Incorporating the crucial updates and new research you expect, the thirteenth edition of Congress and Its Members remains a trusted resource for introducing students to the legislative branch. As thousands of undergraduates have learned, focusing on Congress as not only a legislative body, but also as a group of reelection-minded politicians, is an extraordinarily effective way to understand the institution and the law-making process. In addition to featuring new examples and cases drawn from recent congressional politics-including the battles over health care reform, financial regulations, economic stimulus, fiscal management, and tax policy-the authors also integrate new scholarship on representation, congressional elections, lobbying influence, and the relationship between Congress and the Court. The thirteenth edition also features analysis of: " the 2010 congressional campaigns and elections; " party and leadership changes for the 112th Congress; " executive-legislative relations under President Obama; " new procedures in the House and Senate; " budgeting in an era of huge de#x1;cits; " the heightened importance of lobbyists in legislative policymaking; " public attitudes about Congress as dysfunctional, even corrupt; and " the courts and their impact on the interpretation of congressional statutes, the scope of congressional power, and the reach of statutory campaign #x1;nance regulations.