The function of the U.S. House of Representatives is to serve as the body of government closest to ordinary citizens, reflecting their needs and desires. Yet, over the past decade, the House's drift from its roots has given rise to Republicans' ability to capture control of the chamber from a 40-year Democratic rule. Factors including House rules that have curtailed dissent and more powerful party leaders perpetuate this national divide This book shows how average Americans have little say over what happens in the House, and what can be done about it.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this lucidly written and thoroughly researched first book, Washington Post reporter and D.C. native Eilperin posits that, beginning with Newt Gingrich's nomination as House Speaker in 1994, warlike tactics, manipulation and strategic takeovers have replaced compromise within the House of Representatives, consequently polarizing America's two major parties and leaving the views of its ordinary citizens underrepresented. Eilperin portrays Gingrich as an intimidating, conflicted and sometimes disturbing figure who consolidated Republican power early in his tenure, strong-arming committee chairmen and even soliciting political advice from friend Joe Paterno, the Penn State football coach. To maintain control, the Republican leadership uses loopholes in the system, such as introducing bills so late that representatives don't have time to review them before voting. And the Democrats are shown responding in kind, sticking with their own and ranting bitterly about the Republican House majority. Eilperin's years of experience as a House reporter show in her well-chosen and insightful quotations from lawmakers and commentators, her buoyant prose and the wide scope of her argument. Her portrayal of the fallen House is utterly convincing, but Eilperin ends hopefully, with a look toward what's necessary to restore balance. This exemplary volume is a good bet for anyone wanting an insider's view of America's corridors of power. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Eilperin adds to our understanding of Congress, and as a short history of the House Fight Club Politics should be required reading for political-science students, news editors and reporters, as well as [political] junkies. (Kaplan, Jonathan E. The Hill )
Partisanship and incivility are hardly novel phenomena in American politics. The new ingredient seems to be ideological polarization. Among politicans, there are fewer and fewer conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans, and "centrists" are a disappearing breed. In Fight Club Politics, Juliet Eilperin investigates the relationship between polarization, partisanship, and incivility in contemporary politics and explores its consequences for the day to day workings of the House of Representatives. Neither Democrats nor Republicans will agree with everything she says on controversial questions such as redistricting, but anyone who reads the book carefully will find in it important insights as well as provocative suggestions for restoring civility in "the people's House." (Robert George )
It would be difficult to be more fair and balanced than Eilperin has been. . . . While she finds both Republicans and Democrats at fault for the current state of affairs, her journalistic analysis of the 'dysfunctional' House hold Republicans responsible, in particular, for failing to honor their promises. (Findlaw )
Today's House of Representatives is a more brittle, rigid and combative institution than anything earlier generations could have imagined—or the Founding Fathers desired. Juliet Eilperin, who knows the place well, tells what has transformed it—and what the costs and consequences have been. You'll understand the House much better when you see it through her eyes. (Broder, David S. )
If you hate the left-right rancor of American politics, this book compellingly tells you how it came about—and what it will take to recreate a civil House of Representatives dedicated to solving America's problems. (Morton Kondracke )
The Washington Post embedded Juliet Eilperin on Capitol Hill for the embattled first years of the on-going Republican so-called revolution. Fight Club Politics is a distillation of her dispatches from the trenches of the House of Representatives, giving many gruesome details about who did what to whom. Readers can learn here why Congressional politics these days is not for sissies, and only occasionally for the minimally civil. (Nelson W. Polsby )
In this lucidly written and thoroughly researched first book, Washington Post reporter and D.C. native Eilperin posits that, beginning with Newt Gingrich's nomination as House Speaker in 1994, war-like tactics, manipulation and strategic takeovers have replaced compromise within the House of Representatives, consequently polarizing America's two major parties and leaving the views of its ordinary citizens underrepresented. Eilperin portrays Gingrich as an intimidating, conflicted and sometimes disturbing figure who consolidated Republican power early in his tenure, strong-arming committee chairmen and even soliciting political advice from friend Joe Paterno, the Penn State football coach. To maintain control, the Republican leadership uses loopholes in the system, such as introducing bills so late that representatives don't have time to review them before voting. And the Democrats are shown responding in kind, sticking with their own and ranting bitterly about the Republican House majority. Eilperin's years of experience as a House reporter show in her well-chosen and insightful quotations from lawmakers and commentators, her buoyant prose and the wide scope of her argument. Her portrayal of the fallen House is utterly convincing, but Eilperin ends hopefully, with a look toward what's necessary to restore balance. This exemplary volume is a good bet for anyone wanting an insider's view of America's corridors of power. (Publishers Weekly )
In her years reporting on the House, Eilperin discovered many of [Congress's] dysfunctions, maladies that she describes accurately and admirably. (Washington Post Book World )
Fight Club Politics is a nice complement to much of the academic work in recent years on the causes of declining electoral competition and increasing party polarization and the effects of these changes on the U.S. House. The book is a kind of ethnography of the transformations in the House over recent years, with accounts from many insiders and viewed through the lens of a journalist who has covered the House for many years. I happily recommend it. (Richard Pildes )
... a terrific book. I have not seen a more cogent explanation of the current problems facing the so-called Peoples' Branch. (Smock, Ray )
...a skillfully concise treatment of House politics since the early 1990s. (Pitney Jr, John J. National Review )
Partisanship and incivility are hardly novel phenomena in American politics. The new ingredient seems to be ideological polarization. Among politicans, there are fewer and fewer conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans, and "centrists" are a disappearing breed. In Fight Club Politics, Juliet Eilperin investigates the relationship between polarization, partisanship, and incivility in contemporary politics and explores its consequences for the day to day workings of the House of Representatives. Neither Democrats nor Republicans will agree with everything she says on controversial questions such as redistricting, but anyone who reads the book carefully will find in it important insights as well as provocative suggestions for restoring civility in "the people's House." (Robert George )
