Routledge The Electoral Origins Of Divided Government: Competition In U.s. House Elections, 19461988

Product Description Is divided government―a Republican president and a Democratic Congress―the product of diminished competition for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives? In this groundbreaking study, Gary C. Jacobson uses a detailed analysis of the evolution of competition in postwar House elections to argue that the problems Republicans face in seeking House seats are political rather than structural. With abundant graphic illustration, he shows that divided government is only one piece of a much broader electoral pattern that is creating new opportunities as well as new barriers to partisan change in the House, He examines shifts in the incumbency advantage, campaign finance practices, the "swing ratio," and other related phenomena, but he turns up little evidence that they are to blame for divided government. More important, he argues, are trends in partisan opposition: the quality of candidates, campaigns, issues, and career strategies. As individual candidates and campaigns have become more important in winning elections, the weakness of Republican House candidacies has prevented the party from taking more seats away from the Democrats. Jacobson contends that the House is not nearly as insulated from electoral change as recent elections might suggest. The notion that House elections are no longer capable of reflecting popular preferences is, he concludes, simply wrong. About the Author Gary C. Jacobson is professor of political science at the University of California–San Diego and author of numerous articles and several books, including The Politics of Congressional Elections, Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections (with Samuel Kernell), and Money in Congressional Elections, which won the 1980 Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best publication in the field of U.S. national policy.