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The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track
Congress is the first branch of government in the American system, write Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, but now it is a broken branch, damaged by partisan bickering and internal rancor. The Broken Branch offers both a brilliant diagnosis of the cause of Congressional decline and a
much-needed blueprint for change, from two experts who understand politics and revere our institutions, but believe that Congress has become deeply dysfunctional.
Mann and Ornstein, two of the nations most renowned and judicious scholars of government and politics, bring to light the historical roots of Congress's current maladies, examining 40 years of uninterrupted Democratic control of the House and the stunning midterm election victory of 1994 that
propelled Republicans into the majority in both House and Senate. The byproduct of that long and grueling but ultimately successful Republican campaign, the authors reveal, was a weakened institution bitterly divided between the parties. They highlight the dramatic shift in Congress from a highly
decentralized, committee-based institution into a much more regimented one in which party increasingly trumps committee. The resultant changes in the policy process--the demise of regular order, the decline of deliberation, and the weakening of our system of checks and balances--have all compromised
the role of Congress in the American Constitutional system. Indeed, Speaker Dennis Hastert has unabashedly stated that his primary responsibility is to pass the president's legislative program--identifying himself more as a lieutenant of the president than a steward of the house. From tax cuts to
the war against Saddam Hussein to a Medicare prescription drug benefit, the legislative process has been bent to serve immediate presidential interests and have often resulted in poorly crafted and stealthily passed laws. Strong majority leadership in Congress, the authors conclude, led not to a
vigorous exertion of congressional authority but to a general passivity in the face of executive power.
A vivid portrait of an institution that has fallen far from the aspirations of our Founding Fathers, The Broken Branch highlights the costs of a malfunctioning Congress to national policymaking, and outlines what must be done to repair the damage.
much-needed blueprint for change, from two experts who understand politics and revere our institutions, but believe that Congress has become deeply dysfunctional.
Mann and Ornstein, two of the nations most renowned and judicious scholars of government and politics, bring to light the historical roots of Congress's current maladies, examining 40 years of uninterrupted Democratic control of the House and the stunning midterm election victory of 1994 that
propelled Republicans into the majority in both House and Senate. The byproduct of that long and grueling but ultimately successful Republican campaign, the authors reveal, was a weakened institution bitterly divided between the parties. They highlight the dramatic shift in Congress from a highly
decentralized, committee-based institution into a much more regimented one in which party increasingly trumps committee. The resultant changes in the policy process--the demise of regular order, the decline of deliberation, and the weakening of our system of checks and balances--have all compromised
the role of Congress in the American Constitutional system. Indeed, Speaker Dennis Hastert has unabashedly stated that his primary responsibility is to pass the president's legislative program--identifying himself more as a lieutenant of the president than a steward of the house. From tax cuts to
the war against Saddam Hussein to a Medicare prescription drug benefit, the legislative process has been bent to serve immediate presidential interests and have often resulted in poorly crafted and stealthily passed laws. Strong majority leadership in Congress, the authors conclude, led not to a
vigorous exertion of congressional authority but to a general passivity in the face of executive power.
A vivid portrait of an institution that has fallen far from the aspirations of our Founding Fathers, The Broken Branch highlights the costs of a malfunctioning Congress to national policymaking, and outlines what must be done to repair the damage.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 5, 2010
Aparently Mann/Ornstein wanted to have something that didn't come off like a partisan screed. They failed. They basically said, "Well, Democrats created a bunch of bad institutional stuff that wasn't good during their 40 year control of Congress. Then Republicans took over and did it even more. And doing it more is really really bad."
They constantly were saying things were "unprecedented" without explaining how or why and were constantly saying why something that was done was "worse then what had come before" without really explaining why, or that Congress was failing to do "effective oversight" without explaining what effective oversight would be or why it wasn't being done.
Anyhow, it makes some good points, it just doesn't make those points well or explain them sufficiently.
They constantly were saying things were "unprecedented" without explaining how or why and were constantly saying why something that was done was "worse then what had come before" without really explaining why, or that Congress was failing to do "effective oversight" without explaining what effective oversight would be or why it wasn't being done.
Anyhow, it makes some good points, it just doesn't make those points well or explain them sufficiently.
