The Dysfunctional Congress

Posted: 12 May 2015

See all articles by Sarah Binder

Sarah Binder

George Washington University - Department of Political Science; Brookings Institution

Date Written: May 2015

Abstract

Is the US Congress dysfunctional? The American public thinks so: In the summer of 2014, just 7% approved strongly of Congress (Riffkin 2014). Still, legislative scholars disagree about the severity of Congress's legislative challenges. Is legislative deadlock a sign that Congress can no longer identify and resolve major public problems? Or are Congress's difficulties temporary and correctable? In this article, I review theoretical and empirical literatures on the dynamics of lawmaking and evaluate alternative methods for testing lawmaking theories. Finally, I draw on recent research to put contemporary stalemate into historical perspective. I argue that even when Congress and the president have reached agreement on the big issues of the day, Congress's problem-solving capacity appears to have fallen to new lows in recent years. Whether and how well our political system can or will self-correct in the coming years remains an open question.

Suggested Citation

Binder, Sarah, The Dysfunctional Congress (May 2015). Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 18, pp. 85-101, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2605445 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-110813-032156

Sarah Binder (Contact Author)

George Washington University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Washington, DC 20052
United States

Brookings Institution ( email )

1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

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