Throughout American history there are instances where Congress overcomes long periods of inaction on a policy topic and passes legislation on deeply divisive issues. Literature about political negotiation and Congress tend to overlook this phenomenon. William RikerRiker, William’s concept of herestheticheresthetic provides insight into how political leaders negotiate and end long periods of stalemate. This book uses historical case studies and theory-building process tracingprocess tracing to develop a theory for changing legislative inertialegislative inertia. The presence of a legitimacy crisislegitimacy crisis combined with multiple instances of strategic votingstrategic voting and dimension manipulation allows Congress to pass legislation and end long-term stalemate. Because heresthetic prioritizes political feasibilitypolitical feasibility (action) over creating effective policy, the policies these strategies produce are limited in their effects. Given increased polarizationpolarization and partisanshippartisanship, this theory remains relevant for contemporary American politics given the prominence of stalemated policy topics like immigration, abortionabortion, and climate change in public discourse.