June 28, 2020
First, note- I read the version with the updated epilogue with updated recommendations which are needed more than ever now. Anyways, I met these two fine gentlemen (Norman J. Ornstein is the other author) towards the end of 2015, a much rosier time indeed. They lead a spirited and informational discussion which I really appreciated and that's the reason I returned to this book five years later. There has been soooo much talk of ideologies, philosophies, ideas, directions, and "what the people want," with only scant mentions of the procedural operation that govern our governing. Regardless if we believe the old civil procedure maxim of "You write the laws, I'll write the procedure, I'll f*** you over every time," these concepts require special attention for analyzing our House of Representatives, Senate, and their relationship within themselves and the other branches.
This makes for a fairly dry read, but there are enough interesting op eds, colorful language from rank and file, clever tactics from enterprising freshmen, and inspiring . There's also the over-the-top idiocy that began when Republicans took the majority and their House faction made a scandal of everything and passed bills with no input from democrats or even their Senate counterparts.
At any rate, even if you are not interested in parliamentary procedures and the nuances of how bills get made, this is a worthwhile book for understanding the history of the institutions, their various purposes over time, what made their greatest members great, and the lines that even the worst representatives of the past would not cross (Republicans have crossed nearly all these lines today and do not seem to be looking back). I agree with their conclusion that today major reworking of congressional rules are needed to correct the abuses of the Republican majority seemingly out of jealousy/spite for constantly being in the minority for the whole middle 20th century. More importantly, they highlight how there is no perfect way for the Legislature to operate, and indeed the rules historically have cycle between old guard/committee domination to activist junior members ushering new eras and back and forth and back and forth. For now, they focus on what procedural elements are being abused the most and how to curb them), what aspects of the chambers are not being utilised at all and how to incorporate them, and recommendations for fostering interparty unity that has been a hallmark of this country's best years.
This makes for a fairly dry read, but there are enough interesting op eds, colorful language from rank and file, clever tactics from enterprising freshmen, and inspiring . There's also the over-the-top idiocy that began when Republicans took the majority and their House faction made a scandal of everything and passed bills with no input from democrats or even their Senate counterparts.
At any rate, even if you are not interested in parliamentary procedures and the nuances of how bills get made, this is a worthwhile book for understanding the history of the institutions, their various purposes over time, what made their greatest members great, and the lines that even the worst representatives of the past would not cross (Republicans have crossed nearly all these lines today and do not seem to be looking back). I agree with their conclusion that today major reworking of congressional rules are needed to correct the abuses of the Republican majority seemingly out of jealousy/spite for constantly being in the minority for the whole middle 20th century. More importantly, they highlight how there is no perfect way for the Legislature to operate, and indeed the rules historically have cycle between old guard/committee domination to activist junior members ushering new eras and back and forth and back and forth. For now, they focus on what procedural elements are being abused the most and how to curb them), what aspects of the chambers are not being utilised at all and how to incorporate them, and recommendations for fostering interparty unity that has been a hallmark of this country's best years.
July 27, 2013
The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How to Get it Back on Track
This is a terrific discussion of Congress for people who are willing to learn the lingo of insiders. The authors, Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, are veteran political scientists who have spent decades working on congressional staffs or on think tanks dealing with congressional issues. Their assessment, therefore, benefits from their perspective of having watched the good, the bad and the ugly in Congress over an extended period of time.
A key point made by Mann and Ornstein is that sustaining the prerogatives and powers of the legislative branch in tension with those of the executive and judicial branches is absolutely essential to our form of government. It has also been a natural counterbalance to excessive partisanship for much of our history. One of the key concerns raised by the authors is that this balance has been significantly undermined by current era of excessive partisanship. One of their proposed remedies to this disease is the same as what I propose in Accountability Citizenship: a grassroots effort to restore balance and compromise.
Mann and Ornstein also highlight how gerrymandering and self selection have led to almost all of the congressional districts being predominantly single party districts. This allows candidates to cater to the extremes of each party’s philosophy and makes it hard for centrists to get elected or stay in office. In Accountability Citizenship, I highlight the intellectual polarization that results from people choosing only those information sources that are in their “comfort zone.” Combined with a lack of participation by voters in the center, the result is the same: an institution where it appears many representatives and senators place loyalty to party ahead of doing the best thing for the country.
Another important thread in the book deals with the tension between allowing appropriate deliberation on legislation while still getting things done. If one allows endless use of all of the procedural mechanisms for extending debate or delaying consideration of a bill, then it can slow down the agenda so much that important things are left undone. With rising partisanship, majority party leaders have felt it necessary to change the rules under which legislation is processed, considered and voted upon. Use of so-called “closed rules” prevent use of delaying techniques and can shut out the minority party and deny appropriate time for debate and deliberation. Traditionally, voluntary adherence by members of both parties to customary restrictions on such tactics made excessive use of “closed rules” unnecessary. The current level of partisanship has eroded this tradition and led to almost reflexive use of closed rules.
