U.S. Congress

James Eastland: The Shadow of Southern Democrats, 1928-1966

by Maarten Zwiers

PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
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During the civil rights era in the United States, the South was often considered a country of intransigent racism,... more During the civil rights era in the United States, the South was often considered a country of intransigent racism, gothic politics and hooded terrorism. Mississippi in particular was singled out as “the South’s South,” a state where a totalitarian system of white supremacy reigned supreme. Its political establishment, represented by James O. Eastland in the U.S. Senate, accentuated the state’s devotion to segregation in its rhetoric and actions.

Undoubtedly, this image of the Magnolia State and of its political representatives was not solely based on myth. White on black violence reached unimaginable proportions in Mississippi during the 1960s. The state’s leadership did very little to stop this aggression and oftentimes even encouraged it. And white Mississippians offered stiff resistance to the attempts of the federal government to implement civil rights legislation.

This image, however, tells only part of the story about the reality of Mississippi politics. When the theory of interposition and the organizing principle of white massive resistance proved to be impracticable, southern politicians and their constituents had to find methods to accommodate to new social relations without losing too much of the old ways.

My research focuses on this particular subject, and how it developed on the federal and state level. Through the study of the career of James Eastland, I will investigate how this politician responded to the failure of massive resistance, how he adjusted his segregationist views to new realities, and how he used his position of power to defend the white southern way of life.

Eastland operated within the framework of the Democratic Party, which started to lose its status as the party of the South when it embraced a liberal ideology of racial equality. His close relationship with politicians such as John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson complicated his image as defender of the Old South even further. Yet he understood that his political influence in Washington was largely based on his connections with the administration and on his membership of the Democratic Party. As such, the story of James Eastland is a story of conflict and compromise with the federal government, the Democrats, and the agenda of the civil rights movement.

The Precipice of Disunion: The Nullification Crisis of 1832-3

by Chip Schroeder

The Nullification Crisis was a controversy ostensibly caused by the federal government’s tariffs of 1828 and 1832 that... more The Nullification Crisis was a controversy ostensibly caused by the federal government’s tariffs of 1828 and 1832 that strained the Southern economy more than it was already being hurt by the recession that began in 1819. The passage of these tariffs in Congress—one under President John Quincy Adams; the other under President Andrew Jackson—proved to some South Carolinians that their interests were being surrendered to the will of the majority. South Carolinians therefore looked back into the nation’s history to find a way to restore their liberties under the flag of Thomas Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolutions and James Madison’s Virginia Resolutions. The resulting conflict divided South Carolina between nullifiers and unionists, brought the nation to the precipice of disunion, and laid the roots for a country divided on sectional lines.

Waismel-Manor, Israel & Tsfati, Yariv. 2011. Do Attractive Congresspersons Get More Media Coverage? Political Communication, 28, 440-463.

by Israel Waismel Manor

Based on psychological research on the attractiveness effect, this study investigated the role of legislators’... more Based on psychological research on the attractiveness effect, this study investigated the role of legislators’ physical attractiveness in shaping the amount of their news coverage. The physical attractiveness of members of the first session of the 110th U.S. Congress was evaluated by non-American college students. Computerized searches in news transcripts archived in Lexis-Nexis were used to determine the number of times each of the representatives appeared on national TV news, radio, and newspapers. Multivariate analysis, controlling for a host of predictors of coverage (e.g., seniority, state size, number of bills sponsored by members, number of press releases sponsored,
members’ ideology and extremity, and assignment to a prestigious committee), demonstrated that televised news coverage was associated with the measure of physical
attractiveness. Possible mechanisms underlying the association were empirically explored.

The Duty of a Christian Nation: The Irish Famine and the U.S. Congress

by James Farrell

A study of the Biblical themes and Christian perspectives that informed the debate over an American appropriation of relief aid for Ireland during the Great Famine of 1847.

