In the United States, politics has become increasingly nationalized in recent years as voter decision-making is now driven by partisan or national political forces rather than the attributes of individual candidates. Indeed, voters now seem more concerned with which of the two national parties will be in power across all levels of government as opposed to which candidate will represent them individually. The phenomenon has now reached levels unseen since the nineteenth century, when the pa...

David Mayhew’s 1974 thesis on the “electoral connection” and its impact on legislative behavior is the theoretical foundation for research on the modern U.S. Congress. Mayhew contends that once in office, legislators pursue the actions that put them in the best position for reelection. Carson and Sievert examine how electoral incentives shaped legislative behavior throughout the nineteenth century by looking at patterns of turnover in Congress; the renomination of candidates; the roles of ...

In the United States, politics has become increasingly nationalized in recent years as voter decision-making is now driven by partisan or national political forces rather than the attributes of individual candidates. Indeed, voters now seem more concerned with which of the two national parties will be in power across all levels of government as opposed to which candidate will represent them individually.Nationalized Politics asks and answers the question, "how has national...

This book brings together a group of respected congressional election scholars to explore how and why the 2022 midterm congressional elections unfolded as they did.The 2022 midterm congressional elections were full of surprises. Most political observers expected the Republicans to gain substantial majority in House of Representatives, but instead, they secured a narrow majority in the House and lost control of the Senate. So, what happened? Did former President Donald Trump have a ...