Frances E. Lee

Insecure Majorities offers a new and controversial perspective on the rise of Congressional party conflict. As the Republicans and Democrats continue to angle for competitive advantage, their efforts have gotten more extensive and more polished...and Congress has gotten more confrontational and gridlocked. This state of affairs usually has been ascribed to the growing ideological gulf between the two political parties. Lee s book offers the most comprehensive argument yet made for an alternative explanation which will supplement or replace that conventional wisdom. For a half century before 1980 the Democrats were effectively the majority party, more often than not controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. That has now changed, with almost every US. election offering the prospect of a change of party control of one of those institutions. Lee argues that these changed competitive circumstances have dramatically altered political incentives in Washington in far-reaching ways. With party control of the government hanging in the balance, Congress members attention on the quest for partisan political advantage is intense. Members and leaders continually work to promote their own party s image and undercut that of the opposition. Party image-making involves a perpetual hunt for issues that can score political points by putting the opposition party on the wrong side of public opinion. In making her case, Lee brings an impressive range of qualitative and quantitative evidence to bear, including original interviews, data on staffing levels and functions, roll-call votes in the House and Senate, and material showing how party conflicts in state legislatures have mirrored this trend. Lee concludes that Congress s difficulties legislating are likely to be with us as long as control of government remains in reach for both parties. Put simply, the two parties often have more to gain by distinguishing themselves from the opposition or putting them on the defensive than by negotiating new laws."