Congress does most of its work in committee, and no understanding of that body can be complete without an analysis of its committees and those who shape them. Andrée Reeves now offers a rare glimpse into the workings of committee chairmanship over a span of thirty-three years-how three chairmen operated and how they influenced their committee and its impact. As Reeves demonstrates, the chair is the most important player in a congressional committee-the one who holds more cards than his colleagues and can deal a winning hand or call a bluff. His use of institutional and personal resources affects the committee, the chamber, and public policy. As a case study, Reeves compares the leadership of three disparate and strong House Education and Labor Committee chairmen who served from 1950 to 1984: Graham A. Barden (D-NC), Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY), and Carl D. Perkins (D-KY). She delves into each chairman's background, orientation, and use of resources. Each had his own brand of leadership, she finds, and a pronounced but different impact on Education and Labor. The committee blocked "progressive" legislation under Barden, facilitated Johnson's Great Society under Powell, and fought tooth and nail to maintain its accomplishments under Perkins. Reeves emphasizes also committee development, including the effects of reforms, the relationship between committee composition and policy output, and committee voting patterns. Rather than advancing smoothly and incrementally, Education and Labor developed in stages that coincided with each chairmanship. And over the years covered, it evolved into a more complex, decentralized, and democratic organization. This is an illuminating study of three men who made a difference in our nation's governance. They left a legacy for succeeding chairmen and indeed for the House, and their chairmanships have had a lasting impact on our society.

Providing a comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and status of committees and committee systems in both the House and Senate, this edition carries on the book′s tradition of comprehensive coverage, empirical richness, and theoretical relevance in its discussion of these essential and distinguishing features of our national legislature. While the second edition focused on the "post-reform" committee systems, addressed the shifts in the internal distribution of power, and hinted at the forces that had already begun to undermine the power of committees, this edition updates that analysis and looks at the reforms that evolvied under the Republicans. It offers complete coverage of the rules and structural changes to the House and Senate committee systems. It extends its discussion of committee power and influence in the context of the "Contract with America," Republican reforms, and the inter-party warfare on Capitol Hill.

The new edition of this comprehensive, two-volume reference has been thoroughly revised and expanded by expert CQ Press writers—with years of experience covering Congress—to offer a complete institutional history of Congress along with updated insight and analysis on the 2008 and 2010 shifts in power of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The 35 chapters of Guide to Congress, Seventh Edition, are divided into eight subject areas that cover all aspects of the U.S. Congress: Origins and Development of Congress, from the constitutional beginnings of the legislative branch to the histories of the House and Senate and their power shifts, eras of partisanship and unity, influential leaders, and working relationships with presidents. New coverage includes analysis of the tug-of-war between House Democrats and the George W. Bush administration on Iraq war withdrawal timetables, updates on criminal investigations of House members including William J. Jefferson of Louisiana and Charles Rangel of New York, and analysis of the Tea Party Movement and new Republican majority. Powers of Congress, including powers to tax, spend, and borrow; to conduct foreign policy and investigations; to confirm and impeach; to regulate commerce; to amend the Constitution; and to select the president. Updated material includes analysis of the George W. Bush administration’s use of immunity from questioning by congressional committees, analysis of the signing of the new START treaty with Russia—marking a cornerstone of U.S. relations with the country, coverage of the War on Terror—including the killing of bin Laden in a U.S. raid in Pakistan, and perspective on the negotiations to raise the federal debt ceiling in 2011. Congressional Procedures, detailing the party and leadership structures; rules and the legislative process; the committee system, assignment, and procedures; and congressional staff. Revised coverage profiles the methods, styles, and legislative successes and defeats of House Speakers Pelosi and Boehner and Senate majority leader Reid. The Guide also analyzes the new hpyerpartisanship emerging in Congress and provides updates on congressional travel reforms and aide statistics and trends. Pressures on Congress, including influence from constituents, political parties, the president, the Supreme Court, lobbyists, and the media. New material explores the use of social media to communicate with constituents, examines the role of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and analyzes the Obama administration’s relationship with Congress. Housing and Support, covering the U.S. Capitol, House and Senate office buildings, the Library of Congress, and organizations such as the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service. Updates are provided on new initiatives by the Library of Congress and reforms to the General Accounting Office. Pay and Perquisites, including honoraria and allowances, franking and travel privileges, and other benefits. Updates include revised figures for congressional pay and benefits and analysis of efforts to control privately sponsored foreign travel. Congress and the Electorate, covering the right to vote, the demographic composition of congress, the role of parties in elections, campaign financing, and redistricting. New information discusses elections statistics in recent elections, the impact of third parties, Tea Party gains, and the creation of "super PACs" and 527 groups. Qualifications and conduct, detailing congressional ethics investigations and procedures for disciplining members. Updated coverage reviews ethics investigations, including the creation of the Office of Congressional Ethics. Specific investigations and outcomes are discussed, including the censure of Charles Rangel and disapproval of Joe Wilson’s outburst during a speech by President Obama. Volume 2 concludes with a selected bibliography and key reference materials: a list of all members of congress who have served since 1789; congressional election results; floor leaders and committee chairs; dates for sessions of congress; women, black, Asian, and Hispanic members; and many more. Boxed features, tables, and figures and a generous number of photos enhance the topical coverage of this definitive resource on Congress.

