Category Archives: political parties
“The Filibuster and Reconciliation: The Future of Majoritarian Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate”
Tonja Jacobi and Jeff Van Dam have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
The filibuster has effectively become a supermajority requirement for all lawmaking in the Senate, an effect worsened by ill-conceived attempts at its reform. Once… Continue reading
“Taking on American Political Dysfunction without Changing the Constitution”
FairVote: “In his draft paper on Political Dysfunction and Constitutional Change, University of California-Irvine professor Rick Hasen makes a powerful case for the need for out-of-the-box thinking on American political reform. But he also makes a curious omission. Fair… Continue reading
“On Filibuster, It’s Past Time to End ‘False Equivalence’”
“A red state/blue state chasm”
More Political Dysfunction
I’ve posted a revised draft of my article, “Political Dysfunction and Constitutional Change,” on SSRN. The article has already provoked some interesting reactions from Eric Alterman, Jonathan Bernstein, and Seth Masket.
I plan to write… Continue reading
“Americans love government — as long as it’s their own”
Aaron Blake:
Congress and the federal government continue to struggle with historically low approval ratings, as Americans grow tired of gridlock in Washington and hold both major parties in low regard.
But when it comes to government in general,… Continue reading
“Mitch McConnell is in No Mood for Bipartisanship”
Politico: “The Senate minority leader has signaled privately that he has no interest in sitting in the same room as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to discuss a possible “grand bargain” on budget and tax issues, Senate insiders tell… Continue reading
‘Washington confronts still-divided America”
Dan Balz: “Bipartisanship and cross-party alliances are suddenly in vogue in the Senate this spring. The question is whether the Senate is a leading indicator of a change in politics or largely an aberration in a nation divided along… Continue reading
“America’s Problem is Not Political Gridlock”
Interesting perspective from Larry Summers.
“The Republican Advantage: The decline of swing districts and the rise of partisanship spells trouble for House Democrats.”
Charlie Cook:
By now, the trend lines are clear. In 1998, we found 164 swing seats—districts within 5 points of the national partisan average, with scores between R+5 and D+5 (a score of R+5 means the district’s vote for… Continue reading
“More BS About ‘Both Sides'”
Eric Alterman Nation column:
Believe me, I’m more annoyed at having to write this column again than you are at reading it. But dammit, nothing changes. The Republican Party has gone off the rails by virtually every available measure,… Continue reading
“Gun control, immigration and budget talks: Is there a thaw in Washington?”
Podcast of Drake Law Symposium on The Constitution and Political Dysfunction Now Available
You can download the audio of the three parts of the great Drake symposium at this link. Presenters were Norm Ornstein, Sandy Levinson, John McGinnis, Lori Ringhand, Brenna Findley and me.
My paper for the symposium, Political Dysfunction and… Continue reading