Warring Factions: Interest Groups, Money, Senate Confirmation

Warring Factions Interest Groups, Money, and the New Politics of Senate Confirmation - Lauren Cohen Bell.Here's a partisan program that is saving taxpayers millions every year: Nearly 250 of the government's 726 most senior jobs are going unfilled. Time Magazine, May 26, 1997 Warring Factions is a book about the constitutional process the United States Senate uses to approve or reject the President's choices to fill federal government positions. It is a book about the history, the evolution, and the downfall of the process. Most significantly, it is a book that demonstrates the extent to which interest groups and money have transformed the Senate's confirmation process into a virtual circus.Bell's robust body of research should not only add to the collective understanding of those who study the appointment process, but also to the collective cognizance of the American public. According to Bell, the erosion of the confirmation process is generally not a salient issue to the vast majority of Americans, however, it should be! The choices a president makes in nominating persons to fill vacancies, and the process the Senate uses to determine the qualifications of the nominees have direct consequences for the quality of governance in the United States. Understanding the confirmation process can help individuals to evaluate more fully the health, stability and direction of the American system of government.This book is a timely contribution toward the understanding of issues with far-ranging significance in American politics. Bell is to be commended for her meticulous research and for her courage in bringing these troubling concerns to the attention of the American public.Bell's focus and extensive research results in an unusually broad analysis of the role of interest groups in the confirmation process, permitting quantitative, and generalizable conclusions to be drawn.