"This book focuses on southern Democratic behavior in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973. During this period, southern Democratic Representatives have contributed substantially to the rise of partisanship in congressional policy making. Basing his analysis primarily on data from surveys and congressional roll-call votes, Stanley P. Berard compares the voting behaviors of southern Democratic House members to those of their constituents across many issues.".

"Berard argues that the increasing similarity between southern and northern Democratic constituencies is not strictly the result of southern districts becoming more like northern districts. Rather, southern district electorates who support Democratic candidates and are politically active on their behalf have become more like activist northern Democratic constituents because the most conservative southerners support Democratic congressional candidates with diminishing frequency.".

"Through this analysis, the book expands the theory of conditional party government, an important approach to the study of partisan behavior in the House."--BOOK JACKET.