Congress at the Grassroots: Representational Change in the South, 1970-1998 / Edition 1

by Richard F. Fenno

Overview

However much politicians are demeaned and denounced in modern American society, our democracy could not work without them. For this reason, says Richard Fenno, their activities warrant our attention. In his pioneering book, Home Style, Fenno demonstrated that a close look at politicians at work in their districts can tell us a great deal about the process of representation. Here, Fenno employs a similarly revealing grassroots approach to explore how patterns of representation have changed in recent decades.

Fenno focuses on two members of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the same west-central Georgia district at different times: Jack Flynt, who served from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Mac Collins, who has held the seat in the 1990s. His on-the-scene observation of their differing representational styles—Flynt focuses on people, Collins on policy—reveals the ways in which social and demographic changes inspire shifts in representational strategies.

More than a study of representational change in one district, Congress at the Grassroots also helps illuminate the larger subject of political change in the South and in the nation as a whole.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807848555
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/12/2000
Edition description:	1
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.43(d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard F. Fenno Jr. is Distinguished University Professor and William R. Kenan Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface
1. Political Representation
2. Jack Flynt, 1970-1972: A Person-Intensive Strategy
3. Jack Flynt, 1972-1976: Change and Challenge
4. Mac Collins, 1996-1998: A Policy-Intensive Strategy
5. Mac Collins and Connections: Policy, Personal, Party
Conclusion
Notes
Index

Maps

1. Flynt's Original District, 1954-1964 (Georgia's Fourth Congressional District)
2. Flynt's Transitional District, 1966-1970 (Georgia's Sixth Congressional District)
3. Flynt's New District, 1972-1976 (Georgia's Sixth Congressional District)
4. Collins's Original District, 1992-1994 (Georgia's Third Congressional District)
5. Collins's New District, 1996-present (Georgia's Third Congressional District)

Tables

1. Flynt District Engagements, January 1973-May 1974
2. Georgia Sixth District Vote, 1974, by County
3. Flynt Rankings of Campaign Activities, 1976
4. Flynt County Strengths, 1976
5. Flynt Predictions and Election Results, 1976

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Fenno's book is an enjoyable read for more than its intellectual contributions to the study of representation. . . . This volume communicates . . . the essential humanity of both of the politicians who are observed and their observer.—Journal of Politics



A fascinating and insightful case study of the change in the nature of representation in a transformed South. . . . The work should be considered for adoption in undergraduate courses since it brings to life contemporary U.S. politics in a way that few recent scholarly political science texts have.—Choice



In revisiting legislators' home styles, Fenno has prepared another masterpiece. His detailed examination of two Georgia members of Congress captures the change in representational approach over the course of a generation, as the personnel, partisan makeup, and the political and social context of the area spreading southeast from Atlanta have been transformed. Fenno's keen eye, insights, and fluid writing style make this a gem that will enlighten the scholar and catch the interest of students.—Charles S. Bullock III, University of Georgia



Fenno's new book is wonderful on several levels. It offers a richly detailed account of how two different congressmen pursued electoral careers in the same part of Georgia in the 1970s and 1990s. It revisits questions and themes first addressed in his earlier classic, Home Style, analyzing why and how home styles have changed. It also helps us to grasp the profound and highly consequential changes in southern politics over the past generation. Essential and thoroughly enjoyable reading for everyone who wants to understand the contemporary Congress.—Gary C. Jacobson, University of California, San Diego



Richard F. Fenno's Congress at the Grassroots is a masterpiece of political analysis that will delight any reader interested in the real world of politics and government. Through the intensive study of two representatives, he brilliantly brings to life the "old southern politics" of Democratic domination and the "new southern politics" of genuine two-party competition. Moreover, Fenno shows the emergence of a very conservative, "policy-centered" southern Republicanism that has helped to generate highly polarized partisanship in the modern House of Representatives. This beautifully written book is indispensable for students of Congress and the South.—Merle Black, coauthor of Politics and Society in the South and The Vital South

Editorial Reviews

In revisiting legislators' home styles, Fenno has prepared another masterpiece.

Charles S. Bullock III, University of Georgia

This beautifully written book is indispensable for students of Congress and the South.

Merle Black, coauthor of "Politics and Society in the South" and "The Vital South"

"In revisiting legislators' home styles, Fenno has prepared another masterpiece.

Charles S. Bullock III, University of Georgia"

"This beautifully written book is indispensable for students of Congress and the South.

Merle Black, coauthor of "Politics and Society in the South" and "The Vital South""

A fascinating and insightful case study of the change in the nature of representation in a transformed South.

"Choice"

Fenno's book is an enjoyable read for more than its intellectual contributions to the study of representation.

"Journal of Politics"

From the Publisher