Steven S. Smith is the Kate M. Gregg Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences, Professor of Political Science, and the Director of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. He has taught at George Washington University, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota, where he was the Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Political Science and Law. He is the author or co-author of many books on congressional politicals, served as an editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly, and served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and Congress & The Presidency.