The world-wide sales of polysiloxanes or silicones at the beginning of this new millennium is approximately $10 billion per year. Commercial products range from those entirely composed of silicone to products where the silicone is a low level but key component. This symposium covered the recent academic and technological developments behind silicones and silicone-modified materials and the sessions were well attended of wide interest to both the academic and industrial communities. The papers from our two highly successful symposia in this important area were published in the books Silicones and Silicone-Modified Materials, (Eds. S. J. Clarson, J. J. Fitzgerald, M. J. Owen and S. D. Smith), ACS Symposium Series Vol. 729 / Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8412-3613-5 and Synthesis and Properties of Silicones and Silicone-Modified Materials, (Eds. S. J. Clarson, J. J. Fitzgerald, M. J. Owen, S. D. Smith and M. E. Van Dyke), ACS Symposium Series Vol 838 / Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8412-3804-9

Congress is playing by new rules--a changing distribution of power in Congress, a more complex interplay of rules and procedures and policy, and a new role for floor politics in the legislative process. In Call to Order, Smith outlines how a fairly stable period of reform in the 1950s and the early 1960s erupted into a turbulent period of reform in the 1970s. New issues spawned a variety of organized interest groups, and these, coupled with growing constituency pressures, increased the demand for members to champion causes. But floor politics in the 1980s took on a distinct character, particularly in the House. Budget politics, new procedural innovations, leadership tactics, and other developments made these years quite different from the unsettled seventies. Smith carefully considers these changes, their relationships to one another, the new role of floor activity in both houses of Congress, and the overall implications for congressional policy making.

Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of political parties in the US Congress. Steven S. Smith argues that theory must reflect policy, electoral, and collective party goals. These goals call for flexible party organizations and leadership strategies. They demand that majority party leaders control the flow of legislation; package legislation and time action to build winning majorities and attract public support; work closely with a president of their party; and influence the vote choices for legislators. Smith observes that the circumstantial evidence of party influence is strong, multiple collective goals remain active ingredients after parties are created, party size is an important factor in party strategy, both negative and positive forms of influence are important to congressional parties, and the needle-in-the-haystack search for direct influence continues to prove frustrating.

The 2008 U.S. presidential campaign has provided a lifetime's worth of surprises. Once again, however, the nomination process highlighted the importance of organization, political prowess, timing, and money. And once again, it raised many hackles. The Democratic contest in particular generated many complaints --for example, it started too early, it was too long, and Super Tuesday was overloaded. This timely book synthesizes new analysis by premier political scientists into a cohesive look at the presidential nomination process --the ways in which it is broken and how it might be fixed.

The contributors to "Reforming the Presidential Nomination Process" address different facets of the selection process, starting with a brief history of how we got to this point. They analyze the importance --and perceived unfairness --of the earliest primaries and discuss what led to record turnouts in 2008. What roles do media coverage and public endorsements play? William Mayer explains the "superdelegate" phenomenon and the controversy surrounding it; James Gibson and Melanie Springer evaluate public perceptions of the current process as well as possible reforms. Larry Sabato (A More Perfect Constitution) calls for a new nomination system, installed via constitutional amendment, while Tom Mann of Brookings opines on calls for reform that arose in 2008 and Daniel Lowenstein examines the process by which reforms may be adopted --or blocked.

Is American democracy being derailed by the United States Senate filibuster? Is the filibuster an important right that improves the political process or an increasingly partisan tool that delays legislation and thwarts the will of the majority? Are century-old procedures in the Senate hampering the institution from fulfilling its role on the eve of the 21st century?

The filibuster has achieved almost mythic proportions in the history of American politics, but it has escaped a careful, critical assessment for more than 50 years. In this book, Sarah Binder and Steven Smith provide such an assessment as they address the problems and conventional wisdom associated with the Senate's long-standing tradition of extended debate.

The authors examine the evolution of the rules governing Senate debate, analyze the consequences of these rules, and evaluate reform proposals. They argue that in an era of unprecedented filibustering and related obstructionism, old habits are indeed undermining the Senate's ability to meet its responsibilities. Binder and Smith scrutinize conventional wisdom about the filibuster --and show that very little of it is true. They focus on five major myths: that unlimited debate is a fundamental right to differentiate the Senate from the House of Representatives; that the Senate's tradition as a deliberative body requires unlimited debate; that the filibuster is reserved for a few issues of the utmost national importance; that few measures are actually killed by the filibuster; and that senators resist changing the rules because of a principled commitment to deliberation. In revising conventional wisdom about the filibuster, Binder and Smith contribute to ongoing debates about the dynamics of institutional change in the American political system. The authors conclude by suggesting reforms intended to enhance the power of determined majorities while preserving the rights of chamber minorities. They advocate, for example, lowering the number of votes required to end debate while increasing the amount of time for senators to debate controversial bills. Reform is possible, they suggest, that is consistent with the Senate's unique size and responsibilities.

The " postreform" House of Representatives of the 1980's is strikingly different from the House of the 1970s. A most important change is the increasingly creative use of special rules, which structure floor debate on major legislation. The new trade of special rule craftsmanship now plays a pivotal role in managing the uncertainties of decisionmaking in the House. During the 1970s new issues and new members disrupted old ways of doing business, while organizational and procedural reforms redistributed influence and resources in ways not always anticipated. These combined to produce a much less stable, predictable environment for the Rules Committee and the entire House. In response, the Rules Committee and the Democratic leadership devised new strategies in the form of special rules. These special rules are more complex and varied in their provisions and more likely to be restrictive in their effect on amending activity. Special rules have altered members' political calculations and strategies, changed the ways committees can protect themselves from attack on the floor, and presented the minority party with new constraints on proposing legislative alternatives. Stanley Bach and Steven Smith examine these dramatic changes in the character of special rules and their use to shape debate and decisions in the House.

The tenth edition of this respected textbook provides a fresh perspective and a crisp introduction to congressional politics. Informed by the authors' Capitol Hill experience and scholarship, the new edition reflects changes in Congress resulting from the 2018 elections and such developments as (a) a new majority party in the House; (b) new campaign spending numbers and election outcomes, rules, committees, leaders, and budget developments; and (c) recent political science literature that provides new perspectives on the institution. The text emphasizes the recent developments and includes important learning aids, including lists of key term, discussion questions and suggested further reading. Alongside clear explanations of congressional rules and the lawmaking process there are examples from contemporary events and debates that highlight Congress as a group of politicians as well as a lawmaking body.

The American Congress provides the most current treatment of congressional politics available in an undergraduate text. Informed by the authors' Capitol Hill experience and scholarship, this book presents a crisp introduction to major features of Congress: parties and committee systems, leadership, voting and floor activity. This text contains discussions of the importance of presidents, courts and interest groups in congressional policy making. Recent developments are also discussed within the context of congressional political history. The seventh edition includes complete coverage of the first Congress of the Obama presidency, the 2010 midterm elections, healthcare reform and an early perspective on the 112th Congress with a Republican majority.

The American Congress Reader provides a supplement to the popular and newly updated American Congress undergraduate textbook. By the same authors who drew upon Capitol Hill experience and nationally recognized scholarship to present a crisp introduction and analysis of Congress's inner mechanics, the Reader compiles the best relevant scholarship on party and committee systems, leadership, voting, and floor activity to broaden and illuminate the key features of the text.

Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of political parties in the US Congress. Steven S. Smith argues that theory must reflect policy, electoral, and collective party goals. These goals call for flexible party organizations and leadership strategies. They demand that majority party leaders control the flow of legislation; package legislation and time action to build winning majorities and attract public support; work closely with a president of their party; and influence the vote choices for legislators. Smith observes that the circumstantial evidence of party influence is strong, multiple collective goals remain active ingredients after parties are created, party size is an important factor in party strategy, both negative and positive forms of influence are important to congressional parties, and the needle-in-the-haystack search for direct influence continues to prove frustrating.

Events in Russia since the late 1980s have created a rare opportunity to watch the birth of democratic institutions close at hand. Here Steven Smith and Thomas Remington provide the first intensive, theoretically grounded examination of the early development of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federation's parliament created by the 1993 constitution. They offer an integrated account of the choices made by the newly elected members of the Duma in establishing basic operating arrangements: an agenda-setting governing body, a standing committee system, an electoral law, and a party system. Not only do these decisions promise to have lasting consequences for the post-communist Russian regime, but they also enable the authors to test assumptions about politicians' goals from the standpoint of institutional theory.

Smith and Remington challenge in particular the notion, derived from American contexts, that politicians pursue a single, overarching goal in the creation of institutions. They argue that politicians have multiple political goals--career, policy, and partisan--that drive their choices. Among Duma members, the authors detect many cross currents of interests, generated by the mixed electoral system, which combines both single-member districts and proportional representation, and by sharp policy divisions and an emerging party system. Elected officials may shift from concentrating on one goal to emphasizing another, but political contexts can help determine their behavior. This book brings a fresh perspective to numerous theories by incorporating first-hand accounts of major institutional choices and placing developments in their actual context.

Have you ever wondered why some biblical characters act the way they do? How could Joseph forgive his brothers after they sold him into slavery? What gave Mary the courage to say "yes" to God when she might have been stoned to death? Fascinating people of faith emerge from the pages of scripture, telling tales of faith and doubt, healing and hope. For years, the Rev. Dr. Sally Stevens Smith has been bringing them to life for congregations in first person story/sermons. The sermons in Voices from the Story are based directly on biblical texts, supplemented by scholarship, faith and imagination. Dr. Smith enters the stories of the characters and relates their feelings and experiences to ours. We share Cain's pain when God rejects his gift, and remember how rejection can affect us. We rejoice when the bent woman stands up straight after 18 years, and think of ways people are bent over today. Though the inhabitants of the Bible lived long ago and far away, they share our humanity. Like them, we wonder what God is doing in this aching world. Like them, we ask how we can be healed and what it means to live in faith. This book invites you to step into the biblical story and discover that it is your own.

The ninth edition of this respected textbook provides a fresh perspective and a crisp introduction to congressional politics. Informed by the authors' Capitol Hill experience and scholarship, the new edition reflects changes resulting from the November 2014 elections and such developments as (a) a new majority party in the Senate, (b) new campaign spending numbers and election outcomes, rules, committees, leaders, and budget developments, and (c) recent political science literature that provides new perspectives on the institution. The text emphasizes the importance of a strong legislature and has discussion questions and further reading. Alongside clear explanations of congressional rules and the law-making process, there are examples from contemporary events and debates that highlight Congress as a group of politicians as well as a law-making body. These recent developments are presented within the context of congressional political history.

This completely updated, third edition provides a comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and current status of the committee and subcommittee systems of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Reform failures of the 103rd Congress; new rules and structural changes; and dramatic events surrounding the first Republican Congress in 40 years are covered.