商品簡介
Author Ross Baker is a professor and political consultant who has studied the Senate for over 30 uears. In 2008 and 2012, he served residencies in the offices of majority leader Harry Reid. From that vantage point, in this book he tries to answer the title question. Baker tells the stories of several pieces of legislation, which he watched being made (or failing to be made), and draw conclusions. He discusses, among other things, the operation and power of committees and their bipartisanship; the importance of personal relationships and “gangs”; the often adversarial interplay of leaders and their committees; and “message” legislation, meant not to pass into law but to cast the other party in a bad light. In the last chapter, Baker analyzes popular opinions about bipartisanship and its operation and meaning. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
