佩洛西

 书评

Peters, Ronald M., and Cindy Simon Rosenthal.(2010).议长南希-佩洛西和新美国政治。New York:牛津大学出版社，336页，29.95美元，ISBN 978-0-19-538373-7。

在《南希-佩洛西议长和新美国政治》中，罗纳德-M-彼得斯和辛迪-西蒙-罗森塔尔对南希-佩洛西的职业生涯进行了丰富和高度详细的分析，她是第一位担任美国众议院议长的女性。该书结合了精英访谈（包括对议长佩洛西本人的访谈）、比较统计数据以及深入而全面的叙述，不仅揭示了佩洛西如何改变了我们对权力的印象，而且还揭示了她如何以前所未有的方式扩大了议长的机构权力。虽然佩洛西是唯一一位担任过众议院议长的女性，但作者表明，"她的故事说明了每一位追求政治道路的女性所面临的许多曲折"（194）。

研究佩洛西很重要，因为她是历史上的第一人，但彼得斯和罗森塔尔并不只是提供一个传记。作者将她的议长身份置于更广泛的背景之中。彼得斯和罗森塔尔提供了一个大画面，描述了 "新美国政治 "以及塑造佩洛西的职业生涯的更大的历史和政治力量，包括在国会中日益激烈的党派斗争以及金钱、技术和新媒体在竞选中日益重要。这种新美国政治的要素为评估佩洛西作为议长的有效性提供了一个框架。指导分析的核心问题之一是：她是如何使用她的权力的？

作者表明，佩洛西具有强烈的党派色彩，但也很务实，这一点并不令人惊讶。她的决定在很大程度上可以被理解为一种忠诚的功能，以及对她在自己党内面临的意识形态多样性的战略导航。除了在国会大厦的环境中，她还改变了众议院民主党人筹集资金的方式。事实上，她的筹款能力是 "传奇性的"。她还将议长办公室的工作人员转移到了制定全面的沟通策略上，将传统媒体和新媒体都纳入其中，使佩洛西成为 "历史上最容易接触到媒体的议长"（132）。最终，彼得斯和罗森塔尔得出结论，佩洛西是一位 "非常有效的 "众议院议长，很好地适应了这个新美国政治的要求。

在第六章中，作者认为 "对于理解作为政治家的佩洛西，性别是核心，而不是边缘"（194）。佩洛西的职业生涯反映了许多关于性别和政治的研究结果，例如，她最初甚至不愿意考虑竞选公职，并决定推迟竞选，直到她的孩子长大。像许多担任公职的女性一样，佩洛西在公开演讲中把孩子和家庭作为最常见的主题。她的领导风格是利用协作和共识。当然，佩洛西也非常熟悉媒体上的那种性别歧视的攻击，这也是许多从政女性所要忍受的，从评论员将她称为 "玫琳凯辍学者 "和 "西方的邪恶女巫 "到对她衣着的不断报道。

然而，一旦进入国会，佩洛西走了一条与大多数女性不同的道路，在竞选党鞭并最终成为党的领袖之前，她跳过了较低级别的领导职位。佩洛西的与众不同之处在于，她既避开又接受了性别定型观念，将 "女性气质和力量 "结合起来（225）。根据彼得斯和罗森塔尔的说法，她在使用 "意大利祖母 "或 "母狮 "的形象方面没有问题，但有时也会战略性地淡化她的性别。佩洛西并不希望人们记住她是 "第一位女性议长"，而是 "作为一位强大而有效的议长"（225）。

彼得斯和罗森塔尔的分析只涵盖了佩洛西担任议长的头两年，因此它在2011年1月共和党人接管众议院之前就已经结束。与佩洛西在2006年和2008年的选举成功相比，民主党在2010年遭到了 "炮轰"。遗憾的是，该书没有涵盖她作为议长的整个任期。目前还不清楚，如果分析包括所有四年的时间，作者的结论是否会改变。此外，除了完成佩洛西的议长故事外，评估她的遗产也很有趣。例如，佩洛西在扩大议长权力方面进行的制度改革是否被约翰-博纳所利用？博纳议长现在在他的会议中面临着意识形态的多样性，就像佩洛西所做的那样：在他自己的政党的战略争论中，博纳与佩洛西的相似之处多于不同之处？

将错综复杂的国会程序变得通俗易懂、引人入胜并非易事，但本书基本做到了。文中有大量的记录，尾注提供了大量的资料来源和一些额外的多汁内容。任何对国会内部运作感兴趣的人，包括从业人员和学者，都会对这本书感兴趣。此外，研究妇女和政治的学者会发现对性别和领导力的分析是一个宝贵的贡献。

Barbara Palmer Baldwin-Wallace学院

Book Review

Peters, Ronald M., and Cindy Simon Rosenthal. (2010). Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the New American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 336 pp., $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-538373-7.

In Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the New American Politics, Ronald M. Peters and Cindy Simon Rosenthal provide a rich and highly detailed analysis of the career of Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Combining elite interviews (including an interview with Speaker Pelosi herself), comparative statistics, and an in-depth and compre hensive narrative, the book reveals not only how Pelosi changed our image of what power looks like, but also how she expanded the institutional pow ers of the Speaker in ways that had never been achieved before. While Pelosi is unique in her status as the only woman to have ever served as Speaker of the House, the authors show that "her story illustrates many of the twists and turns confronting every woman pursing a path into politics" (194).

Studying Pelosi is important simply because she is a historic first, but Peters and Rosenthal do not merely provide a biographical account. The authors place her speakership within a broader context. Peters and Rosenthal provide the big picture, describing a "New American Politics" and the larger historical and political forces that have shaped Pelosi's career both leading up to and in the House: the increasing partisan acrimony in Congress and the growing importance of money, technology, and new media in campaigns. The elements of this New American Politics provide the framework to evalu ate Pelosi's effectiveness as Speaker. One of the central questions that guides the analysis is: how has she used her power?

The authors show that Pelosi is, not surprisingly, intensely partisan yet pragmatic. Her decisions can largely be understood as a function of loy alty as well as the strategic navigation of the ideological diversity she faced within her own party. Beyond her Capitol environs, she transformed the way that the House Democrats raised money. In fact, her fund-raising ability is "legendary." She also shifted staff in the Speaker's office to focus on the development of a comprehensive communication strategy that incorporated both traditional and new media, making Pelosi "the most media-accessible Speaker in history" (132). Ultimately, Peters and Rosenthal conclude that Pelosi has been a "very effective" Speaker of the House, well adapted to the demands of this New American Politics.

In chapter 6, the authors suggest that "gender is central, not peripheral, to understanding Pelosi as a politician" (194). Pelosi's career reflects the findings in many studies of gender and politics, such as her initial reluctance to even consider running for public office and her decision to postpone running until her children were grown. Like many women in public office, Pelosi focuses on children and family as the most common themes in her public speeches. Her leadership style utilizes collaboration and consensus. And Pelosi is, of course, all too familiar the kind of sexist attacks in the media that many women in politics endure, from commentators referring to her as a "Mary Kay dropout" and "the Wicked Witch of the West" to the constant coverage of her wardrobe.

However, once in Congress, Pelosi took a different path from most women, skipping over lower-level leadership positions before running for whip and eventually party leader. What sets Pelosi apart is that she has both eschews and embraces gender stereotypes, combining "femininity and force" (225). According to Peters and Rosenthal, she has no problem using the images of "Italian grandmother" or "lioness" but also at times strategically downplays her gender. Pelosi does not want to be remembered as the "first woman Speaker" but rather "as a powerful and effective Speaker" (225).

Peters and Rosenthal's analysis covers only the first two years of Pelosi's speakership, and thus it ends well before the Republicans took over the House of Representatives in January 2011. In contrast to Pelosi's electoral successes in 2006 and 2008, the Democrats were "shellacked" in 2010. It is unfortunate that the book does not cover her entire tenure as Speaker. It is not clear whether the authors' conclusions would change if the analysis included all four years. In addition, beyond finishing the story of Pelosi's speakership, it would be interesting to assess her legacy. For example, are the institutional changes Pelosi made in expanding the powers of the Speaker being used by John Boehner? Speaker Boehner now faces an ideological diversity within his conference, just as Pelosi did: is Boehner more like than different from Pelosi in the strategic wrangling of his own party?

Making the intricacies of congressional procedure accessible and inter esting is not easy, but this book largely succeeds. The text is extensively documented, with the endnotes providing a wealth of sources and a number of additional juicy bits. This book would be of great interest to anyone, practitioners and scholars, interested in the inner workings of Congress. In addition, scholars of women and politics will find the analysis of gender and leadership to be a valuable contribution.

Barbara Palmer Baldwin-Wallace College