KenH
Well-Known Member
"Bass has taught political science at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia for 49 years.
...
In a phone interview, he said James Madison and the rest of the Constitution’s framers believed Congress would be the “first” of the government’s three branches, the others being the executive and the judiciary.
That’s not the case now. The presidency has become more and more powerful in recent decades when his party controls Congress.
...
Old and new factors have led to the situation. The president has long been his party’s leader, but, for centuries, that role was muted by the parties having competing factions within. Democratic Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson contended with conservative Southern Democrats, for example.
Bass said the framers designed the Constitution to try to prevent cohesive majorities from forming. The intent was for members of Congress to protect their own branch of government’s powers. Ambition would counteract ambition, and Congress and the president would reach a stalemate.
...
I asked Dr. Bass what he would do to make Congress work better. He offered four prescriptions."
- rest of column at Steve Brawner: Professor’s prescriptions for Congress
...
In a phone interview, he said James Madison and the rest of the Constitution’s framers believed Congress would be the “first” of the government’s three branches, the others being the executive and the judiciary.
That’s not the case now. The presidency has become more and more powerful in recent decades when his party controls Congress.
...
Old and new factors have led to the situation. The president has long been his party’s leader, but, for centuries, that role was muted by the parties having competing factions within. Democratic Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson contended with conservative Southern Democrats, for example.
Bass said the framers designed the Constitution to try to prevent cohesive majorities from forming. The intent was for members of Congress to protect their own branch of government’s powers. Ambition would counteract ambition, and Congress and the president would reach a stalemate.
...
I asked Dr. Bass what he would do to make Congress work better. He offered four prescriptions."
- rest of column at Steve Brawner: Professor’s prescriptions for Congress