The Jeffords Switch

Reviews / Votes

"A worthy professional contribution to the literature on the Senate, this book advances the debate on how parties make a difference in the Senate, and Congress more generally, with important new perspectives and empirical findings. Den Hartog and Monroe's inclusion of case study and elite interview material provide richness and welcome nuance to the analysis."
-Bruce Oppenheimer, Vanderbilt University "A splendid example of scholars taking advantage of a natural quasi-experiment in a creative way, combining quantitative, qualitative, and case-study materials to weave a nuanced and compelling narrative. I think it will be a visible and well-cited contribution to the literatures on Congress and quasi-experimental design."
-Walter Stone, University of California, Davis "This creative new book on the Jeffords Switch offers a nuanced examination of the role of majority parties in structuring outcomes in the U.S. Senate, since the authors have a chance to "hold everything else constant" in their analysis within the same Congress."
-Jamie L. Carson, University of Georgia "In The Jeffords Switch Den Hartog and Monroe provide a thoughtful, well-argued account of the how the Senate majority party uses the tools at its disposal to push forward its legislative agenda. ... Drawing on a variety of methods, the authors challenge the standard accounts of minimal majority party influence in the Senate by demonstrating the majority party's ability to secure the outcomes it favors. Recommended."
-- CHOICE -- P. Hanson, Grinnell College * CHOICE * "The book illuminates the nuts and bolts of structure and operation in the Senate, analyzing each piece and step individually, showing the ways that these aspects changed (or did not) after the Jeffords switch. Almost every reader is likely to find an assessment of the particular motion or outcome that interests them." - Thomas R. Gray, Congress & the Presidency -- Thomas R. Gray * Congress & the Presidency *