A number of the congressional problems are wounds self inflicted - in part by going along with a new ideology that doesn't like government to be meaningful or with any tools of enforcement against any powerful bad actors - and whose agenda is served by gridlock. It used to be that members of congress could rely on excellent policy data and analysis but funding for that shared resource was slashed.
It's not that there hasn’t been significant partisanship at other times in history, but the breadth of it and the seeking of it even in relatively small matters and for its own sake is something that has increased steadily over our life.
The notion that things happening under any agency aegis is a sign of increased executive power is a bit off. Likewise that that means drift towards authoritarianism. A greater problem has been corporate power and capture of regulatory agencies.... Much of agency rule-making has been rule bound with rules that require mechanisms for public comment. When there is sufficient public heat on a matter Congress typically takes the matter up - but now with extra helpings of partisanship and a search for soundbites and gotcha moments. It may well be that much of this would benefit from minipublic structures, I just would not take the word of Sasse on the dysfunctions of government.
A number of the congressional problems are wounds self inflicted - in part by going along with a new ideology that doesn't like government to be meaningful or with any tools of enforcement against any powerful bad actors - and whose agenda is served by gridlock. It used to be that members of congress could rely on excellent policy data and analysis but funding for that shared resource was slashed.
It's not that there hasn’t been significant partisanship at other times in history, but the breadth of it and the seeking of it even in relatively small matters and for its own sake is something that has increased steadily over our life.
The notion that things happening under any agency aegis is a sign of increased executive power is a bit off. Likewise that that means drift towards authoritarianism. A greater problem has been corporate power and capture of regulatory agencies.... Much of agency rule-making has been rule bound with rules that require mechanisms for public comment. When there is sufficient public heat on a matter Congress typically takes the matter up - but now with extra helpings of partisanship and a search for soundbites and gotcha moments. It may well be that much of this would benefit from minipublic structures, I just would not take the word of Sasse on the dysfunctions of government.