Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The choices have changed; 2. Party fit and the calculus of candidacy; 3. Ideology, perceptions, and political ambition; 4. Ideological moderates won't run for Congress; 5. Where the action is: asymmetric polarization and open seats; 6. Ideological moderates won't stay in Congress; 7. The growing partisan gap in women's representation; 8. Toward a less polarized Congress?; Appendix.

Promotional Information

The book argues that ideological moderates have opted out of congressional politics because of the hyperpartisanship that pervades Congress today.

About the Author

Danielle M. Thomsen is an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University, New York. Her research has been published in the Journal of Politics and Legislative Studies Quarterly, and has also been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, and the Christian Science Monitor. In 2015, she received the E. E. Schattschneider Award from the American Political Science Association for the best dissertation in American politics. She has received financial support from the National Science Foundation, the American Association of University Women, and the Dirksen Congressional Center. In 2014–15, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Political Institutions and Public Choice Program (PIPC) at Duke University, North Carolina.