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Alan Rosenthal

By Elizabeth Lincoln

Decline of Representative Democracy

Many are saddened to read in today's New York Times the obituary of Alan Rosenthal, political science professor at Rutgers University, and, more importantly, longtime advocate for strong legislative bodies and prolific writer on the topic. The Times characterizes him as "a political scientist whose ardent belief in representative democracy led him to help reshape and strengthen state legislatures across the country and to criticize their excesses and ethical infirmities."

The Legislative Reference Library has a large collection of his always popular books about legislatures, legislators, and government:

  • The Best Job in Politics:Exploring How Governors Succeed as Policy Leaders.  Sage/CQ Press, 2013.
  • The Case for Representative Democracy: What Americans Should Know About Their Legislatures.  NCSL, 2001.
  • The Decline of Representative Democracy: Process, Participation, and Power in State Legislatures.  CQ Press, 1998.
  • Drawing the Line: Legislative Ethics in the States.  University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
  • The Ethics Process in State Legislatures: Disciplining Members in a Public Forum.  NCSL, 1999.
  • Engines of Democracy: Politics & Policymaking in State Legislatures.  CQ Press, 2009.
  • Governors and Legislatures: Contending Powers.  CQ Press, 1990.
  • Heavy Lifting: the Job of the American Legislature.  CQ Press, 1990.
  • Legislative Education Leadership in the States, Institute for Educational Leadership, 1981.
  • Legislative Life: People, Process, and Performance in the States.  Harper & Row, 1981.
  • Legislative Performance in the States: Explorations of Committee Behavior.  Free Press, 1974.
  • Republic on Trial: the Case for Representative Democracy.  CQ Press, 2003.
  • Strengthening the States: Essays on Legislative Reform.  CQ Press, 1971.
  • The Third House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States.  CQ Press, 1993.

Call (651-296-8338) or email the Library to borrow any of Alan Rosenthal's books.