Sizing up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation
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We take it for granted that every state has two representatives in the United States Senate. Apply the "one person, one vote" standard, however, and the Senate is the most malapportioned legislature in the democratic world.But does it matter that California's 32 million people have the same number of Senate votes as Wyoming's 480,000? Frances Lee and Bruce Oppenheimer systematically show that the Senate's unique apportionment scheme profoundly shapes legislation and representation. The size of a state's population affects the senator-constituent relationship, fund-raising and elections, strategic behavior within the Senate, and, ultimately, policy decisions. They also show that less populous states consistently receive more federal funding than states with more people. In sum, Lee and Oppenheimer reveal that Senate apportionment leaves no aspect of the institution untouched.This groundbreaking book raises new questions about one of the key institutions of American government and will interest anyone concerned with issues of representation.
Preface1Introduction12Senate Apportionment in Theoretical and Historical Perspective163The Representational Experience444Electoral Competitiveness, Campaign Fund-Raising, and Partisan Advantage835Senate Strategies1236The Small-State Advantage in the Distribution of Federal Dollars1587Designing Policy: How the Senate Makes Small States Winners1868The Undemocratic Senate?223Appendixes235AThe Schubert-Press Measure of Legislative Malapportionment237BSenators' Mentions on National Nightly News Broadcasts, 103d and 104th Congresses239CKey Votes Included in the Analysis of Hold-Out Behavior in Chapter 5242DPrograms Studied in Chapter 7246EData on the Sample of Formula Grants-in-Aid248FHouse-Senate Conflict over the Programs Sampled252Notes255References279Index297
