Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the new American politics /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Peters, Ronald M.
Imprint:New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Description:ix, 320 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Language:English
Subject:Pelosi, Nancy, -- 1940-
Pelosi, Nancy, -- 1940-
United States. -- Congress. -- House -- Speakers -- Biography.
United States. -- Congress. -- House -- Biography.
United States. -- Congress. -- House.
Women legislators -- United States -- Biography.
Legislators -- United States -- Biography.
Legislators.
Orators.
Politics and government
Women legislators.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1989-
United States.
Biography.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/7997946
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Rosenthal, Cindy Simon, 1950-
ISBN:9780195383737 (alk. paper)
0195383737 (alk. paper)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Review by Choice Review

Nancy Pelosi is the political equivalent of a Rorschach test; liberals love her and conservatives hate her. Existing treatments of Pelosi are either paeans to the House speaker or political hatchet jobs. However, she is widely acknowledged by friends and foes alike to be one of the most effective speakers in modern history--successfully shepherding Barak Obama's legislative agenda through the House during the first two years of his presidency--and it is very appropriate to consider her place in US politics after only four years in the job. This scrupulously balanced treatment of Pelosi is written by two preeminent experts on the US Congress and politics. Peters (Univ. of Oklahoma) is the foremost expert on the US speakership in the country, and Rosenthal (Univ. of Oklahoma) is a leader in the study of women in politics. Their work puts Pelosi's speakership in context from San Francisco to Washington during this period of political tumult and helps readers understand how she became speaker and why she has been successful (or not). Peters and Rosenthal's highly readable and entertaining book is appropriate for all audiences from general readers to congressional scholars and will be a welcome addition in undergraduate Congress courses. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. S. Q. Kelly California State University Channel Islands

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

How did Nancy Pelosi overcome the gender traps that have thwarted other congresswomen to become second in line to the U.S. presidency as Speaker of the House of Representatives? Political scientists Peters and Rosenthal (both at the Carl Albert Congressional Research & Studies Ctr., Univ. of Oklahoma) believe that Pelosi's path through the congressional opportunity structure combined both traditional and novel elements. After identifying five interrelated elements of what they call the "new American politics"-partisanship, money, organization, technology, and representation-they go on to argue that Pelosi thoroughly understands these elements, and they show how she uses them to advance legislation. Pelosi's family background prepared her for her early career as a Democratic fund-raiser and party chair, and, as the authors show, she offered an innovative approach to the Democratic Party's campaign to take back control of the House of Representatives in 2006. Verdict By examining how Pelosi uses her power, designs legislative process, and provides representative leadership for her district, state, and party, the authors present a thoughtful, scholarly, and well-documented analysis of her rise to power. Recommended for political science students and lay readers interested in the current political scene.-Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review


Review by Library Journal Review