Patterns of Legislative Politics: Roll-Call Voting in Latin America and the United States - Hardcover

Morgenstern, Scott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521820561 ISBN 13: 9780521820561

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Using the United States as a basis of comparison, this book makes extensive use of roll call data to explore patterns of legislative politics in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. It distinguishes among parties, factions, coalitions and delegations based on the extent to which they are unified in their voting and/or willing to form policy coalitions with other legislative 'agents'. It discusses the voting unity and ballot systems that allow voters to identify an agent, and describes the degree to which those agents have been flexible with regards to the formation of policy coalitions. It also shows that the US parties have exhibited higher levels of unity but less flexibility in recent years, and thus contrast the prevailing pattern in Latin America. The book focuses its explanation for the patterns on the role of candidate nominations, other aspects of the electoral system and the legislators' ideological alignments.

About this title

Review

"Morgenstern argues persuasively...writes clearly and details both the case for his conclusions and the limits to his claims. A pathbreaking study. Highly recommended." C.H. Blake, James Madison University, CHOICE

Book Description

Using the United States as a basis of comparison, this book makes extensive use of roll call data to explore legislative politics in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay while focusing on the patterns of the role of candidate nominations, other aspects of the electoral system and the legislators' ideological alignments.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521820561
• ISBN 13: 9780521820561
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240