Elizabeth the is s Mdsaorse

8/13/2019 Elizabeth the is s Mdsaorse

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CAN CONGRESS EVER BE

POPULAR?

Elizabeth Theiss-Morse

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Congress in the ClassroomJuly 27, 2010


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NO!


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Why is Congress so unpopular rightnow?

Only 20 percent of Americansapprove of the way Congress ishandling its job

74 percent disapprove!


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Why is Congress so unpopular rightnow?

Pew Research Center survey, March 2010

When asked to give a

one-word impressionof Congress, this iswhat the PewResearch Center

heard:


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Why is Congress so unpopular rightnow? So what is the answer to this question?


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When has Congress been popular inthe past?

If there are times when Congress hasbeen especially popular or especiallyunpopular, maybe we can get some

clues


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Approval of Congress over time

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Approve

Disapprove


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How does Congress popularitycompare to the other branches?

Even if Congress is more popular at certaintimes than at others, it might be that Congress isalways the least popular branch


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Approval of Congress, the President, and theSupreme Court

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Congress

President

Supreme Court Approval

Supreme Court Confidence


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So what makes Congress especiallyunpopular?

Members of Congress often runforCongress by

running againstit

Media coverage of Congress tends to be especiallynegative compared to the other branches

Everything Congress does is very public (unlike thepresidency or the judiciary)

There are lots of members of Congress, a smallhandful do jerky things, and these transgressions getgeneralized to the whole of Congress


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So what makes Congress especiallyunpopular?

My focus: Democratic processes andDEMOCRACY itself


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Democratic Processes and Congress

What kind of institution did the Framers intendwhen they created Congress?

Peoples branch open to many competinginterests

Deliberative body set up to discuss and debateissues

Need for compromise institutionally forced toreach compromises


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Democratic Processes and Congress

So what kind of institution did the Framerscreate?

An institution that was slow and inefficient,encumbered with arcane rules, never likely to ramthrough a particular interest, and open to lots andlots of competing interests

In other words, an institution that could not be toobig or too powerful or too able to infringe onindividuals and their rights

They created Congress!


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The Peoples Branch

MadisonsFederalist #10let

interests be fruitful and multiply

In a large, modern-day,

technologically-advanceddemocracy, given our

Constitution, this means

having lots of interest groups


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The Peoples Branch

In a 1992 survey, 86 percent of respondents

said Congress is too heavilyinfluenced by interest

groups when makingdecisions

78 percent said Congress istoo far removed fromordinary people

In a 2010 survey, 87 percent of respondents

said officials in Washingtonare too heavily influenced

by special interests 81 percent said they are outof touch with averagepeople

But Americans seriously dislike interestgroups


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The PeoplesBranch Focus group participants in 1997 said,

Mike: If the government keeps their nose out, ourcountry would gravitate towards a certain opinion.I mean, 80 percent of the population wants this,but the government does that.

Lisa: Thats because weve created an occupation

of professional lobbyists where those people arepaid by groups to sway the government from whatthe people really want. We need to eliminate thatoccupation as a whole. That needs to not beacceptable in our society.


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The Peoples Branch

Problems:

80 percent of Americans dontagree on most

issues Immigration

The budget deficit

Health care

Abortion

And even if they agree on the ends (lower crimerates, good education), they disagree on the means


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The Peoples Branch

Problems (continued):

Almost three-fourths (70 percent) of Americans

are members of an interest group 40 percent are members of at least two interest

groups

If we hate interest groups, we have to admit that

the enemy is us


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Deliberation and Compromise

The whole structure of Congress is designed togenerate debate and compromise

Many of the rules on the House and Senate floors

Committees and subcommittees

Conference committees


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But Americans dislike debate and compromise

In a 1998 survey,

86 percent of respondents said elected officials shouldstop talking and just take action

60 percent said compromise in politics is really justselling out on ones principles


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With increased partisan gerrymandering andgreater partisan polarization in Congress,members of Congress themselves are (publicly)less willing to debate and compromise


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Great party

polarization inrecent years(McCarty, Poole,and Rosenthal)


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And greater party unity scores (McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal)


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With more polarization and more party unity,we are seeing fewer and fewer members ofCongress willing to reach across the aisle

Debate and deliberation become yelling matches

Compromise becomes more rare


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What can be done?

