Unorthodox Lawmaking

Most major measures wind their way through the contemporary Congress in what Barbara Sinclair has dubbed “unorthodox lawmaking.” In this much-anticipated Fifth Edition of Unorthodox Lawmaking, Sinclair explores the full range of special procedures and processes that make up Congress’s work, as well as the reasons these unconventional routes evolved. The author introduces students to the intricacies of Congress and provides the tools to assess the relative successes and limitations of the institution. This dramatically updated revision incorporates a wealth of new cases and examples to illustrate the changes occurring in congressional process. Two entirely new case study chapters—on the 2013 government shutdown and the 2015 reauthorization of the Patriot Act—highlight Sinclair’s fresh analysis and the book is now introduced by a new foreword from noted scholar and teacher, Bruce I. Oppenheimer, reflecting on this book and Barbara Sinclair’s significant mark on the study of Congress.

"Barbara Sinclair does an excellent job of showing how contemporary lawmaking departs from the traditional legislative process. I can′t imagine teaching a course on Congress without this text—it’s absolutely indispensable." —Philip Klinkner, Hamilton College Most major measures wind their way through the contemporary Congress in what Barbara Sinclair has dubbed "unorthodox lawmaking." In this much-anticipated Fifth Edition of Unorthodox Lawmaking, Sinclair explores the full range of special procedures and processes that make up Congress’s work, as well as the reasons these unconventional routes evolved. The author introduces students to the intricacies of Congress and provides the tools to assess the relative successes and limitations of the legislative process. This dramatically revised Fifth Edition incorporates a wealth of new cases and examples to illustrate the changes occurring in congressional process. Two entirely new case study chapters highlight Sinclair’s fresh analysis and the book is now introduced by a new foreword from noted scholar and teacher, Bruce I. Oppenheimer, reflecting on this book and Barbara Sinclair’s significant mark on the study of Congress.

What happens when a tradition-bound institution encounters an iconoclastic president intent on changing how the government operates? In Disruption?, Sean M. Theriault has gathered nineteen leading authors from a range of subfields to provide a compelling understanding for if, how, and to what extent Trump disrupted the Senate. As the authors argue, Trump became trapped in the norms and rules of the Senate on some dimensions, while he became the story to which all senators needed to respond on others. This book shows how multiple facets of the Senate changed during Trump's presidency, including the legislative process, party leadership, roll-call voting, and communications. Comprehensive in its coverage of the period and embedding it in a deep historical context, this book highlights how these changes reflected back on to not only the Trump administration, but also the very legitimacy of the Senate itself.

The United States has become ever more deeply entrenched in powerful, rival, partisan camps, and its citizens more sharply separated along ideological lines. The authors of this volume, scholars of political science, economics, and law, examine the relation between our present-day polarization and the design of the nation's Constitution. The provisions of our Constitution are like “parchment barriers”—fragile bulwarks intended to preserve liberty and promote self-government. To be effective, these barriers need to be respected and reinforced by government officials and ordinary citizens, both in law and in custom. This book asks whether today’s partisan polarization is threatening these constitutional provisions and thus our constitutional order. The nation's founders, clearly concerned about political division, designed the Constitution with numerous means for controlling factions, restraining majority rule, and preventing concentrations of power. In chapters that span the major institutions of American government, the authors of Parchment Barriers explore how partisans are pushing the limits of these constitutional restraints to achieve their policy goals and how the forces of majority faction are testing the boundaries the Constitution draws around democratic power. What, for instance, are the dangers of power being concentrated in the executive branch, displaced to the judiciary, or assumed by majority party leaders in Congress? How has partisan polarization affected the nature, size, and power of the administrative state? And why do political parties, rather than working to facilitate the constitutional order as envisioned by James Madison, now chafe against its limits on majority rule? Parchment Barriers considers the implications of polarization for policy, governance, and the health of American democracy.

Party Wars is the first book to describe how the ideological gulf now separating the two major parties developed and how today’s fierce partisan competition affects the political process and national policy. Barbara Sinclair traces the current ideological divide to changes in the Republican party in the 1970s and 1980s, including the rise of neoconservativism and the Religious Right. Because of these historical developments, Democratic and Republican voters today differ substantially in what they consider good public policy, and so do the politicians they elect. Polarization has produced institutional consequences in the House of Representatives and in the Senate—witness the majority party’s threat in 2004–2005 to use the “nuclear option” of abolishing the filibuster. The president’s strategies for dealing with Congress have also been affected, raising the price of compromise with the opposing party and allowing a Republican president to govern largely from the ideological right. Other players in the national policy community—interest groups, think tanks, and the media—have also joined one or the other partisan “team.” Party Wars puts all the parts together to provide the first government-wide survey of the impact of polarization on national politics. Sinclair pinpoints weaknesses in the highly polarized system and offers several remedies.

Distinguished by a practical focus on how federal administrative agencies make decisions and how political institutions influence and courts review those decisions, with coverage tailored to 1L or upper-level courses on the regulatory state or legislation and regulation. Uses primary source materials drawn from agency rules, adjudicatory orders, and guidance documents to show how lawyers engage agencies. Uses an accessible central example (auto safety) throughout to make the materials cohesive and accessible. Presents legislation with attention to modern developments in the legislative process. Presents statutory interpretation in useful terms, highlighting the “tools” that courts employ as well as the theories that judges and scholars have offered. New to the 4th Edition: Significant New Supreme Court decisions, with detailed Notes, on: textual statutory interpretation (Bostock v. Clayton County) the Major Questions Doctrine (West Virginia v. EPA) and the shifting Chevron framework arbitrary and capricious review (FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project) New Presidential and OIRA documents reshaping regulatory review, including: Executive Order on Modernizing Regulatory Review (Exec. Order 14094) Draft Revisions to Circular A-4 on Regulatory Analysis Updated coverage on scientific analysis in agency decision making New treatment of distributional analysis and consideration of equity in agency decision making Benefits for instructors and students: Tools-based approach that highlights the methods of analysis that agencies, courts, and lawyers utilize Use of an accessible central example as a familiar entry point into a complex legal area Primary source materials—agency documents, including notice-and-comment rules, adjudicatory orders, agency guidance, and more Empirical data, normative/theoretical questions, practical examples

The Regulatory State, Third Edition is distinguished by a practical focus on how federal administrative agencies make decisions, how political institutions influence decisions, and how courts review those decisions. With coverage tailored to 1L or upper-level courses on the regulatory state or legislation and regulation, Bressman, Rubin, and Stack use primary source materials drawn from agency rules, adjudicatory orders, and guidance documents to show how lawyers engage agencies. Additionally, this book uses an accessible central example (auto safety) throughout to make the materials cohesive and accessible, and presents legislation with attention to modern developments in the legislative process. The Regulatory State, Third Edition also presents statutory interpretation in useful terms, highlighting the “tools” that courts employ as well as the theories that judges and scholars have offered. New to the Third Edition: Expanded discussion of agency methods of statutory implementation and regulatory interpretation Additional primary source materials Up-to-date examination of political and judicial control of agency action New chapter with a case study of the regulatory process using the main example from the book Professors and students will benefit from: Tools-based approach that highlights the methods of analysis that agencies, courts, and lawyers utilize Use of an accessible central example as a familiar entry point into a complex legal area Primary source materials—agency documents, including notice-and-comment rules, adjudicatory orders, agency guidance, and more Empirical data, normative or theoretical questions, and practical examples

Party and Procedure in the United States Congress offers students and researchers an in-depth understanding of the procedural tools available to congressional leaders and committee chairs and how those tools are implemented in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and during negotiations between the chambers.