- Paperback: 369 pages
- Publisher: CQ Press (November 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0871879743
- ISBN-13: 978-0871879745
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 531 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,044,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
Based on a leading scholar's firsthand observations of legislatures as well as extensive interviews with legislators, legislative staff, and lobbyists, this important work describes and analyzes the contemporary state of legislatures and the legislative process in the fifty states. It explores the principal elements of legislatures, including the processes by which legislation is enacted, the impact of the media, political competition and partisanship, lobbyists and lobbying, the challenge of ethics, the role of leadership, and the linkage between legislators and their constituencies. Thematically, Alan Rosenthal argues that despite the popular perception that legislatures are autocratic, arbitrary, isolated, unresponsive, and up for sale, legislatures are, in fact, extraordinarily democratic and becoming more so. He concludes, furthermore, that the dangers to representative democracy today are substantial. "The Decline of Representative Democracy" builds on the growing literature in state politics and state legislatures. It also relies on the author's participant-observer research, interviews conducted especially for this book, and his years in the field. Many illustrative examples help to clarify the theoretical points made throughout the book, which in turn provide provocative sources of debate for students of the legislative process.
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Americans feel they have lost control of their government. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Americans feel they have lost control of their government. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a very good book,
By
This review is from: Decline of Representative Democracy (Paper) (Paperback)
Professor Rosenthal specializes in writing clearly about state legislatures. He understands the dynamics of the system and yet writes with a strong attention to detail. While he communicates the problems he is neither a muckraker nor a shill. One wishes that more academics would take the care he does in writing about their subjects. You should also check out his earlier book on the third house.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a very good book,
By Jonathan Brown - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Decline of Representative Democracy (Paper) (Paperback)
Professor Rosenthal specializes in writing clearly about state legislatures. He understands the dynamics of the system and yet writes with a strong attention to detail. While he communicates the problems he is neither a muckraker nor a shill. One wishes that more academics would take the care he does in writing about their subjects. You should also check out his earlier book on the third house.
5 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Warning,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decline of Representative Democracy: Process, Participation, and Power in State Legislatures (Hardcover)
This work is one that must be read by all people interested in the reasons behind why our governmental system is in shambles. I live in our nation's capital and I cannot understand how people can take for granted the wonders that the US has to offer. The freedoms that we currnetly enjoy are unparalelled to any other time in History. Despite this, people in our society spit on the bill of rights and say 'that is how it has always been.' It must be warned that when a society of ideal people moves to a society of ignorance (presently ours) our society will not be able to sustain itself. This is the essence of this book. People must learn why our democracy is falling apart if they wish to remedy the situation. This situation is one that certainly must be remedied if we are to contonue into the next millenium. I find myself wondering how we went from a patriotic society of John Adams, George Washington and others to a society of selfishness. We are presently a society that looks foolish in so many regards. The pamphlet, Common Sense was written to energize people to fight for the basic rights of man. It is a sad day when novels like this must be written. However, note the word must. I hope that this book does not need to be read in the future, but presently it is necessary to remedy the problem. This book illustrates they ways in which our society has gone wrong and with enough hard long thought the answers to fixing those problems can be deduced. NOTE: This is not a civics book, nor does it show how government operates but for higher level thinkers, interested in making America the robust leaaderin liberty that she once was, this book must be read. |
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