Two proposals:

Teach barbarics rather than civics

Teach students to appreciate the difficulty ofdealing with competing interests in a democraticsociety


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Teaching barbarics

Tendency to focus on concepts, history, and theconstitutional structure

This approach misses the nitty-gritty stuff ofpolitics, including giving students a deepunderstanding of why debate and compromiseare necessary (and good)

Research shows that more education leads tomore factual knowledge and more civicengagement but not to a better appreciation fordemocratic processes


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Effects of education on knowledge, interestand support for the Constitution

1.65 1.67

2.051.93

1.98

2.142.2 2.18 2.22

2.78

2.4 2.43

3.28

2.53 2.52

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Political Knowledge Political Interest Support Constitution

Less than HS

High School

Some College

College

Post-college


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Effects of education on voter turnout

44

6871

84

95

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Turnout

Less than HS

High School

Some College

College

Post-college


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Effects of education on understanding theimportance of democratic processes

1.43

1.27

1.39 1.391.36 1.351.37 1.33

1.361.31

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

Importance of Debate Importance of Compromise

Less than HS

High School

Some College

College

Post-college


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Teaching barbarics

Need to desanitize the curriculum

People will come into conflict over their political

interests it is inevitable Democratic processes are supposed to resolve

these conflicts peacefully and constructively

These processes, though, lead necessarily tomessiness, inefficiency, and often a lack of action(or at least a slow response)

This is all necessary in a highly diverse democracylike the United States


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Competing interests

Teaching about democratic processes isespecially necessary if we accept that there are

many legitimate and competing interests in oursociety

We dont overwhelmingly agree on the importantissues of the day

Interest groups are not necessarily the bad guys,and whether they are or are not, they are here tostay


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Competing interests

One way to teach about interests is to givestudents an opportunity to see for themselves

that there isnt much consensus on major issues Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

(http://people-press.org/)

Pollingreport.com(http://www.pollingreport.com/)
http://people-press.org/http://www.pollingreport.com/http://www.pollingreport.com/http://people-press.org/http://people-press.org/http://people-press.org/


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Competing interests

Another approach is to have students experience

dealing with conflicting interests themselves

I use a pollution simulation that focuses oncompeting interests and the difficulty of coming toa decision given these interests


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Competing interests simulation

The simulation takes place in the fictitious townof Glenbrook, Wisconsin

Wilson Lumber and Paper Company

Joplin Fish Company

The Ad Hoc Committee on Air and WaterPollution Control (CAWP)

Plus several other interests youd expect to find ina town: bank, Chamber of Commerce, the localnewspaper, an interest group to lower taxes, andsummer residents


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The problem: Increased water and air pollution

caused by the paper production process Chemicals dumped in the water

Air pollutants emitted by Wilsons smokestacks

What can be done?


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Students play different roles

Interests in the town (with each interest havingdifferent levels of power and resources )

Seven students assigned to the Glenbrook CityCouncil (one holds an at large seat and sixrepresent each of six districts)


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Objective of the simulation

The City Council needs to figure out whether andhow to deal with the pollution problem

If they decide they want to do something aboutthe pollution problem, then a policy proposal (or

proposals) must be introduced by a Councilmember to the City Council


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Rules of the simulation

Council members can offer a new proposal oramendments to an existing proposal (with input

from interests they represent)

A majority vote is needed to pass a piece of

legislation


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What effect does the simulation have on

students?

Students who play the role of an interest

come to accept the legitimacy of the differentinterests, even if they want their own interest towin

quickly learn the importance of coalition building

empathize with the City Council, understandingwhat a tough job the Council members had


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students?

Students who were the Council members

struggle with any discrepancy between their

districts interests and their own beliefs aboutwhat would be best

are grateful for information from the interests andcome to depend on them for policy ideas and

analyses always want to do what is best for Glenbrook, but

quickly realize there was no consensus on whatthat is


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students?

In the discussion following the simulation, weaddressed direct versus indirect democracy

We also talked about taking what we learnedfrom this very local problem and set of interestsand moving it to the U.S. Congress

What are the similarities? What are the differences?


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Can students be taught to appreciate

democratic process?

The simulation led students to

a greater appreciation for the role interests and

interest groups play in our political system a greater understanding of the need for debate

great ideas were generated in the debates overpolicy proposals

a greater appreciation for the art of compromise


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Concluding comments

I said earlier that the answer to the questionCan Congress ever be popular? is NO

I remain pessimistic

Americans dont appreciate democratic processes,

but increasingly the same can be said aboutmembers of Congress themselves


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Concluding comments

Is there hope nonetheless?

Congress will change

Students are often eager to learn about what isreally going on, about the nitty-gritty of politics

Organizations such as the Dirksen Center areamazing

Teachers who want students to understandCongress (and the rest of government)


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So what is my final answer? Can Congress

ever be popular?

Maybe

but I doubt it


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Questions?

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Elizabeth the is s Mdsaorse