Legislative Learning: The 104th Republican Freshmen in the House (Politics and Policy in American Institutions) - Softcover

"Overall, Barnett's" Legislative Learning is a well done theoretical volume that attempts to understand the Republican Freshman Class of 1994 through competing interpretations of principle-agent analysis and member goal and ambition theories. -Gregory R. Thorson. American Political Science Review. Vol.96, No.1." "I found it fascinating to read Dr. Barnett's careful and scholarly analysis of the 104th Congress, which I experienced first hand in all its struggle and passion. The depth of his research is astounding, and his conclusions ring true." -Tony Blankley, Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, 104th Congress "An excellent, engaging and prodigiously researched study of the efforts - sometimes successful, often not - of the 1994 House Republican freshmen, to cope with such ingredients of legislative learning as political principle, career ambition, class cohesion, party organization, and institutional policy making." -Richard F. Fenno Jr.- Distinguished University Professor, University of Rochester

Legislative Learning breaks new theoretical and descriptive ground in examining the political perceptions, policy principles and power plays of the influential 104th Republican freshmen in the U.S. House. This even-handed book builds on the work of leading congressional scholars, and provides a detailed evaluation of coalition politics, freshmen style. Barnett shows how political environments can produce legislators who place a premium on their policy-making goals through a nuanced exploration of factors undergirding member perceptions, policy ambitions, class cohesion, and legislative learning.