David Eugene Price - The Congressional Experience

Praise for The Congressional Experience, Fourth Edition

There is no one who combines the practical and scholarly understanding of Congress as well as David Price. At a time when too many Americans have all but given up on the first branch of government as a source of fixes for the nations biggest problems, the 16-term North Carolina lawmaker and political science professor reminds us why it still matters. He conveys the reality of the legislative experience, explains what it can do when at its best, and suggests remedies that ultimately point to us, Americas citizens.

Judy Woodruff, Anchor and Managing Editor, The PBS NewsHour

David Price was one of the foremost scholars of Congress before he became a member of the House. The Congressional Experience was a goldmine for students of Congress when it first came out, combining in a unique way the best of political science with the invaluable insights of an ultimate insider. Every edition since has been more enriching. This fourth edition, filled with insights of how our politics more broadly, and those of Congress itself, have changed over the past sixteen years, and notably since Donald Trump became president, is the best yet, an extraordinary treat for anyone interested in how Congress works, what motivates its members, and how it can be better.

Norman Ornstein, resident scholar, The American Enterprise Institute

Three cheers for this new edition of The Congressional Experience! With deftness and thoughtfulness, David Price carries the story through the ups and downs, budgetary traumas, nasty polarization and the rest up through Obama and Trump, not to mention Covid-19. The book is illuminating on congressional structure and what to do about its difficulties. I havent seen a better discussion of how to be a responsible legislator.

David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political
Science Emeritus, Yale University

Congressman David Price has written a compelling and intellectually stimulating book on Congress from the perspective of one of its members. But Congressman Price is also Dr. Price, a political scientist, and the book is not simply a narrative of his experiences, but a scholarly contribution to our understanding of the nuances, changes, and inner-workings of the institution. In these polarized times, this book provides a window into the effects of that polarization on the workings of one of our most important government institutions.

Paula D. McClain,
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Political Science,
Duke University

To invoke an overused word, David Price really is unique. No one else brings his breadth of experience and learning to the study of the Constitutions first branch of government. He is, at once, a distinguished political scientist, a former state party chair, and a House member who has won election after election. He not only understands politics from the inside out but also brings to it the instructive distance of an intellectual who sees things whole. Its a great blessing that he has given us a new edition of The Congressional Experience.

E.J. Dionne, Jr., author, Code Red and Our Divided Political Heart

The Congressional Experience

Congressman David E. Price is uniquely qualified to guide readers through the labyrinth of Congress, to portray honestly its strengths and failings, and to illuminate the forces transforming the institution. As a trained political scientist, he connects the practical politics on the Hill with the theories of the discipline. He is equally focused on the ethics of public service at a time when politics seem to have reached a new low. Through it all, he conveys a clear sense of the challenges, disappointments, elations, and deep concerns implicit in serving as a member of Congressespecially at a time of national and international fragility.

New to the Fourth Edition

David E. Price is U.S. Representative (D-NC) for North Carolina's Fourth District. He received his undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill and went on to Yale University to earn a Bachelor of Divinity as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science. Before he began serving in Congress in 1987, Price was a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University. He is the author of four books on Congress and the American political system. Price is North Carolinas only member of the House Appropriations Committee and serves as the Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee. He is a recognized leader on foreign policy, serving as Chairman of the House Democracy Partnership and an outspoken advocate for Middle East peace. He received the Hubert H. Humphrey Award from the American Political Science Association and the William Sloane Coffin Award for Peace and Justice from Yale Divinity School.

The Congressional Experience

An Institution Transformed

Fourth Edition

David E. Price

Fourth edition published 2021

by Routledge

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2021 Taylor & Francis

The right of David E. Price to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Westview Press, 1992

Second edition published by Westview Press, 2000

Third edition published by Westview Press, 2004 and by Routledge, 2018

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Price, David Eugene, author.
Title: The congressional experience: an institution transformed / David E. Price.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020035052 (print) | LCCN 2020035053 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367627072 (Paperback) | ISBN 9780367626938 (Hardback) | ISBN 9781003110347 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Price, David Eugene. | LegislatorsUnited StatesBiography. | United States. Congress. HouseBiography. | United StatesPolitics and government1989- | North CarolinaPolitics and government1951- | Politics, PracticalNorth Carolina. | Politics, PracticalUnited States.
Classification: LCC E840.8.P65 A3 2021 (print) | LCC E840.8.P65 (ebook) | DDC 328.73/092dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035052
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035053

ISBN: 978-0-367-62693-8 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-62707-2 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-11034-7 (ebk)