Our recent post on Chafetz's
Congress's Constitution reminded us that we missed this new release from earlier this year, also from Yale University Press:
The Imprint of Congress (2017), by
David Mayhew (Yale University). A description from the Press:
What kind of job has America's routinely disparaged legislative body actually done? In The Imprint of Congress, the
distinguished congressional scholar David R. Mayhew gives us an
insightful historical analysis of the U.S. Congress’s performance from
the late eighteenth century to today, exploring what its lasting imprint
has been on American politics and society. Mayhew suggests that
Congress has balanced the presidency in a surprising variety of ways,
and in doing so, it has contributed to the legitimacy of a governing
system faced by an often fractious public.
A few blurbs:
“An
excellent book. Mayhew offers a unique perspective on a critical issue
for evaluating the American constitutional system.”—Eric Schickler
“The scope of David Mayhew’s Imprint of Congress alone is simply breathtaking, but the economy of style makes the
achievement even more impressive. The end result promises to become an
essential ‘vest-pocket’ handbook for anyone interested in American
political and policy history—or the nation’s future."—Richard Bensel
More information is available
here.
