William F. Connelly

James Madison Rules America examines congressional party legislative and electoral strategy in the context of our constitutional separation of powers. In a departure from recent books that have described Congress as 'the broken branch' or the 'Second Civil War,' William Connelly argues that partisanship, polarization and the permanent campaign are an inevitable part of congressional politics. The strategic conundrum confronting both parties in the House of Representatives whether to be part of the government or part of the opposition provides evidence of how concretely James Madison's Constitution governs the behavior of politicians to this day. Drawing on a two-hundred year debate within American political thought among the Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Alexis de Tocqueville and Woodrow Wilson, James Madison Rules America is as topical as current debates over partisan polarization and the permanent campaign, while being grounded in two enduring and important schools of thought within political science: pluralism and party government.

James Madison Rules America examines congressional party legislative and electoral strategy in the context of our constitutional separation of powers. In a departure from recent books that have described Congress as “the broken branch” or the “Second Civil War,” William Connelly argues that partisanship, polarization and the permanent campaign are an inevitable part of congressional politics. The strategic conundrum confronting both parties in the House of Representatives – whether to be part of the “government” or part of the “opposition” – provides evidence of how concretely James Madison’s Constitution governs the behavior of politicians to this day. Drawing on a two-hundred year debate within American political thought among the Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Alexis de Tocqueville and Woodrow Wilson, James Madison Rules America is as topical as current debates over partisan polarization and the permanent campaign, while being grounded in two enduring and important schools of thought within political science: pluralism and party government.

Until 1994, Republicans had not held a majority of seats in the U. S. House since 1954, more than twice the time that either party has dwelt in the minority throughout congressional history. This is the first book-length comprehensive analysis since 1970 of the causes and consequences, and possible cures for the House Republicans' "permanent minority" status. Written in a nontechnical style, Congress' Permanent Minority? will be of great interest to scholars, students, and the political community.