Description
This compact guide, renamed and updated from the 2000 edition, covers a remarkable amount of material on who elects congress, who gets elected, how campaigns are financed and run, and who designs the all-important apportions and districts. Chapters cover the characteristics of the present voter (including issues of age, gender and race), political parties (including unforeseen developments such as shifts in dominant parties), representation in Congress (including gender and racial issues and turnover), campaign financing and new trends in creating or re-designing districts. Includes a range of reference materials, including interesting data on the participation of women, African Americans and Latinos, and lists of Internet links. Includes period illustrations, graphs, boxed material for quick reference, historical contexts, and key developments since 2000. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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This companion guide to the celebrated How Congress Works delivers a solid, broad-based introduction to how American voters elect their representatives. Historical perspective covers how the process has changed throughout our country's history, as one barrier to voting after another has fallen to pressure for wider suffrage. In Electing Congress, CQ’s election experts examine why only half of those who are eligible to vote actually exercise their franchise in major elections, and even fewer in off years without a presidential contest. They present a coherent picture of the demographic makeup of Congress, the direction of political parties, campaign financing, reapportionment and redistricting. Electing Congress is the easy-to-read and authoritative source that covers the essentials in every aspect of how America elects its legislators.
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