Personal Roots of Representation

Description

Despite heightened partisanship in the US Congress and constituencies split along ideological lines, congressional representatives buck their parties and seldom do precisely what voters ask. This book challenges standard explanations of legislative preferences to emphasize the role that personal influences play in representatives' voting behavior.

Barry C. Burden is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the coauthor of "Why Americans Split Their Tickets" and the editor of "Uncertainty in American Politics".

"Burden has written an important book. He argues that the policy preferences of members of Congress are not necessarily determined by the preferences of their constituents and a member's desire to be reelected, but also by their personal beliefs and experiences."--S.Q. Kelly, Choice