There are a number of other important topics and trends discussed in the book. For me, as pervasive as the problems described by the authors seem to be, the bottom line remains that we have the power to replace 87% of Congress in November of 2014 if enough of us vote against incumbents. That may be the fastest way to break the unhealthy level of partisan politics in Washington and restore the power of the political center.
Accountability Citizenship
This is a terrific discussion of Congress for people who are willing to learn the lingo of insiders. The authors, Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, are veteran political scientists who have spent decades working on congressional staffs or on think tanks dealing with congressional issues. Their assessment, therefore, benefits from their perspective of having watched the good, the bad and the ugly in Congress over an extended period of time.
A key point made by Mann and Ornstein is that sustaining the prerogatives and powers of the legislative branch in tension with those of the executive and judicial branches is absolutely essential to our form of government. It has also been a natural counterbalance to excessive partisanship for much of our history. One of the key concerns raised by the authors is that this balance has been significantly undermined by current era of excessive partisanship. One of their proposed remedies to this disease is the same as what I propose in Accountability Citizenship: a grassroots effort to restore balance and compromise.
Mann and Ornstein also highlight how gerrymandering and self selection have led to almost all of the congressional districts being predominantly single party districts. This allows candidates to cater to the extremes of each party’s philosophy and makes it hard for centrists to get elected or stay in office. In Accountability Citizenship, I highlight the intellectual polarization that results from people choosing only those information sources that are in their “comfort zone.” Combined with a lack of participation by voters in the center, the result is the same: an institution where it appears many representatives and senators place loyalty to party ahead of doing the best thing for the country.
Another important thread in the book deals with the tension between allowing appropriate deliberation on legislation while still getting things done. If one allows endless use of all of the procedural mechanisms for extending debate or delaying consideration of a bill, then it can slow down the agenda so much that important things are left undone. With rising partisanship, majority party leaders have felt it necessary to change the rules under which legislation is processed, considered and voted upon. Use of so-called “closed rules” prevent use of delaying techniques and can shut out the minority party and deny appropriate time for debate and deliberation. Traditionally, voluntary adherence by members of both parties to customary restrictions on such tactics made excessive use of “closed rules” unnecessary. The current level of partisanship has eroded this tradition and led to almost reflexive use of closed rules.
There are a number of other important topics and trends discussed in the book. For me, as pervasive as the problems described by the authors seem to be, the bottom line remains that we have the power to replace 87% of Congress in November of 2014 if enough of us vote against incumbents. That may be the fastest way to break the unhealthy level of partisan politics in Washington and restore the power of the political center.
Accountability Citizenship
January 27, 2010
A series of books has looked at the recent poor temper in American politics. This volume is a welcome entry into that literature. The two authors, Thomas Mann (of the Brookings Institution) and Norman Ornstein (of the American Enterprise Institute) are long time observers of the American political scenes, with special interest toward and knowledge of the American Congress. The Broken Branch, a co-authored product by the two, reflects their concern that something has gone haywire with Congress.
To be sure, there is no idyllic past where civility reigned and members of Congress only cared about a greater good. However, there have certainly been times where Congress has functioned better than the recent past. And that is the focus of the authors.
They believe that Congress (page ix) ". . .has always been the first branch" and that it serves "as the linchpin of the American constitutional system." And, they feel, over the past two decades the course of Congress has gone off on the wrong track. This began when the Democrats were still in control and began to behave more arrogantly, while the minority's attacks on the majority part grew more shrill and hard-nosed. Things have only gotten worse, they contend, in more recent years.
Among the problems that they address: the permanent campaign to retain individual seats and party control, the increased polarization of the parties in Congress (what they term "the collapse of the center"), the near "tribal politics" that they claim characterizes partisan conflict today, the lack of oversight by a Republican Congress over a Republican president, the lack of fairness in procedures, and so on.
The fear that the passage of major laws (such as the Bush tax cuts, enactment of the PATRIOT Act) without due deliberation has led to poorly thought out policy. They conclude that (page 242) "The broken branch distresses us as long-time students of American democracy who believe Congress is the linchpin of our constitutional system."
