Why Congress

by Philip A. Wallach

Overview

A bold defense of our nation's legislature and its ability to work through the country's deepest divisions, and a stark warning of what our political future holds if we allow Congress to decay.

Like it or not, our country's future depends on Congress. The Founding Fathers made a representative, deliberative legislature the indispensable pillar of the American constitutional system, giving it more power and responsibility than any other branch of government. Yet today, contempt for Congress is nearly universal. To a large extent, even members of Congress themselves are unable to explain and defend the value of their institution.

Why Congress takes on this challenge squarely, explaining why our increasingly divided politics demand a legislature capable of pitting factions against each other and forcing them to work out accommodations. This book covers the past, present, and future of the institution to understand how it has become so dysfunctional, but also to suggest how it might be restored. The book vividly shows how a healthy Congress made it possible for the country to work through some of its most difficult challenges, including World War II and the struggle for civil rights. But transformations that began in the 1970s ultimately empowered congressional leaders to suppress dissent within their own parties and frame a maximally divisive agenda. In stark contrast to the earlier episodes, where legislators secured durable political resolutions, in facing contemporary challenges, such as immigration and COVID-19, Congress has exacerbated divisions rather than searching for compromises with broad appeal. But Congress' power to organize itself suggests a way out. Wallach deftly explains that while Congress could accept its descent into decrepitude or cede its power to the president, a Madisonian revival of deliberation can yet restore our system of government's ability to work through deep divides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197657874
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/30/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	224,771
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Philip A. Wallach is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies America's separation of powers, with a focus on regulatory policy issues and the relationship between Congress and the administrative state.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. What Congress Alone Can Do

Part I: When Congress Worked

2. Congress and World War II
3. The Achievement of Civil Rights

Part II: Congress Transformed

4. Cacophony - The Reforms of the 1970s
5. Conservatives against Congress
6. The Triumph of Partisan Posturing over Politics

Part III: The Costs of a Failing Congress

7. Failing to Compromise on Immigration
8. Congress and COVID: We Needed Leadership, They Gave us Cash

Part IV: Three Futures for Congress

9. Decrepitude
10. Rubber Stamp
11. Revival

Postscript: An Open Letter to America's Legislators

Editorial Reviews

02/27/2023

American Enterprise Institute fellow Wallach debuts with a stout defense of the essential role of Congress in American democracy. Drawing on the Federalist Papers, Woodrow Wilson’s Congressional Government, and other analyses of “the promise and challenge of representation,” Wallach argues that Congress is “the only body in our system capable of setting our national priorities while respecting the diversity of our vast citizenry” and praises the virtues of legislators’ “robust (and sometimes ugly) debates.” During WWII, Wallach contends, Congress played a vital if underrecognized role in mobilizing the U.S. war effort while “block the executive branch from becoming an unaccountable controller of the American economy after the war.” Elsewhere, Wallach argues that Senate supermajority requirements aided, rather than impeded, the civil rights movement by “ultimately call forth an irresistibly broad and bipartisan coalition that finally left the Southerners an isolated rump.” Beginning in the 1970s, however, a push for uniformity in both party caucuses rendered the institution ineffectual, and Wallach laments the transformation of filibustering from “an attention-focusing, oratorical ordeal to a routine obstacle bereft of actual debate,” the passage of emergency actions without deliberation by rank-and-file members, and the increase in executive actions. Ultimately, he calls on legislators to “get out of your partisan trenches and make things happen.” Nuanced and persuasive, this is a valuable reminder that Congress has risen to the moment before and can do so again. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"'Why Congress'—no question mark, no subtitle—is perhaps the most important book on politics published in 2023." — The Wall Street Journal

"With its historical analysis of Congress and insight into its potential future, this book will appeal to political science and public policy majors. A recommended purchase for academic libraries." — Library Journal

"Nuanced and persuasive, this is a valuable reminder that Congress has risen to the moment before and can do so again." — Publishers Weekly

"...a well-researched, readable examination of Congress's ability and inability to deal with important policy issues, ranging from 1960s civil rights successes to more recent immigration failures." — CHOICE

"Provides a compelling argument for the importance of our legislative branch and how it can reassert its relevance in the 21st century." — Jerry Lenaburg, New York Journal of Books

"Why Congress is an excellent book that argues persuasively for the necessity of a thriving Congress in a diverse republic." — Joseph Postell, Claremont Review of Books

"Why Congress is a well-researched, readable examination of Congress's ability and inability to deal with important policy issues, ranging from 1960s civil rights successes to more recent immigration failures." — Choice

"Why Congress - no question mark, no subtitle - is perhaps the most important book on politics published in 2023." — Wall Street Journal

"Wallach's primary aim in this book is to reassess Congress's role in the political and policymaking process over the past several decades...Wallach is rightly concerned with the political relevance of a Congress that is both quick to centralize policymaking and deliberation within the leadership, while simultaneously delegating significant policymaking autonomy to the executive branch." — Timothy P. Nokken, Congress and The Presidency

From the Publisher

04/01/2023

American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Wallach asserts that the U.S. Congress has three options moving forward. The first is decrepitude, wherein divisiveness will get to a level where Congress struggles with its most basic tasks and fails to uphold its fundamental responsibilities. The second outcome is rubber stamp, during which legislators would encourage remote participation and push through big legislative changes, such as ending the filibuster. Wallach contends that this type of outcome, while appearing to foster change and growth, would create a legislature prone to cheap talk and likens it to rulers in authoritarian regimes. The final proposed outcome is renewal, and in this outcome, members of Congress would recommit to their roles and work toward addressing issues facing the country, or else they may be doomed to scenarios wherein constitutional systems decay. The book ends with a letter to Congressional members. It encourages them to disrupt the status quo and make these changes. VERDICT With its historical analysis of Congress and insight into its potential future, this book will appeal to political science and public policy majors. A recommended purchase for academic libraries.—Mattie Cook

Library Journal

2023-01-28
The story of Congress’ slow degeneration and possible path to recovery.

Congress has been the subject of jeers since the early days of the republic, but the past 20 years have seen the scoffing turn into outright contempt. Wallach, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, agrees that Congress has become dysfunctional and wants to know why. In this authoritative book, he begins with the period after World War II and the civil rights era, when Congress worked effectively. Much of the essential policy work was done through bipartisan committees, and even when there was acrimony, there was a sense that the opinions of the minority would still be valued. This began to change in the post-Watergate era, when the flood of young Democrats took the view that the other side were not respected opponents. Understandably, the Republicans reciprocated when the pendulum eventually swung their way. Power became increasingly concentrated in the hands of leadership cliques, who saw themselves as battlefield commanders rather than builders of coalitions. In this view, you won not by having the better argument but by preventing the other side from being heard. There were a few cases of cooperative action, but these were exceptions. Wallach makes useful proposals for reform, noting that a crucial element is that the majority party has to be willing to give the minority a genuine avenue to speak and pay some respect to their position. However, the author does not sound hopeful. One area he does not discuss is the media, which rewards snarky sound bites and bloody combat rather than nuanced policy discussions. Overall, this is a comprehensive account of how we got here and how the course might be changed. The author concludes with “An Open Letter to America’s Legislators.”

An incisive, worrying examination of how Congress reached its current dire state, written with a fair mind and a steady hand.

Kirkus Reviews