Customer Reviews

Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society)

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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.

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.

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.

Wow! This book is a can't-miss for all political junkies - or for anyone else who just wants to understand how D.C. politics became so bitter. Eilperin also offers some thoughtful ideas about what can be done to remedy all the partisanship. The author narrates episodes of House incivility in an exciting way that makes the book a fast read - and it's a good thing because you'll probably want to read it again.

The politic situation is somewhat disparaging. There is often little good coming from it and it creates a certain amount of contempt that echoes throughout all levels of governance. The entire political arena seems centered around the blame game. Fight Club Politics explores the political environment of the U.S. House of Representatives and looks at how it has become so divided as a political body. Rather than joining the blame game and backing a single side, the book explores how the two-party system has split the country and how it affects the people of the United States.

Prior to reading Fight Club Politics, I was aware of the riff between the two parties, but I was not aware of how it originated and how it is perpetuated. Although Fight Club Politics is focused more around the political scene in 2006, it provides excellent insight into how we arrived at the conditions we see today. It also reveals the nature of some of the current and rising stars within the political arena and what they have done to get where they are. Author, Juliet Eilperin, uses a variety of quotes, events, and personal interviews to expose the nature of the two parties at war.

I found it disturbing that both parties would so blatantly disregard the desires of the American in order to maintain the misguided ideology of their parties. Very few people fit cleanly within the label of Republican or Democrat, but our officials pursue politics that remain neatly within defined party boundaries. Fight Club Politics details the demise awaiting those individuals that dare to step out as moderates and the willingness of the machine to replace them with functioning "cogs".

Fight Club Politics is eye opening and informative. Eilperin does an excellent job of documenting specific instances that back up her case. I also left the book with a better understanding of how American government is designed to work, and the manner that it is currently functioning in reality.

I eagerly purchased this book after seeing Eilperin on the Daily Show over the summer. It is a short book, and was somewhat disappointing. If you have read either Culture War? by Morris Fiorina, or The Myth of a Polarized America by Gary Jacobson then this book may be a bit of a novice read. Eilperin's book seems like an elongated term paper on polarization of the House, and it cites its sources in just that manner. It tells many tales that further the perception of polarization, with countless interviews of Congressman, Senators and staffers, but offers little analysis of their impact beyond the obvious. All in all, it was a good book, not great, but good. If you want to see examples of polarization in the House, read this book. If you want empirical proof of how it happened, and predictions of its relevance, try something a little more in depth.

"Fight Club Politics" is an exceptionally easy to read and easy to grasp account of the current partisanship and polarization that plagues the House of Representatives. Juliet Eilperin offers a unique perspective that is hard to find elsewhere on this topic. With numerous interviews from Congressional leaders, political scientists, etc. she is able to present a vivid picture of what the political climate is like in Washington on a personal level. While not littered with numerous graphs and tables of data to support her claims, this book is still thought-provoking and well substantiated. Countless other books are available with a plethora of data that can be used in addition to the arguments Eilperin makes

This book is surprisingly objective and avoids demonizing either party, but rather places the blame and responsibility on both to bring back civility to the House and make Congress a more representative body that disenfranchises less of the public. From describing stints like Congressman Richard A. Gephardt's "Braveheart" demonstration and Jim Nussle's paper bag display, Eilperin allows the reader a very smooth ride through a short and concise book that really gets to the heart of the matter. While more elaboration could have been included, the main tenants of this book do speak volumes for how different factors have shaped politics in the House of Representatives.

Eilperin describes the transition from a Democrat to a Republic House as one of a winner-takes-all fight that has driven each party further to the extremes. Particular incidents on the national level helped to illuminate the growing differences (Clinton's impeachment hearings for instance). Both internal and external factors play a significant role in the political climate today. Changes in house rules, the now enormous leverage given to party leaders (harkening back to the turn of the 20th century), lobbyists, interest groups, and an overall reconstruction of campaign ideology (among other things) has all helped to increase the partisan divide. Each party now pressures their members to abide by the party platform or else face dire consequences, from a shifting away of funding for a member's campaign, public humiliation, to propping up primary challengers.

This book shows how the disappearance of moderates in the House due to numerous factors has only increased these two bitterly opposed camps of Republicans and Democrats. One major factor in this has been the redistricting gerrymandering, which now gives enormous power and leverage to the party in control at the time to ensure "safe" seats, marking an unprecedented level of incumbency reelections. With so few competitive seats, members are willing and encouraged to take more extreme platforms and will cater to the small percentage of primary voters who are often political activists with extreme views because there is no longer a need to appeal to a diverse constituency. Eilperin offers a short case study of three states: Iowa, New Jersey, and Arizona which may provide potential frameworks for alleviating this rise of non-competitive districts, but admittedly, it would most likely take a dramatic event to bring redistricting reform to the forefront of public consciousness.

This book offers considerable insight into not only a period of heated tensions half a decade ago, but in politics today, where a restore to civility and bipartisan cooperation may be needed to tackle to bigger issues facing the country. Lastly, an important touched upon topic that often gets overlooked in similar works is the loss of personal contact between Congressmen. Since many now travel back and from and do not relocate to Washington, the ability to connect on a personal level to increase civility between members of opposing parties has decreased significantly. I would strongly suggest anyone who is interested in why the House seems to be so bitterly divided and dysfunctional read this novel and build upon the insights and solutions offered by this author.

Puzzled about how Congress became seduced by lobbyist ? Eilperin shows how changes by the Rules Committee concentrated powers in the hands of the Leadership and enabled this influence. In as much that Newt Gingrish may run for President and the changes occurred while he was Speaker, the lessons are relevant now.This book deserves to be read widely because of the lessons it can teach.

I am writing this review about two weeks after the elections of 2006. Needless to add, the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. Juliet Eilperin writes the following on page 49:

"...the House has always been a majoritarian institution, where the party in control imposes its vision on the chamber.

This strategy has encouraged Democrats to become even more partisan, however, because they have nothing invested in the measures Hastert brings to the House floor. It has also prompted GOP leaders to rush through legislation with little oversight, short-circuiting the public debate that often exposes a bill's potential flaws."

Let's be blunt: the Democrats can no longer claim to be a beleaguered minority. Will they behave better than their former alleged persecutors? Well, we will find out soon enough. The author argues convincingly that common courtesy and fairness are virtues often not practiced within the walls of the House of Representatives. Both parties have been guilty of pushing their weight around when they are in the driver's seat. This book should be required reading for every member of Congress. Eilperin not only cites numerous horror stories of past abuses---she offers suggestions on how to improve matters. Perhaps you might wish to consider purchasing a copy for your own representative? And yes, you also need to read it. It is ultimately the fault of the voters if matters do not improve. We are the ones with the real power. Our congressmen and women work for us!

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

The House of Representatives is supposed to be closest to the desires of ordinary citizens - but in reality it's lost its way and in recent years are more fixed on power plays than consumer representation: that's the message of FIGHT CLUB POLITICS: HOW PARTISANSHIP IS POISONING THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Here's an important survey for any who would understand modern politics: it provides a history of the House, its actions, and how past decisions differ from modern times.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch