Despite heightened partisanship in the U.S. Congress and constituencies split along ideological lines, congressional representatives frequently buck their parties and seldom do precisely what voters ask. In Personal Roots of Representation, Barry Burden challenges standard explanations of legislative preferences to emphasize the important role that personal influences play in representatives' voting behavior. This timely book is the first to examine the extent to which the very same values, experiences, and interests that shape congressional members as individuals and guide their own life choices similarly shape their policymaking decisions. Burden takes a close look at legislative decision making in the areas of tobacco regulation, vouchers and school choice, and religion and bioethics. He finds that personal factors become more significant when legislators are acting proactively rather than reactively, grappling with specific policy issues, and defending rather than challenging the status quo. Marshaling both qualitative and quantitative evidence, Burden reveals that the personal roots of representatives' actions can be as influential as the usual suspects of partisanship and constituency--and that personal factors quite often have the greatest impact when the policymaking stakes are at their highest. Personal Roots of Representation is a provocative book that raises pressing new questions about legislative discretion and the accountability of our elected officials.

This textbook treats Lie groups, Lie algebras and their representations in an elementary but fully rigorous fashion requiring minimal prerequisites. In particular, the theory of matrix Lie groups and their Lie algebras is developed using only linear algebra, and more motivation and intuition for proofs is provided than in most classic texts on the subject. In addition to its accessible treatment of the basic theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, the book is also noteworthy for including: a treatment of the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula and its use in place of the Frobenius theorem to establish deeper results about the relationship between Lie groups and Lie algebras motivation for the machinery of roots, weights and the Weyl group via a concrete and detailed exposition of the representation theory of sl(3;C) an unconventional definition of semisimplicity that allows for a rapid development of the structure theory of semisimple Lie algebras a self-contained construction of the representations of compact groups, independent of Lie-algebraic arguments The second edition of Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Representations contains many substantial improvements and additions, among them: an entirely new part devoted to the structure and representation theory of compact Lie groups; a complete derivation of the main properties of root systems; the construction of finite-dimensional representations of semisimple Lie algebras has been elaborated; a treatment of universal enveloping algebras, including a proof of the Poincaré–Birkhoff–Witt theorem and the existence of Verma modules; complete proofs of the Weyl character formula, the Weyl dimension formula and the Kostant multiplicity formula. Review of the first edition: This is an excellent book. It deserves to, and undoubtedly will, become the standard text for early graduate courses in Lie group theory ... an important addition to the textbook literature ... it is highly recommended. — The Mathematical Gazette

This book argues that a significant amount of bias in representation traces its roots to the information, opinions, and attitudes that politicians bring to office. It suggests that even if all voters participated equally, there would still be significant levels of bias in American politics because of differences in elite participation.

With record low approval ratings (the lowest poll results since 1974) Congress is a failing institution in the eyes of many Americans. Is public opinion correct in judging the inefficacy of the legislative branch, or is the public mistaken in these harsh criticisms? Congress: A Performance Appraisal teaches students about this critical institution of American democracy by examining how successful the body is in carrying out its key functions, particularly representation, lawmaking, and checking the other branches of government. Rather than focusing on the institutional and procedural questions of how Congress is set up, what rules guide its actions, and how its members carry out their daily duties, Andrew J. Taylor asks: do these structures, procedures, behaviors, and outcomes serve the American people as they were meant to? Using a set of aspirations, a good legislature should strive for and benchmarks to rate how close it comes to those aspirations, Taylor offers a unique approach to the discussion of Congress, its actions, and its efficacy as a legislature. Sure to prompt provocative classroom discussions, Congress is the perfect text for courses on American government and politics.

Black & white print. American Government 3e aligns with the topics and objectives of many government courses. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens. In order to help students understand the ways that government, society, and individuals interconnect, the revision includes more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States. The authors and reviewers sought to strike a balance between confronting the negative and harmful elements of American government, history, and current events, while demonstrating progress in overcoming them. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement.

Congress and Its Members has been the gold standard for Congress courses for thirty years. Now in its 19th edition, the book offers comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Congress and the legislative process by examining the tension between Congress as a lawmaking institution and as a collection of politicians constantly seeking re-election. The 19th edition covers the outcomes of the 2022 election and subsequent changes in in congressional organization and leadership, including the protracted battle for the House speakership. The book’s election coverage details regional shifts in party strength, voting behavior, the use of digital media in congressional elections, and state-level efforts to expand and restrict voting access. Up-to-date information on the diversity of the new Congress in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background is provided. The politics and outcomes of the 2022 primary elections are covered, as well. Always balancing great scholarship with currency, the book features lively case material along with relevant data, charts, maps, and photos.

The limited attention Congress gives to disadvantaged or marginalized groups, including Black Americans, LGBTQ, Latinx, women, and the poor, is well known and often remarked upon. This is the first full-length study to focus instead on those members who do advocate for these groups and when and why they do so. Katrina F. McNally develops the concept of an 'advocacy window' that develops as members of Congress consider incorporating disadvantaged group advocacy into their legislative portfolios. Using new data, she analyzes the impact of constituency factors, personal demographics, and institutional characteristics on the likelihood that members of the Senate or House of Representatives will decide to cultivate a reputation as a disadvantaged group advocate. By comparing legislative activism across different disadvantaged groups rather than focusing on one group in isolation, this study provides fresh insight into the tradeoffs members face as they consider taking up issues important to different groups. This title is available as open access on Cambridge Core.