The Logic of Congressional Action

"Arnold's book is an academic rarity—theoretically illuminating, empirically grounded, easy to read, and highly original. It is a giant stride in the study of Congress."—Martha Derthick


"[Arnold] makes an excellent argument by drawing on several literatures and by chronicling events in the areas of economic, tax, and energy policy over the past several decades. . . . An excellent, comprehensive book on Congress."—Choice


"This reviewer has no hesitation asserting that The Logic of Congressional Action is one of the most important books on Congress published in the past decade and that it will be widely read and discussed in the decade ahead. Every serious student of Congress will become familiar with Arnold's argument and the book will be assigned in most every course on Congress. . . . A tour de force."—Thomas E. Mann, Congress & the Presidency


"An imaginative, insightful addition to congressional scholarship."—Daniel J. Reagan, Review of Politics


"This excellent and highly accessible book will become essential reading for those who wish to understand how Congress makes decisions. . . . It explicitly refutes those doomsayers who see congressional support for special interests and policy particularism as inevitable. . . . An outstanding book."—John E. Owens, American Politics Review


"An outstanding piece of work. This is the most important book of its kind since Mayhew's Congress: The Electoral Connection was published fifteen years ago. Arnold's work generates an abundance of fresh insights into legislative politics and expands and enriches our understanding of how the 'electoral connection' works. The book fills a serious gap in the theoretical literature on Congress, and it does so clearly, elegantly, and persuasively. It will immediately achieve the status of a book that every serious student of Congress and of public policy has to know."—Gary C. Jacobson, author of Money in Congressional Elections and coauthor of Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections


"This will be one of the most influential books on Congress—and hence, on American politics—for the next ten years. It is a very sophisticated book by someone who understands politics and who has original, important things to say about the relationship between politicians and citizens."—Richard F. Fenno, Jr.


"No student of Congress can ignore this work. In the genre of rational-actor analysis, it presents the most interesting and textured account to date of congressional policy making."—David Mayhew