This volume provides an in-depth examination of representation and legislative performance in contemporary American politics.

1. Introduction; Part I. Political Representation and Democratic Accountability: 2. The electoral connection, age 40 R. Douglas Arnold; 3. The electoral connection, then and now Gary Jacobson; 4. The congressional incumbency advantage over sixty years: measurement, trends, and implications Robert S. Erikson; 5. A baseline for incumbency effects Christopher Achen; Part II. Continuity and Change in Party Organizations: 6. Legislative parties in an era of alternating majorities Frances E. Lee; 7. Parties within parties: parties, factions, and coordinated politics, 1900-80 John Mark Hansen, Shigeo Hirano and James M. Snyder, Jr; 8. Where measures meet history: party polarization during the New Deal and Fair Deal Joshua D. Clinton, Ira Katznelson and John S. Lapinski; Part III. Partisanship and Governmental Performance: 9. Polarized we govern? Sarah Binder; 10. What has Congress done? Stephen Ansolabehere, Maxwell Palmer and Benjamin Schneer; 11. Can Congress do policy analysis? The politics of problem solving on Capitol Hill Eric M. Patashnik and Justin Peck; 12. Studying contingency systematically Katherine Levine Einstein and Jennifer Hochschild; 13. Majoritarianism, majoritarian tension, and the Reed revolution Keith Krehbiel; Part IV. Conclusions: 14. Intensified partisanship in congress: institutional effects David E. Price; 15. The origins of Congress: The Electoral Connection David R. Mayhew.