Slavery and the Meaning of America, 1819-1833

by Robert Pierce Forbes

Kongre ve ABD dış politikası (Congress and US foreign policy)

by Emre Hatipoglu

The Virtue of Necessity: the prudential treatment of the Senate in The Federalist

by Murray S. Y. Bessette

Prepared for delivery at: The 2009 Northeastern Political Science Association Meeting, 19 November 2009 – 21 November 2009

Any examination of the constitution, whether critical or complimentary, must begin by acknowledging the political... more Any examination of the constitution, whether critical or complimentary, must begin by acknowledging the political necessities that governed the outcome. In other words, the examination of the constitution must square with the political facts as they were known to the convention that drafted it. Given the political circumstances certain institutional arrangements simply could not have been adopted – no matter how desirable they happened to be.  In light of this, and in recognition of the fact that there are no harm-free alternatives in political life (because any change within the institutional and legal framework of a polity will result in the diminution of certain preexisting powers), the discussant who thinks politically about the constitution will abide by the “the advice of prudence ... to embrace the lesser evil." Nowhere is such political thinking required more than in discussion of the Senate, the institutional arrangement of which is the exemplar of the effect of the peculiarity of American political circumstance. It is in his examination of the Senate that Publius shows most explicitly that he is a political thinker of a very high order who recognizes when and how theory of necessity must bend to political circumstance.

The Paradox of Power: James O. Eastland and the Democratic Party.

by Maarten Zwiers

MA Thesis 2007 (Southern Studies, University of Mississippi).

This thesis deals with the political career of James O. Eastland, U.S. Senator from Mississippi. It particularly... more This thesis deals with the political career of James O. Eastland, U.S. Senator from Mississippi. It particularly focuses on his position within the national Democratic Party. Once the national Democrats started to abandon their power base in the South and increasingly became advocates for labor and minority rights, many white southerners became disgruntled with the party of their fathers. Eastland and his neobourbon allies attempted to block federal interference in southern race relations through the creation of the States’ Rights Democratic Party in 1948, but after its failure, many of them returned to the national Democrats. With the continuing leftward turn of the Democratic Party and the growing popularity of the Republican Party in the former Confederacy, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, southern Democrats had to create new strategies to clarify their affiliation with an organization that based its political platform on the ideology of liberalism. James Eastland attempted to explain to his constituents that his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee and his independent status in the Senate were effective ways to secure “the southern way of life.” This argument became one of the central pillars on which Eastland based his Senate reelection campaigns.

Great Compromisers: Edward Kennedy and James Eastland in the U.S. Senate.

by Maarten Zwiers

Published in NASA Nieuwsbrief XIX, no. 1 (Fall 2009), newsletter of the Netherlands American Studies Association.

Article about the political culture of the U.S. Senate and Ted Kennedy's connection with segregationist Senator James... more Article about the political culture of the U.S. Senate and Ted Kennedy's connection with segregationist Senator James Eastland of Mississippi.

Qualified Exceptionalism: The US Congress in Comparative Perspective

by John E Owens

The framers of the American Constitution devised a singular bicameral legislative body, which invested substantial... more The framers of the American Constitution devised a singular bicameral legislative body, which invested substantial power in both a broadly representative lower chamber and a second “deliberative” chamber that was both insulated from the voters and unrepresentative of the population as a whole. Until the early 20th Century, the singular U.S. Congress changed little, but with growing national responsibilities, it sought to construct organizational forms that could address a consistently stronger executive. Since the 1980s, the Congress has relied increasingly on stronger parties to organize its activities. This development, embraced in turn by Democrats and Republicans, has led to changes that have edged the Congress in the direction of parliamentary democracies. We conclude this analysis has real, but limited utility, as congressional party leaders continue to barter for votes and, in the context, of narrow chamber majorities, often rely heavily on presidential assistance on divisive issues that are important to their party brand. Yet, the traditional features of the American separated system - bicameralism, the committee systems, and the centrifugal forces emanating from diverse congressional districts, increasingly complex policy issues, and the fear of electoral retribution – also remain strong, and effectively constrain the influence of leaders. ‘Qualified exceptionalism’ thus most aptly describes the contemporary American Congress, which remains ‘exceptional,’ but less than unique, as it responds to many of the same forces, in some of the same ways (e.g., strong parties), as do many other representative assemblies around the world.

Are Female House Members Still More Liberal In a Polarized Era? The Conditional Nature of the Relationship Between Descriptive and Substantive Representation

by Brian Frederick

Resolved: The Size of the United States House of Representatives Should be Increased to 675 Seats

by Brian Frederick

In Debating Reform: Conflicting Perspectives on the Constitution, eds. Richard J. Ellis and Michael J. Nelson. CQ Press, 138-143.

Constituency Population and Representation In the US House

by Brian Frederick

The People's Perspective on the Size of the People's House

by Brian Frederick

Committee Power In Congress

by Eric Gallager

My paper for my Legislative Politics class I took with professor Christopher Deering the second semester of my sophomore year.

In this paper I argue that the partisan perspective on committees best explains committee power in Congress. In this paper I argue that the partisan perspective on committees best explains committee power in Congress.