Frances E. Lee's guest appearances

Frances E. Lee

New Books in Public Policy

New Books in Political Science

New Books in American Studies

New Books Network

Democracy Nerd

In Service of Humanity

New Books in American Politics

James Curry

Nolan McCarty

Donald Trump

Ronald Reagan

Keith Wailoo

Melissa M. Lee

Lee Drutman

Lawrence Rosenthal

Robert Mann

John Chen

Matthew Green

Phillipa Chong

Cory Booker

George Lakey

Ed Bacon

OwlTail

Congressional party cohesion--on both sides of the aisle--is at its highest level in decades. Does this have any impact Congress's ability to pass legislation, or have no impact at all? Professors James Curry and Frances E. Lee join Democracy Nerd to discuss their book "The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era," pointing out that contrary to popular belief, Congress actually operates in a bipartisan fashion.

 The Limits of Party w/ James Curry and Frances E. Lee 

James M. Curry

To many observers, Congress has become a deeply partisan institution where ideologically-distinct political parties do little more than engage in legislative trench warfare. A zero-sum, winner-take-all approach to congressional politics has replaced the bipartisan comity ofpast eras. If the parties cannot get everything they want in national policymaking, then they prefer gridlock and stalemate to compromise. Or, at least, that is the conventional wisdom.In The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era (U Chicago Press, 2020), James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee challenge this conventional wisdom. By constructing legislative histories of congressional majority parties’attempts to enact their policy agendas in every congress since the 1980s and by drawing on interviews with Washington insiders, the authors analyze the successes and failures of congressional parties to enact their legislative agendas. Their conclusions will surprise many congressional observers: Even in our time of intense party polarization, bipartisanship remains the key to legislative success on Capitol Hill.Frances E. Lee is Professor of Politics and Public Affairs in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. James Curry is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah. Their book, The Limits of Party, won the American Political Science Association's Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book in the field of US national policy.Host Ursula Hackett is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her Cambridge University Press book America's Voucher Politics: How Elites Learned to Hide the State won the 2021 Education Politics and Policy Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association. Her writing guide Brilliant Essays is published by Macmillan Study Skills. She tweets @UrsulaBHackett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

To many observers, Congress has become a deeply partisan institution where ideologically-distinct political parties do little more than engage in legislative trench warfare. A zero-sum, winner-take-all approach to congressional politics has replaced the bipartisan comity ofpast eras. If the parties cannot get everything they want in national policymaking, then they prefer gridlock and stalemate to compromise. Or, at least, that is the conventional wisdom.In <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9780226716350" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era</a> (U Chicago Press, 2020), James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee challenge this conventional wisdom. By constructing legislative histories of congressional majority parties’attempts to enact their policy agendas in every congress since the 1980s and by drawing on interviews with Washington insiders, the authors analyze the successes and failures of congressional parties to enact their legislative agendas. Their conclusions will surprise many congressional observers: Even in our time of intense party polarization, bipartisanship remains the key to legislative success on Capitol Hill.Frances E. Lee is Professor of Politics and Public Affairs in the Department of Politics at <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Princeton University</a>. James Curry is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at the <a href="http://www.utah.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Utah</a>. Their book, The Limits of Party, won the American Political Science Association's Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book in the field of US national policy.Host Ursula Hackett is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her Cambridge University Press book America's Voucher Politics: How Elites Learned to Hide the State won the 2021 Education Politics and Policy Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association. Her writing guide Brilliant Essays is published by Macmillan Study Skills. She tweets @UrsulaBHackett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>Support our show by becoming a premium member! <a href="https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science</a>

James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee, "The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era" (U Chicago Press, 2020)

Party polarization and economic inequality have had profound impacts on America’s governing institutions. Frances E. Lee, co-editor of “Can America Govern Itself?” with Nolan McCarty, discusses what’s new and what’s perennial in challenges to democracy at this fraught moment.Lee is jointly appointed in Princeton University’s Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where she is professor of politics and public affairs. She has broad interests in American politics, with a special focus on congressional politics, national policymaking, party politics, and representation.

Can America Govern Itself? (Frances E. Lee)