They do provide suggestions that might remedy the ailments that Congress faces, as they see it. However, these will likely not prove compelling to most readers. Their analysis of problems, however, is nicely done. Will there be change with the change in party control after the elections of 2006? Only time will tell, but the authors surely cannot be optimistic.
Of course, here in 2010, the problem seems to continue.
To be sure, there is no idyllic past where civility reigned and members of Congress only cared about a greater good. However, there have certainly been times where Congress has functioned better than the recent past. And that is the focus of the authors.
They believe that Congress (page ix) ". . .has always been the first branch" and that it serves "as the linchpin of the American constitutional system." And, they feel, over the past two decades the course of Congress has gone off on the wrong track. This began when the Democrats were still in control and began to behave more arrogantly, while the minority's attacks on the majority part grew more shrill and hard-nosed. Things have only gotten worse, they contend, in more recent years.
Among the problems that they address: the permanent campaign to retain individual seats and party control, the increased polarization of the parties in Congress (what they term "the collapse of the center"), the near "tribal politics" that they claim characterizes partisan conflict today, the lack of oversight by a Republican Congress over a Republican president, the lack of fairness in procedures, and so on.
The fear that the passage of major laws (such as the Bush tax cuts, enactment of the PATRIOT Act) without due deliberation has led to poorly thought out policy. They conclude that (page 242) "The broken branch distresses us as long-time students of American democracy who believe Congress is the linchpin of our constitutional system."
They do provide suggestions that might remedy the ailments that Congress faces, as they see it. However, these will likely not prove compelling to most readers. Their analysis of problems, however, is nicely done. Will there be change with the change in party control after the elections of 2006? Only time will tell, but the authors surely cannot be optimistic.
Of course, here in 2010, the problem seems to continue.
May 25, 2015
This book checks all the boxes in my personal wheelhouse of intersecting interests. It is also one of the more accessible books about Congress I read in my graduate studies. It's a great primer on the basics of why Congress has increasingly ceased to be a functional branch of government.
Besides being a handy short history on the subject of Congressional norms, the Broken Branch is not afraid to name names when it comes to discussing the dissolution of our politics. In a nutshell, it is mostly the fault of Republicans. Democrats aren't blameless, but the worst excesses have come from Republicans. If you have paid close attention to Congress over the last 30 years, you likely know this already, but it is rare for people to actually say it out loud. It's much easier to suggest "a pox on both their houses" sort of handwringing. That doesn't offend anyone. This book may offend some people by admitting a basic truth.
Now, you may dismiss that analysis from me. I am, after all, a partisan Democrat. But Mann and Ornstein are respected by both scholars and people that work on the Hill. They would not risk their reputations for partisan point scoring, meaning they would only publically state their conclusions if they felt the evidence was incontrovertible. It's hard to disagree with them.
My copy of the book ended in 2006, and I hope perhaps a second edition may be published that includes events up the present day, which have been just as remarkable as the 1994-2006 period which was such a rich vein of outrageous behavior for the authors.
Besides being a handy short history on the subject of Congressional norms, the Broken Branch is not afraid to name names when it comes to discussing the dissolution of our politics. In a nutshell, it is mostly the fault of Republicans. Democrats aren't blameless, but the worst excesses have come from Republicans. If you have paid close attention to Congress over the last 30 years, you likely know this already, but it is rare for people to actually say it out loud. It's much easier to suggest "a pox on both their houses" sort of handwringing. That doesn't offend anyone. This book may offend some people by admitting a basic truth.
Now, you may dismiss that analysis from me. I am, after all, a partisan Democrat. But Mann and Ornstein are respected by both scholars and people that work on the Hill. They would not risk their reputations for partisan point scoring, meaning they would only publically state their conclusions if they felt the evidence was incontrovertible. It's hard to disagree with them.
My copy of the book ended in 2006, and I hope perhaps a second edition may be published that includes events up the present day, which have been just as remarkable as the 1994-2006 period which was such a rich vein of outrageous behavior for the authors.
April 24, 2007
Great insight into how the Republican Congress bent all the rules to make sure it got what it wanted. These assholes are amazing. Read it.
January 27, 2009
Congress is totally broken and dysfunctional, y'all.
