“With Insecure Majorities, Lee explores one of the most important questions for understanding American national politics today: how can we explain the emergence of the highly partisan contemporary Congress? With creativity and analytical rigor, she offers a compelling alternative to the conventional wisdom that increased ideological polarization has driven the conflict between the congressional parties. Lee argues instead that the ‘struggle for institutional power’ increases incentives for highly partisan behavior and lowers incentives for legislating solutions.”

Sarah Binder, George Washington University and the Brookings Institution

“Insecure Majorities is a major contribution to our understanding of Congress and American national politics. Lee marshals an impressive array of evidence to convincingly argue that increasing ideological distance between the parties is not the only—or even the most important—factor driving the increased partisan conflict and changes in party strategy we have seen over the past three decades. Her cogent, engaging account of the nature of contemporary partisan conflict in Congress will be widely read and discussed beyond the field.”

Tracy Sulkin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"I have great admiration for what Frances Lee has accomplished in Insecure Majorities. Her stimulating arguments and rich data will spark considerable theoretical debate and scholarly probing, as witnessed in my response here. Insecure Majorities is a landmark study that will provoke scholarly debate for years to come."

Congress & the Presidency

"Frances Lee has published another tour de force. Building upon her argument in Beyond Ideology (2009) (and the other literature from the last few years surrounding it), she adds an important wrinkle into the current divide between the parties in Congress. . . . Lee marshals compelling evidence at the macro level to show how insecure majorities make governing exceedingly difficult." 

Perspectives on Politics