As students and scholars have come to expect from this classic reader, Dodd and Oppenheimer's winning team of distinguished scholars delivers the most up-to-date, accessible, and cutting-edge research on the development of the modern Congress. Over the course of seven editions, this innovative volume was the first to detail and assess the reforms of the 1970s, to trace the rise of a new congressional oligarchy in the 1980s, to recognize the Democrats' tenuous hold on congressional power in the early 1990s, and to chart the historic significance and impact of the new Republican Congress of the past decade. Ever on the forefront of the field, the eighth edition assesses how Congress is responding to the challenges of a new century, from campaign finance reform, heightened partisanship, and renewed deficit spending to international terrorism and the expanding political role of ethnic and racial minorities. In addition to Dodd and Oppenheimer's timely and cogent assessment of the 2004 elections, contributions--thirteen new to this edition and five completely revised--reflect original scholarship, place new developments within broader historical perspective, and consider the future direction of Congress.