Scholars of congressional elections have falsely identified two different eras of campaigns--the party-centered campaign era of the 19th century and the subsequent candidate-centered era--argues Parker (political science, Montana State U.), who counters that campaigns have never been uniformly party-centered or candidate- centered. Instead, it is the competition for resources, primarily money and reputation, and the institutional rules and partisan capacities that affect the distribution of said resources that determine whether candidates will accept party dominance in their quest to win office or will take matters into their own hands. He tests this theory against 120 years of congressional elections and uses it to explain candidate and party behavior following the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act and to predict the consequences of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold). Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)