1. TODAY:
1. An argument for "coherent" policy making in the United States
2. Congress' many functions and its inability to govern.
3. Some preliminary generalizations



2. NATIONAL POLICIES:
1. Proposition: in an age of national and global interdependence coordinate public policies are essential.
2. Proposition: for the most part the United States fails to create and sustain coherent national policies in major areas of the economic and social life.
1. Most Americans recognize the need, especially in times of "crisis."
2. But, the system is poorly structured to facilitate debate and implementation of coherent national policies.
3. A "deliberative" legislature is crucial since it would provide a democratic forum for policy discussion.
4. Policies on a scale of "coherence"
1. Foreign, defense - moderate to low (state planning)
2. Labor, communications, education - minimal
3. Transportation, energy - none (market)



3. CONGRESS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE:
1. Generalizations:
1. Congress' capacity to deal with national problems, formulate solutions, and be accountable for their results is very limited.
2. Expectations and demands on Congress exacerbate the situation further.
3. So, too, does its structure, as seen below.
2. What do we want Congress to do? Functions:
1. Legislative: law making
2. Representation of geographical and other interests
1. Case work: constituency service and the "permanent campaign"
3. Administrative oversight

1. Advise and consent (Examples: Supreme Court nominees, approval of cabinet officers)
2. Investigative (e.g., Burton, Thompson committees)

1. Judicial
1. Summary: legislators have so many responsibilities and are pulled in some many directions that they have relatively little time for deliberation.
1. Proposition: Congress is seldom a forum for discussion and debate about national issues and priorities.
2. In January 1995 Newt Gingrich called for a national debate about the role and function of government. To the extent that such a discussion has taken place it has been always in the context of specific policies.



1. SOME GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM:
1. What Congress does results from the political system's components that we have discussed in the last couple of months.
1. Members behave exactly as one would expect political entrepreneurs to act: they assert their independence, attempt to protect and expand their bases of support, bargain for specific benefits rather than rigidly adhere to a party line, listen to those who are most helpful in winning reelection, and the like.
2. Moreover, one can argue that Congress has taken on too many tasks.
3. Congress deals mainly with "middle-level" (branch, twig, symbolic, group, and regional) issues.
1. It does not debate or deliberate about "grand" strategies or policies.
2. Frequently, if not mostly, it enacts policies in a disjointed fashion.
4. Congressional decision making involves a labyrinth of rules and procedures that help members "hide" from responsibility.
1. Proposition: the only meaningful reforms are those that strengthen party discipline. Until that is done, the system will continue to misfire and accountability remain elusive.
5. Congress seldom breaks really new ground. It often acts only after the public has been "sold" on a policy.
6. Leaders' power flows from political circumstance and personality more than institutional resources.



2. NEXT TIME:
1. More generalizations
2. Congressional organization and behavior
3. Reading:
1. Squire and others, Dynamics of Democracy, Chapter 11.

Go to notes page

Go to Political Science 105 main page