February 21, 2022
Credible & solid. An honest & candid discussion on the shortcomings of the Congress in chronological detail. Political acumen is recommended. The authors name-drop left & right, and they speak of lawmaking, regulations, votes, bills & years, like commentators on a baseball or basketball game. It's not so easy to keep up and I often felt the content to be above my head, or too in-the-weeds for me. But I understood the general points and felt that they were conveyed both thoroughly & respectfully. I appreciated the summaries at the end, the painless pace of writing, the equally non-threatening size of the font, and the expressed experience of the authors. It's right before President Obama's star rises. Some parts of the book might induce a yawn, or cause the eyes to go glassy. It shines when it reiterates the importance of the institution of Congress but it suffers whensoever it loses touch with the common, simple, child-like understanding of [a] reader. When they mentioned pork barreling, for instance, the book might've proved more user-friendly by including an analogy-example of pork barreling on, say, a playground. When they focused on judicial appointments, or on filibusters, there could have been some simple metaphors to nail home the critical meaning. Aesop's Fables. This book, The Broken Branch, reads a bit like "a politician's politician" sort of book, or at the least, like a book tailored for political pundits, scholars, et. al. Every other paragraph contains either the word Democrat or Republican. There are sections on Gingrich's rise, on the effective differences in policy of both Clinton & Bush (latter), on when & how the shifts in majority occurred within the Senate and the House, and on the lack of sincere deliberation. Take it or leave it, it's not a bad book if you appreciate poli-sci, but it'll be wholly undigestible to a large number of readers on account of its subject. We all know Congress is dysfunctional, who wants to actually read about it?
June 4, 2012
Fascinating book by 2 long term Congressional watchers. It begins with a history, explaining the Constitutional mandate of Congress as the First Branch of gov't, with actually more power than the Executive or Judicial since it has not only impeachment power, but also the power to enact laws and keep the president in check. Their contention is that since 2000, Congress has fallen down on their jobs, essentially being lackeys to the president---Speaker Dennis Hastert proudly insisted that this is what the House would do during the last administration. Consequently, there were more bad laws passed as well as a run-up of huge scandals due to an atmosphere of total ideological partisanship. Only a few stalwart politicians such as John McCain, held fast to trying to put the brakes on all of this---calling the "top secret" briefings to Congress during the lead-up to the Iraq war a "joke", the dishonest gimmicks pushed forward for the 2001 tax cut "the tax bill is scandalously bad. It's filled with a whole series of outright fraud and outrageous lies", plus the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill where the leaders in the House brought it up for a vote at 3AM, then held the vote open for 3 hours (the traditional time allowed for voting is 15 minutes) while twisting arms and even bribing one member and bringing in the Secretary of Health, in order to get the bill passed after it obviously was going down in defeat. They have numerous suggestions for reform dealing not only with ethics reform but also such things as requiring Congress to sit for at least 26 weeks of the year, possibly 2 weeks on/2 weeks off since currently it really only operates from late Tues to early Thurs so that members can fly home. This results in no one even reading the bills they vote on. Another suggestion is to go back to the seniority system for committee chairs---the House changed it so that now they're basically up for sale with those members hoping to win the chairmanships required to bring in political contributions before being appointed. The whole thing is scandalous and I look forward to reading a second book recently published.
March 7, 2009
The authors are long time participants in, and scholars on, the Congress of the United States. They provide an important background on the history of Congress from the days of the framers and then dig into the last 40 years to show where things have gone horribly wrong.
The House of Representatives has become the lap dog of the administration, using majority party controlled rules to limit disclosure, debate and any real semblance of deliberative process. While the Senate has more deliberative rules, it too has lost its sense of purpose as the forum for independent policy creation.
Written in 2006, most of the discussion of extremes focuses on the Republican Congress and the Bush presidency, though the legacy of decline is clearly bi-partisan. As we now watch a 1000 page stimulus bill with over 8000 earmarks get crammed through the House with virtually no discussion, the authors must be shaking their heads and saying, "We told you so." There are few good guys in this story and the authors' prescription for reform strikes the increasingly cynical reader as wishful thinking. This is an important read for anyone concerned about our Democracy.
The House of Representatives has become the lap dog of the administration, using majority party controlled rules to limit disclosure, debate and any real semblance of deliberative process. While the Senate has more deliberative rules, it too has lost its sense of purpose as the forum for independent policy creation.
Written in 2006, most of the discussion of extremes focuses on the Republican Congress and the Bush presidency, though the legacy of decline is clearly bi-partisan. As we now watch a 1000 page stimulus bill with over 8000 earmarks get crammed through the House with virtually no discussion, the authors must be shaking their heads and saying, "We told you so." There are few good guys in this story and the authors' prescription for reform strikes the increasingly cynical reader as wishful thinking. This is an important read for anyone concerned about our Democracy.
