A Case for Congress: Shared Power for a Divided Society
A Case for Congress: Shared Power for a Divided Society was a lecture delivered by Frances E. Lee at the University of Rochester in 2024. Draws from The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era.
Congress necessarily is divided because it is representative (at least compared to first-past-the-post systems, e.g. the presidency).
Institutionally, congress gives voice to more agents and polities.
- Cannot exclude elected members
- Equal debate time
- Bills sent back to conciliation
- Committee appointments split between parties
- Continuing rules to govern behavior, speech, debate
For those reasons and others, there are incentives to form big tent parties, broad coalitions, etc.
Also, Congress' popularity is low and not related to voter's party identity. Creates incentives for congresspeople to be more widely representative.
- Popularity tied to performance in passing laws
Primary evidence is that laws that pass, usually pass with supermajority support (avg. 78% in house, 77% in senate)
'Important bills' and agenda bills rarely pass. Of those that pass, the strategy was seeking broad support.
- I think this is one of the key findings of The Limits of Party? Something to examine more closely.
Explanations for why there are not more 'partisan laws' include:
- Divided government is the norm
- Senate filibuster is a significant constraint
- Lack of consensus within a party; there isn't truly a majority to activate
These all point back to the institutional design of Congress.
Reading Notes
I think there's an interesting, dynamic system relating to Congress' popularity. Institutional design kneecaps popular support, making congresspeople more reactive, holding back more bills, holding back popular support, ...
I think there's more to be done in proving that popularity of Congress is tied to performance in passing laws though.
I wonder how much of the measurement of agenda bills takes into account when a party's platform is to block legislation and to further governmental divide. Seems that The Limits of Party is the work to read for this.