Blog Posts (page 10)

To:             The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:       Maya Kornberg, Ph.D. candidate, Oxford University Reform:   Create a Professional Advisory Council… Read More

To:             The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:       Casey Burgat, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute Reform:   Potential non-salary staffing reforms… Read More

To:             The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:       Sarah Binder, Brookings Institution and George Washington University Reform:   Automatic CRs treat… Read More

Eliza Collins, “How Nancy Pelosi is leading divided Democrats through political turmoil, Trump’s administration,” USA Today: “The only woman to become speaker of the House – not once, but twice –… Read More

To:             The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:       Philip Wallach, R Street Institute Reform:   Options for Increasing Congressional Capacity on… Read More

Chris DeMuth’s new essay powerfully and convincingly argues that well-functioning representative government is a necessary condition for national cohesion in our democratic age. DeMuth is not starry-eyed about legislatures, or… Read More

During the “Textbook Congress” era from roughly the late-1940s to the early-1970s, seniority was tremendously valuable to members of Congress, particularly in the House.  Since World War II, data demonstrate… Read More

To:             The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:       Josh Chafetz, Cornell Law School Reform:   Shutdowns and their discontents Almost no… Read More

Republicans in the Senate finally acted to change the rules to speed up the confirmation process for some presidential nominations. They used the nuclear option to shorten the amount of… Read More

Please do not cite without permission of the authors. Executive Summary Both political parties in the U.S. House of Representatives follow several norms and informal practices that contribute to leadership… Read More