It would be difficult to be more fair and balanced than Eilperin has been. . . . While she finds both Republicans and Democrats at fault for the current state of affairs, her journalistic analysis of the 'dysfunctional' House hold Republicans responsible, in particular, for failing to honor their promises. (Findlaw )
Today's House of Representatives is a more brittle, rigid and combative institution than anything earlier generations could have imagined—or the Founding Fathers desired. Juliet Eilperin, who knows the place well, tells what has transformed it—and what the costs and consequences have been. You'll understand the House much better when you see it through her eyes. (Broder, David S. )
If you hate the left-right rancor of American politics, this book compellingly tells you how it came about—and what it will take to recreate a civil House of Representatives dedicated to solving America's problems. (Morton Kondracke )
The Washington Post embedded Juliet Eilperin on Capitol Hill for the embattled first years of the on-going Republican so-called revolution. Fight Club Politics is a distillation of her dispatches from the trenches of the House of Representatives, giving many gruesome details about who did what to whom. Readers can learn here why Congressional politics these days is not for sissies, and only occasionally for the minimally civil. (Nelson W. Polsby )
In this lucidly written and thoroughly researched first book, Washington Post reporter and D.C. native Eilperin posits that, beginning with Newt Gingrich's nomination as House Speaker in 1994, war-like tactics, manipulation and strategic takeovers have replaced compromise within the House of Representatives, consequently polarizing America's two major parties and leaving the views of its ordinary citizens underrepresented. Eilperin portrays Gingrich as an intimidating, conflicted and sometimes disturbing figure who consolidated Republican power early in his tenure, strong-arming committee chairmen and even soliciting political advice from friend Joe Paterno, the Penn State football coach. To maintain control, the Republican leadership uses loopholes in the system, such as introducing bills so late that representatives don't have time to review them before voting. And the Democrats are shown responding in kind, sticking with their own and ranting bitterly about the Republican House majority. Eilperin's years of experience as a House reporter show in her well-chosen and insightful quotations from lawmakers and commentators, her buoyant prose and the wide scope of her argument. Her portrayal of the fallen House is utterly convincing, but Eilperin ends hopefully, with a look toward what's necessary to restore balance. This exemplary volume is a good bet for anyone wanting an insider's view of America's corridors of power. (Publishers Weekly )
In her years reporting on the House, Eilperin discovered many of [Congress's] dysfunctions, maladies that she describes accurately and admirably. (Washington Post Book World )
Fight Club Politics is a nice complement to much of the academic work in recent years on the causes of declining electoral competition and increasing party polarization and the effects of these changes on the U.S. House. The book is a kind of ethnography of the transformations in the House over recent years, with accounts from many insiders and viewed through the lens of a journalist who has covered the House for many years. I happily recommend it. (Richard Pildes )
... a terrific book. I have not seen a more cogent explanation of the current problems facing the so-called Peoples' Branch. (Smock, Ray )
...a skillfully concise treatment of House politics since the early 1990s. (Pitney Jr, John J. National Review )
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Explains Why the House is so Extreme,
By
This review is from: Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society) (Hardcover)
The creation of politically safe, more ideologically tilted congressional seats through redistricting has cemented the Republican hold on power and made the House of Representatives unrepresentative - so charges Eilperin in "Fight Club Politics." Republicans take about two-thirds of committee seats, even though they had only 52.9% of the vote in '94. Another "innovation" was having leadership PACs dole out money, instead of challengers, junior lawmakers, and possibly more independent lawmakers.
Thirty years ago new members were more likely to move their families to D.C., eager to become part of the social scene. Families often socialized with each other, regardless of party. This lifestyle disappeared in the late '80's and early '90s - especially after Armey and Gingrich warned the Class of '94 to keep their families away from the D.C. The intent was to focus on one's district, and members became "Tuesday to Thursday" legislators. Rather than seeking a comfortable bipartisan majority for their initiatives, GOP leaders now focus on securing 218 votes on their side so they can craft bills as conservative as possible. Thus, the Democrats have become irrelevant. Given the Republicans' slight majority, floor amendments are banned 78% of the time. Sixty percent of all bills are exempted from the requirement of at least 48 hours to review bills, and nearly 40% come off the printer after 8 P.M. (Result: Democrats had one hour before the vote on a 3,000 page $1 trillion budget bill.) House tradition dictated that the minority party got to send delegates of its choice to conference committees - no longer. Term-limiting committee chairs, and filling those positions via leadership decision (vs. seniority) has further augmented leadership power. Members now are also required to donate campaign funds to retain choice assignments. Bottom Line: Gerrymandering + closed primaries creates much more extreme politics with a focus on primaries. Fixing the problem will require an end to gerrymandering. Several states have done this, Iowa being the most obvious, but there is a long way to go.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A smart look at what happened in Congress,
By
This review is from: Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society) (Hardcover)
This is an uncommonly good book. It helps us understand -- from the inside -- why the House of Representatives is so much more partisan, mean-spirited, and intractable than in times past. Founders like James Madison fully intended the House to be rough-and-tumble compared to the Senate, but nothing like what has transpired since 1994. They planned for much higher turnover than today's members who are almost single-minded about preserving the perquisites of incumbancy and their own seats.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
insightful and enjoyable,
By Karen F. (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society) (Hardcover)
This book is a pleasure to read, offering insightful and amusing anecdotes and quotes gathered personally by the author. For veterans of Capitol Hill, Fight Club offers fresh analysis of what ails Congress. For those less familiar with the inner workings of Congress, this book is a fun and educational read that helps explain why the two parties are unable to find common solutions to some of the country's most pressing issues.
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