Deadlock or Decision: The U.S. Senate and the Rise of National Politics.(Brief Article)

The former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, who now teaches political science at the University of New Mexico, has written a thoughtful, if dry, institutional history and anlaysis of the Senate. Once a quiet club, the Senate has become "nationalized" since communications and transportation grew in the 1950s; members are now more politically exposed and less willing to follow the collegial norms that made the Senate work. With increased partisanship, senators have become more inclined to block or amend …