Conflict among members of the United States Congress has been a regular occurrence throughout our nation's history. Existing literature suggests that some amount of conflict is essential to healthy deliberation, but that too much discord can be harmful and unproductive. The Progressive Era is unique in that legislative productivity increased to unprecedented heights. The theory driving this research is that the type, quality, and absolute level of legislative conflict in the Progressive Era can help explain this productivity. Specifically, the research holds that legislative conflict is multidimensional and that partisan difference, representing one form of legislative conflict, can aid productivity while personal incivilities, a second form of conflict, detract from productivity. After controlling for such variables as the budget situation, the competence of the sitting president, divided government and majority party cohesiveness, this thesis finds that, indeed, the Progressive Era does witness higher levels of partisan conflict and less personal incivility than either the period immediately preceding or subsequent to the Era.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1640 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| Creators | Harmer, Heather |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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