Building Article I Conservatism
By Philip Wallach The Federalist Society has been famously influential in shaping conservatives’ constitutional vision since its founding in 1982. Its promotion of original-meaning originalism and the concept of… Read More
The Senate – At War With Itself? A discussion with Molly Reynolds and James Wallner
In this Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group session, Senate experts James Wallner and Molly Reynolds consider the reasons for the Senate’s dysfunction. The wide ranging discussion touches on partisan dynamics,… Read More
Nothing is inevitable in politics, even in the Senate
Image source: CNN By James Wallner The future is not inevitable. And it cannot be predicted with certainty. There is no iron law of history according to which events unfold… Read More
What the Senate’s past tells us about a future nuclear option
Image source: US Senate By James Wallner “It is difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future.” We would do well today to heed Mark Twain’s version of the well-known… Read More
The decline of party capacity in the House
Image source: Politico By Scott Meinke In the last two decades, the House of Representatives has lost a great deal of institutional capacity. Sources of expertise and… Read More
Crippled Congress = expanded executive powers
Image source: POGO Congress is unquestionably polarized. Many of the nation’s most pressing issues are mired in gridlock. These facets of our politics are understood, but the consequences of… Read More
How women work harder to stay in Congress
Image source: Politico By Jeffrey Lazarus Almost ten years ago, my colleague Amy Steigerwalt and I were writing on congressional earmarks when we noticed an interesting trend: in the years… Read More
The knowledge culture of Congress
Image Source: LOC By Colleen J. Shogan The swirl of commentary and serious thought about “fake news” and “the death of expertise” begs a larger question about American political… Read More
Does gerrymandering cause gridlock in Congress?
Image Source: US Census By Marian Currinder Last week, David Wasserman and his Gerrymandering Project colleagues released The Atlas of Redistricting, a massive undertaking that involved drawing… Read More
The Housification of the Upper Chamber: The 115th Senate is basically unrecognizable.
By Joshua C. Huder If the Senate were a friend, you’d say it was having an off-year. Or worse, you would tell it to see a doctor. The bipartisan,… Read More