Legislation to Create Joint Committee on Congress Introduced in House
Source: VisitTheCapitol.gov H. Con. Res. 169 was introduced on Thursday, September 29, 2016. Its would create a Joint Committee on Congress to explore possible reforms. “Reps. Dan Lipinski (IL-3)… Read More
Abolish the Senate to Strengthen the Separation of Powers?
John Bicknell, the executive editor of Watchdog.org, had an impish piece in the Washington Post on August 30, 2016. To rebalance the separation of powers, it is necessary… Read More
Cincinnatus and the Myth of Amateur Rule
Cincinnatus leaves the plow for the Roman dictatorship. Painting by Juan Antonio Ribera, c. 1806. Blogpost by Thomas F. Ranieri, Federalist Society The tale of Cincinnatus is a popular one… Read More
Why Has Congress Become More Chaotic?
Source: Kevin R. Kosar Jonathan Rauch‘s “How American Politics Went Insane” has drawn much commentary. Rauch argues that Congress is struggling to organize itself, and that a major cause… Read More
Not Only America: Canada’s Legislature Begins to Strengthen Itself
Source: http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ Guest blog post by Sean Speer, R Street Institute Last month’s Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s unilateral immigration directive was a positive development for those determined… Read More
Is the House of Representatives Deinstitutionalizing?
The 114th Congress in the House chamber. Source: Wikipedia Jeffery A. Jenkins’ and Charles Stewart III’s recently presented an important paper, “The Deinstitutionalization (?) of the… Read More
Jonathan Rauch On Congress and Chaos
The Brookings Institution’s Jonathan Rauch has an article garnering much attention: “How American Politics Went Insane” (The Atlantic, July/August 2016). He writes: “Chaos syndrome is a chronic decline in the… Read More
Majority Leader McConnell: How the Senate Is Supposed to Work
U.S. Senate 1880s. Source: U.S. Senate Historical Office Majority leader McConnell wrote for the May 30, 2016 copy of the Wall Street Journal a piece titled, “How the Senate Is… Read More
Does Congress Need More Political Dynamism?
Public perceptions aside, is our legislature, in fact, a stolid governance body? Well, yes and no. In short, the House is very dynamic; the Senate…not so much. The… Read More
Does Congress Need Energized?
Christopher DeMuth notes that the executive branch, particularly in the form of the administrative state, has grown immensely. With the growth has come an increased ability to act unilaterally,… Read More