Table of Contents (list of tables and figures below)
Part I:
1. Congress and the politics of problem solving
2. Problem-focused voters and congressional accountability
3. Congressional approval and incumbent accountability
Part II:
4. Problem-solving constraints and legislative institutions
5. Agenda scarcity, problem solving, and temporary legislation
Part III:
6. Rethinking committee reform
7. Agenda setting in a problem-solving legislature
Part IV:
8. Problem solving and policy focal points
9. Problem solving and policy change
10. Problem solving and American politics.
Tables
2.1 Impact of Congressional Performance on Congressional Job Approval
2.2 Factors Influencing Congressional Job Approval, 2006
2.3 Former Members’ Views of the Factors Shaping Constituents’ Voting Decisions
3.1. Voter Perceptions of Responsibility for Congressional Performance
3.2. The Impact of Congressional Approval on Incumbent Support at the Individual Voter Level, 1980–2004
3.3 The Impact of Congressional Approval on House Incumbent District Vote Share, 1974–2010
3.4 The Impact of Congressional Approval on House Incumbent District Vote Share under Divided and Unified Governments, 1974–2010
3.5 The Impact of Congressional Approval on House Incumbent Reelection Rates, 1974–2010
3.6 The Impact of Congressional Approval on Retirement Decisions in the House, 1974–2010
A.3.1 The Impact of Congressional Approval on Incumbent Support at the Individual Voter Level (including Incumbent Approval), 1980–2004
A.3.2 The Impact of Congressional Approval on Incumbent Approval, 1980–2004
5.1 Equilibrium Conditions for the Problem-Solving Game
6.1 List of House Committee Jurisdictional Changes Examined
6.2 List of Control Cases (Stable House Committee Jurisdictions)
6.3 The Comparative “Expertise” of Committees Gaining Transferred and New Jurisdictions, 1965–1972
6.4 Committee of Jurisdiction “Expertise” for Stable Jurisdictions, 1965–1972
6.5 Does Prereform Committee Competition (Herfindahl Scores) Motivate Jurisdictional Transfers? 1965–1972
6.6 Are Transferred Jurisdictions Awarded to Committees with Disproportionate Constituency Interests?
6.7 Are Transferred Jurisdictions Awarded to Committees Expressing Disproportionate Interest?
6.8 Testing Alternative Explanations for Postreform Bill Referrals
6.9 Extreme-Bounds Analysis of Alternative Explanations for Post-reform Bill Referrals
7.1 Predictors of Bill Success by Type of Legislation
7.2 Roll Rates on the House Floor
7.3 Committee Positions Tend to Prevail over Majority Party Positions
7.4 Factors Influencing Whether a Committee Is Rolled on the Floor
8.1 List of Issues Areas Examined (Policy Agendas ProjectSubtopics)
8.2 List of Independent Variables Used in Issue Attention and Policy Change Analyses
8.3 Example of House Majority Party Agenda, Using Speaker Statements and First Ten Bills, 106th Congress (1999–2000)
8.4 Predictors of Legislative Issue Attention (Bill Introductions)
8.5 Summary of Models Predicting Legislative Issue Attention (Bill Introductions)
9.1 Top Ten Statutes by Congressional Quarterly Almanac Coverage in Issue Areas Examined
9.2 Replication of Maltzman and Shipan’s Analysis of Historic Amendments to Historic Enactments, 1977–2004
9.3 Predictors of First Significant Amendments to Historic Enactments (Threshold of Significance = Top One-Third of All Congressional Quarterly Coverage)
9.4 Predictors of Less Significant First Amendments to Historic Enactments (Threshold of Significance = Congressional Quarterly Coverage or Any Amendment)
9.5 Models Predicting Policy Change (Count Variable [ZINB])
9.6 Summary of Models Predicting Policy Change (Count Variable [ZINB])
9.7 Models Predicting Policy Change (Continuous Variable [OLS with PCSE])
9.8 Summary of Models Predicting Policy Change (Continuous Variable [OLS with PCSE])
Figures
1.1 Walker’s Typology of Problems and Agenda Items
1.2 Bipartisan Voting Behavior on House Final Passage Votes, 1953–2004
3.1 Trends in Job Approval for Congressional Democrats and Republicans
3.2 Effect of Congressional Approval for House Incumbent Vote Share under Unified versus Divided Government
3.3 Effect of Congressional Approval on the Probability of Incumbent Victory, 1974–2010
3.4 Effect of Congressional Approval on the Prevalence of Open Seats, 1974–2010
5.1 The Problem-Solving Dilemma
5.2 Attention to Recurring Legislative Matters at Different Stages of the Legislative Process, 101st–104th Congresses
6.1 Do Prereform Bill Referrals Predict Postreform Jurisdictional Assignments?
6.2 Impact of the Bolling-Hansen Reforms on Jurisdictional Disorganization (Entropy)
7.1 A Typology of Congressional Bills
7.2 The Composition of the House Agenda at Different Stages of the Legislative Process
7.3 Staff Perceptions of Committee versus Party Influence for Different Types of Legislation
7.4 Characteristics of Successful Sponsors by Type of Legislation
8.1 Effects of Key Predictors of Legislative Issue Attention (Bill Introductions)
9.1 The Effects of “Historic” Amendments to Historic Laws
9.2 Congressional Quarterly Almanac Coverage of Amending Laws to Historic (Mayhew) Laws
9.3 Lines of Congressional Quarterly Almanac Coverage of Highways Enactments, 1983–1999
9.4 Effects of Key Predictors of Policy Change (OLS with PCSE)
10.1 Floor Consideration of Recurring Issues Tends to Be Less Partisan
Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving 