In It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. The first is the serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a governing system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. Second, while both parties participate in tribal warfare, both sides are not equally culpable. The political system faces what the authors call “asymmetric polarization,” with the Republican Party implacably refusing to allow anything that might help the Democrats politically, no matter the cost.
With dysfunction rooted in long-term political trends, a coarsened political culture and a new partisan media, the authors conclude that there is no “silver bullet” reform that can solve everything. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring of the House and Senate, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public at large to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle. Until voters learn to act strategically to reward problem solving and punish obstruction, American democracy will remain in serious danger.
Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion with the authors of Even Worse Thank It Looks
Copies of Even Worse Than It Looks will be available for purchase at the event
Featured speakers:
Jim Dyer, former Republican Staff Director, House Appropriations Committee
Thomas Mann, co-author, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks; Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Norman Ornstein, co-author, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks; Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Terence Smith, former executive editor and co-anchor, MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour
Moderated by:
Scott Lilly, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress