Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress

Over the past 50 years, increased demands on congressional representatives and senators to fundraise and woo donors, a concurrent staggering decrease in funding for staff and resources, and threats of violence and social media vitriol resulting from rising polarization, have led to a highly dysfunctional congress, according to this astute debut study. Drawing on interviews with contemporary and former legislators and staffers, political scientist Kornberg notes that today, congress members spend only a third of their time focused on legislating, as they are diverted by these spiraling obstacles. Searching for solutions, she profiles three transformative congressional freshman classes, exploring how they enacted lasting policies. The class of 1974 included a wave of young, liberal lawmakers elected in the shadow of the Vietnam War and Watergate who prioritized coalition building, campaign finance reforms, and fighting cronyism in committee assignments. The freshmen class of 1994, fueled by a conservative backlash to the Clinton presidency, spearheaded an effort to further stymie congress, disrupting bipartisan coalition building and cutting spending. The class of 2018, elected in a midterm upset during Trump’s first presidential term, pressed senior leadership toward systemic reforms and refocused on policy issues important to the electorate. The takeaway for Kornberg is that “Congress is always changeable, shaped and reshaped by the people who walk its halls.” It’s an encouraging guidebook for the upcoming midterms. (Mar.)