Based on a leading scholar's firsthand observations of legislatures as well as extensive interviews with legislators, legislative staff, and lobbyists, this important new work describes and analyzes the contemporary state of legislatures and the legislative process in the fifty states. It explores the principal elements of legislatures, including the processes by which legislation is enacted, the impact of the media, political competition and partisanship, lobbyists and lobbying, the challenge of ethics, the role of leadership, and the linkage between legislators and their constituencies.

Thematically, Alan Rosenthal argues that despite the popular perception that legislatures are autocratic, arbitrary, isolated, unresponsive, and up for sale, legislatures are, in fact, extraordinarily democratic and becoming more so. He concludes, furthermore, that the dangers to representative democracy today are substantial.

The Decline of Representative Democracy builds on the growing literature in state politics and state legislatures. It also relies on the author's participant-observer research, interviews conducted especially for this book, and his years in the field.

Many recent illustrative examples help to clarify the theoretical points made throughout the book, which in turn provide provocative sources of debate for students of the legislative process.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Shifting Bases of Representation
Models of Democracy
The Legislator's Representational Perspective
How Representatives Represent
The Representational Process
The Legislature as Representative Assembly
Representative Democracy
Chapter 2. The Development of State Legislatures
Building Legislative Capacity
Legislative Professionalization
The Waning of the Institution
Chapter 3. The Transformation of Legislative Cultures
Capital Communities
The Erosion of Community
The Cultural Impact of Ethics
Assault by the Media
The Erosion of Norms
The Strains of Legislative Life
Chapter 4. The Process of Lawmaking
From Bill to Law
Committee Decision
Action on the Floor
Reconciling Differences
Legislative Decision Making
A More Democratic Process
Chapter 5. Competition for Legislative Control
Individual Competition
Partisan Competition
The Rise of Legislative Parties
Legislative Party Campaign Leadership
Financing Campaigns
Partisanship Within the Legislature
Effects of Competitive Politics
Chapter 6. The Dispersion of Interest Group Influence
The Group Struggle
The Bases of Group Power
The Role of Lobbying
The Weakening of Relationships
The Assault on Campaign Contributions
The Outside Game of Lobbying
Restriction and Expansion
Chapter 7. The Job of Leadership
The Selection on Leadership
The Responsibilities and Powers of Leadership
Achieving Legislative Objectives
The Power of Leadership
Chapter 8. Balancing Executive Power
The Governor's Upper Hand
Legislative Assertiveness
Balance of Power: The Case of the Budget
Democractic Tendencies
Chapter 9. The Democratic Challenge
The Progress of Democracy
The Dangers of Democracy
Adapting to Democracy
Concluding Note
Select Bibliography
Index

"The Decline of Representative Democracy is everything one would want a scholarly book to be--comprehensive, thoughtful, well-written, and brimming with insight. Alan Rosenthal's understanding of the dynamics of all fifty state legislatures is unparalleled. His appreciation of the societal and political trends that are creating a crisis in institutional well-being is profound. Importantly, what Rosenthal sees in state legislatures is true in spades for Congress. This book should be read by the widest audience of those who care about our governing institutions."

"Alan Rosenthal demonstrates once again that he understands state legislatures, and the changes that are occurring within them, better than anyone else. The book is written in a lively style, with well chosen examples and thoughtful evaluations of the legislative process."

"Alan Rosenthal, the country's keenest observer of state legislatures, has produced an exceptionally wise and refreshingly entertaining guide to contemporary legislative politics and process in American state capitols. But his new book is more--a passionate defense of a deliberative democracy under populist siege, which merits as much attention in Washington as it does in the fifty states."

"This book does an admirable job of providing a comprehensive yet interesting view of the current state of state legislatures, as well as a compelling argument for why they find themselves in their current state. Rosenthal is to be commended for making abstract notions about representation relevant [to readers] by tying them to the actions of state legislators, and by bringing into the discussion the move toward expanding mechanisms of direct democracy."

"This is a thought-provoking book that should be required reading for those who want to understand the nature of state legislatures in the 1990s."

"Given that the last comprehensive discussion of the state legislature was written almost twenty years ago, and also penned by Rosenthal, The Decline of Representative Democracy is long overdue."

Alan Rosenthal is Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. He has collaborated in activities with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the Council of State Governments (CSG), and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) and worked on projects and studies for legislatures in about 35 states. Currently, he is working with NCSL, the American Political Science Association (APSA), and the Center for Civic Education on the development and communication of a new public perspective on representative democracy.

In New Jersey, he chaired the Ad Hoc Commission on Legislative Ethics and Campaign Finance in 1990, was selected as the independent member and chair of the Redistricting Commission in 1992, and in 1993 received the Governor's Award for Public Service. In 1995 Rosenthal received APSA's Charles E. Merriam Award, which honors a person whose published work and career represent a significant contribution to the art of government through the application of social science research.

His recent books include Republic on Trial: The Case for Representative Democracy (Rosenthal et al., 2003) and Heavy Lifting: The Job of the American Legislature (2005).