Thirty years after the ''Watergate Babies'' promised to end
corruption in Washington, Julian Zelizer offers the first major
history of the demise of the committee era Congress and the rise of
the contemporary legislative branch. Based on research in over 100
archival collections, this book tackles one of the most enduring
political challenges in America: barring a wholesale evolution, how
can the institutions that compose representative democracy be
improved so as best to fulfill the promises of the Constitution?
While popular accounts suggest that major scandals or legislation
can transform how government works, Zelizer shows that reform is
messy, slow, multidimensional, and involves many institutions. This
moment of reform in the 1970s revolved around a coalition that had
worked for decades, the slow reconfiguration of the relationship
between institutions, shifts in the national culture, and the
ability of reformers to take advantage of scandal and
elections.
目錄:
1. Transforming Congress
2. The Southern Gettysburg
3. Bombthrowing Liberals
4. Into the Political Thicket
5. Exposing Congress
6. A Window of Opportunity
7. Money in Politics
8. Reforming the Future
9. Watergate Babies
10. Scandal Without Reform
11. Congress in the Era of Cable Television
12. The Contemporary Era
13. Epilogue