In this book an eminent scholar and policymaker analyzes the lessons history can teach those who wish to reform the American educational system.Maris Vinovskis begins by tracing the evolving role of the federal government in educational research, providing a historical perspective at a time when there is some movement to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. He then focuses on early childhood education, exploring trends in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He examines the troubling history of the Follow Through Program, which existed from 1967 to 1994 to help Head Start children make the transition into the regular schools, and he reviews the development of the Even Start Program, which works to improve the literacy of disadvantaged parents while providing early childhood education for their children. He discusses changing views toward the economic benefits of education and critically assesses the validity and usefulness of the idea of systemic or standards-based reform. Finally he develops a conceptual framework for mapping and analyzing education research and reform activities.

As a case study in the workings of committee chairmanship, Reeves compares the leadership of three disparate and strong House Education and Labor Committee chairmen who served from 1950 to 1984--Graham A. Barden (D-NC), Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY), and Carl D. Perkins (D-KY)--delving into each chairman's background, orientation, and use of resources. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The scholarship on Martin Luther King Jr. has too often cast him in the image of the Southern black preacher and the American Gandhi, while ignoring or trivializing his global connections and significance. This groundbreaking work, written by scholars, religious leaders, and activists of different backgrounds, addresses this glaring pattern of neglect in King studies. King is treated here as both a global figure and a forerunner of much of what is currently associated with contemporary globalization theory and praxis. The contributors to this volume agree that King must be understood not only as a thinker, visionary, and social change agent in his own historical context, but also in terms of his meaning for the different generations who still appeal to him as an authority, inspiration, and model of exemplary service to humanity. The task of engaging King both in context and beyond context is fulfilled in remarkable ways in this volume, without doing essential violence to this phenomenal figure.

From the end of the New Deal until quite recently, the U.S. House of Representatives was dominated by a conservative coalition that thwarted the Democratic majority and prevented the enactment of measures proposed by a succession of liberal Presidents. Today Presidents aren't necessarily liberal and the House of Representatives is not necessarily the graveyard of presidential proposals. What happened? Congress evolved. It all began with airconditioning. In this entertaining tale of one of our most august institutions, Nelson Polsby describes how the Democratic majority finally succeeded in overcoming the conservative coalition, changing the House. The evolution required among other things, the disappearance of Dixiecrats from the House Democratic caucus. Dixiecrats were replaced by the rise of the Republican party in the south. The Republican party in southern states was strengthened by an influx of migrants from the north, who came south to settle after the introduction of residential air conditioning, which made the climate more tolerable to Northerners. This evolutionary process led to the House's liberalization and concluded with the House's later transformation into an arena of sharp partisanship, visible among both Democrats and Republicans. A fascinating read by one of our most influential political scientists, How Congress Evolves breathes new life into the dusty corners of institutional history, and offers a unique explanation for important transformations in the congressional environment.

The Harlem Renaissance is the best known and most widely studied cultural movement in African American history. Now, in Harlem Renaissance Lives, esteemed scholars Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham have selected 300 key biographical entries culled from the eight-volume African American National Biography, providing an authoritative who's who of this seminal period. Here readers will find engagingly written and authoritative articles on notable African Americans who made significant contributions to literature, drama, music, visual art, or dance, including such central figures as poet Langston Hughes, novelist Zora Neale Hurston, aviator Bessie Coleman, blues singer Ma Rainey, artist Romare Bearden, dancer Josephine Baker, jazzman Louis Armstrong, and the intellectual giant W. E. B. Du Bois. Also included are biographies of people like the Scottsboro Boys, who were not active within the movement but who nonetheless profoundly affected the artistic and political statements that came from Harlem Renaissance figures. The volume will also feature a preface by the editors, an introductory essay by historian Cary D. Wintz, and 75 illustrations.

In the long-awaited successor to the "Dictionary of American Negro Biography," the authors illuminate history through the immediacy of individual experience, with authoritative biographies of some 600 noteworthy African Americans.

Includes list of members.