Deadlock or decision

by Fred R. Harris

"No one understands the U.S. Senate better than Fred Harris. A professor of political science, author of a number of books on government, former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and a former United States Senator from Oklahoma, he has both experienced and studied the political process for forty years. Now he distills his understanding into a lively, informative account of the present Senate and its problems."--BOOK JACKET. "In Deadlock or Decision, Harris provides a far-reaching look at the Senate's history, traditions, and operation as he explains the emergence of today's frequent deadlocks. He traces the growth and change of the chamber from its earliest days (when the first senators made a point of looking down on the House of Representatives) through the days of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, to the height of its prestige as the "citadel of democracy" in the 1950s (under the firm leadership of Lyndon Johnson).^ Harris shows how the efficiency of the Senate in Johnson's e