Rosenthal brings together a lifetime of research and experience on state legislative politics into one eminently readable volume—a dynamic, inside view of the people involved, the politics that prevail, and the interest groups and lobbyists who advocate their causes. Building on earlier work with new data and recent interviews and observations, Rosenthal looks at the way representation works, Americans’ critical view of their legislatures, the role of legislative leaders, the dynamics of executive-legislative relationships, as well as norms and ethics. Both a complement and contrast to the policymaking process on Capitol Hill, Engines of Democracy proves that no one gives insight into state legislators and their work the way Alan Rosenthal can.

CQ Press is pleased to comply with the Higher Education Opportunity Act. Please email heoacompliance@cqpress.com for additional information that may be available. Be sure to include your name, contact information, academic affiliation, and the title, author, and edition of the book in question.

Contact us at collegesales@cqpress.com if we may assist you in your book selection or if you have feedback to share. Thank you for your consideration of CQ Press books.

Introduction
A Perspective on Legislatures Understanding Legislatures

1. WHY LEGISLATURES ARE NOT APPRECIATED
The Practices of Representative Democracy
Why Americans Are Cynical
The View from Within

2. LIVES OF LEGISLATORS
What Motivates People to Run
Opportunities and Resources
Adapting to Legislative Life
Why Legislators Leave
On Balance

3. ROOTED IN THEIR DISTRICTS
What Their Districts Are Like
Serving Their District’s Interests
Expressing Their District’s Views
District Blocks

4. LEGISLATIVE PARTIES AND ELECTIONS
What’s at Stake in Elections
How Incumbents Face Elections
How Political Parties Face Elections
Legislators and Their Parties
Legislative Redistricting

5. INTEREST GROUPS AND LOBBYING
The Nature of Groups
Lobbyists and Their Jobs
Money in the Lawmaking Process
Who Has How Much Power

6. ON LEGISLATIVE TERRAIN
Professionalism
Organization
Ethics

7. THE JOB OF LEADERSHIP
Becoming a Leader
The Responsibilities of Leadership
The Question of Power

8. THE GOVERNOR AS “CHIEF LEGISLATOR”
The Sharing of Legislative Powers
Why the Governor Has the Upper Hand
How the Balance Teeters

9. THE STUFF OF LAW
The Workload
How It Gets There
Legislators as Advocates
The Degree of Controversy
Public Policy

10. WHAT MAKES LAWMAKING TOUGH
Sausage Making and Other Metaphors
Differences and Disagreements
Institutional Bases of Conflict
Complexity and Detail
An Uphill Process

11. HOW MAJORITIES GET MADE
Interest Group Lobbying
How Legislators Decide
Reaching Individual Consensus
How Legislatures Decide

12. HOW WELL DO LEGISLATURES WORK?
An Assessment of Performance
Legislative Reform
Remedying the Ailments That Exist
What Can Be Done to Improve Legislatures

“Alan Rosenthal has done it again. Engines of Democracy is the most extensive and penetrating exploration of state legislatures done to date. This book gives students an excellent insider’s look at legislatures, and it gives legislators and other public practitioners a broader perspective on legislative institutions and legislative processes than they can get from their own state experiences. A superb resource and read for all concerned.”

“Alan Rosenthal’s years of observation and work with state legislatures uniquely qualify him to provide insight into these ‘engines of democracy.’ His experience provides the best analysis of the modern state legislature yet written. If you are only to read one book about American government, this is the one.”

“Alan Rosenthal is to the American State Legislature what Theodore White was to the American Presidency—the master! He is our foremost scholar of this much maligned but vitally important branch of government. Engines of Democracy is his finest book yet and should be required reading for every student of American government and for anyone who aspires to public service. And for those of us old enough to remember the legislative reform movement of the 70s, Rosenthal’s call for a new legislative reform movement today is spot on!”

“Engines of Democracy—Alan Rosenthal’s capstone book—is going to be exceptionally useful not only for students but also for anyone who wants to study state legislatures but knows less about them than Alan (i.e. all of us). It fits so many purposes: an authoritative resource on legislative life around the country, an annotated bibliography of academic research, and one of the rare political science books that can make good bedtime reading.”

“Alan Rosenthal is the most highly regarded academic student of the practical issues swirling around state legislatures. Nobody better exists to write this book. Engines of Democracy will be of great value to newly elected state legislators, as well as legislative staff and interns.”

“Alan Rosenthal knows how to put together a book. Engines of Democracy is vintage Rosenthal. It is easy to read, with a mix of interesting examples and anecdotes—the type of thing that keeps students engaged as they read. This book covers the gamut of legislative organization and politics and weaves the thematic elements together into a larger tapestry of legislative experience.”

Alan Rosenthal is professor of public policy and political science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. He has written extensively on state legislatures and state politics. His books include: The Third House--Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States (Revised ed. 2001); The Decline of Representative Democracy (1998); Heavy Lifting--The Job of the American Legislature (2004); and Engines of Democracy--Politics and Policymaking in State Legislatures(2009). In recognition of the contribution his published work and career has made to "the art of government through the application of social science research" he was given a lifetime achievement award by the American Political Science Association.

Rosenthal has worked with legislatures across the country. In 2006 he was given an award for lifetime achievement from NCSL and SLLF. In his home state, New Jersey, he chaired the Ad Hoc Commission on Legislative Ethics and Campaign Finance. In 1992 and 2001 he was selected to chair the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission and in 2011 he was chosen to serve as the eleventh member of the State Legislative Apportionment Commission. He also has chaired the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, a committee of the New Jersey Legislature. In 1993 he received the Governor's award for Public Service in New Jersey.