January 17, 2016
This very readable, scholarly work documents the U.S. Congress 20 to 30 year slide from a deliberative body with oversight of the executive branch, to a policy rubber-stamp for same-party presidents and a deny-policy-victory-at-all costs for opposition party presidents.
What is most disconcerting is the winner-take-all approach that the House and Senate ruling party has in "governing," including bending or outright ignoring long-standing rules and practices that were designed to provide cover for the parties as they sought compromise and middle ground. Moreover, the book demonstrates how today's legislators truly do pursue style over substance, resulting in dramatically fewer well-considered, -debated, and -crafted bills, and have ultimately opened the door to lobbyists and fringe-interests to write legislation. These indeed are dark days for U.S. Congressional institutions and, thus, for Democracy.
What is most disconcerting is the winner-take-all approach that the House and Senate ruling party has in "governing," including bending or outright ignoring long-standing rules and practices that were designed to provide cover for the parties as they sought compromise and middle ground. Moreover, the book demonstrates how today's legislators truly do pursue style over substance, resulting in dramatically fewer well-considered, -debated, and -crafted bills, and have ultimately opened the door to lobbyists and fringe-interests to write legislation. These indeed are dark days for U.S. Congressional institutions and, thus, for Democracy.
September 19, 2010
The first one-third or so of this is an excellent history of how both houses of congress have evolved into what they are today--the development of rules, procedures, committees, appointments, precedent, etc. After that it's a much less interesting blow-by-blow account of the atrocities committed by both parties after the House and Senate polarized into ideological extremes and lost and sense of the common good and stopped compromising, deliberating, etc. That's all good reporting, but sometimes not interesting to read (even for me, to whom a lot of the specifics were new, since I don't read a daily newspaper regularly.)
The " ... and how to get it back on track" section, which comprises the last 16 pages, is not very encouraging--hard to imagine it happening any time soon.
The " ... and how to get it back on track" section, which comprises the last 16 pages, is not very encouraging--hard to imagine it happening any time soon.
May 1, 2007
Excellent overview of profound changes that have taken place in Congress in the past two to three decades, with special emphasis on abuses of power between the 104th and 109th Congresses. Mann and Ornstein are part of the Washington establishment, serious students of Congress who love the institution and bemoan its many failings. It's weak on prescription, but that's largely because the electoral roots of the "Congress problem" can't be addressed through reform.
June 5, 2009
They depress you with their explanation of how screwed up the legislative branch is, but then bring you back from the brink by giving simple suggestions on how to fix it. I also took comfort from the fact that the authors seemed to like both McCain and Obama (I read this before the election)and identified them as part of the solution rather than the problem.
August 8, 2011
Although a bit dry in places, no one can argue with the expertise (and evidence) that the authors bring to bear. It's an interesting read that covers the entire Congress, but picks up with increased relevancy as they delve into the past 55 years or so. I think it's accessible to most readers, though I would have liked to seen more suggestions for reform that were "outside of the box."
October 23, 2007
I've always wondered, "why does congress do that?" This explains why. The authors, two congressional experts, describe the history and politics of why it is and what needs to change. Required reading for all citizens.
June 30, 2012
Good book for understanding and setting the stage for what is happening today. Their next book "it's worse than you think" is a real eye opener from two congressional watchers from different political traditions.
November 8, 2014
Kept in my work bag and read on and off on breaks when I had time. An interesting history and it's clear Congress is not likely to get back on track soon, especially after the 2014 mid-term elections.
October 4, 2008
Fairly dense look at the history of Congress and how it got to be so divided. Interesting stuff.
December 19, 2008
Great book about the various failures of Congress in oversight and legislating along with a call for action. Very interesting book and easy read, even for those who don't follow politics very much.
June 22, 2011
Excellent
Want to read
July 26, 2011A look at the Congress of the '90s and early '00s which places it in historical context. A book written by insiders who have been studying Congress since 1969.
September 28, 2013
A 2006 book on how Congress has gotten more dysfunctional in my lifetime with some suggestions of how to make it work better.
February 2, 2017
Interesting read. It's hard to imagine there was once a time when Congress was a separate and independent branch of government, regardless of party. I look forward to reading the follow-up book.
October 25, 2013
Accurate representation of the issue..... next years version will be interesting!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews