties can also help to solve two other social problems informational (imperfect information) and credibility problems that can enhance accountability and political representation in a polity. As they specialize more, parties can help solve these social problems more effectively.