Sandy Levinson: George Packer On the Senate
[Sandy Levinson is a professor of law and government at The University of Texas at Austin.]
Everyone should read George Packer's piece in the current New Yorker (though it's possible you need to be subscriber to get it), on "The Empty Chamber: Just how broken is the Senate"? The answer is very. The filibuster is only part of the problem. The article begins with the lunatic Senate Rule XXVI, paragraph 5, which requires unanimous consent for any committees to hold hearings after two in the afternoon when the Senate is in session. If senators were in fact required to be in the chamber, this would pass the minimum rationality test. But, since they are not, it is truly and utterly lunatic, serving only to give yet another arrow to obstructionists who want to destroy the capacity of the Senate to operate (and, most certainly, to engage in the kind of oversight for which committee hears are necessary). Then there are holds.... Packer also focuses a lot on the personalities of the people (particularly hard-right Republicans).
Packer sugggests that there is very little hope for the "constitutional option" to change the filibuster rule at the beginning of the next session, since too many senior Democrats like it (so they can make sure that Republicans can't pass their own programs when the time comes).
No sane country designing a constitution today would establish an institution like the United States Senate. The fact that we are suffer under it is the best illustration of what political scientists call "path dependance," the ability of bad decisions in the past (recall that James Madison hated the "Great Compromise" that brought us the Senate, which should give reverential "originalists" at least some pause, or, at least, they should explain why the Senate is any more legitimate than the 3/5 Compromise that entrenched the power of slaveowners, the other "Great Compromise" that made the Constitution possible).
Once again, I am reminded of Carl Schmitt's great writings on the Weimar Parliament during theh 1920's. No one seriously believes tht the Senate is any longer a forum for genuine "debate," which, among other things, requires the possibility that someone will actually change his or her mind as a result of some persuasive argument made by someone else, independent of polticial party. No one shows up, most of the time, and when they do show up they read speeches drafted by staff (who are often even more ideologically driven than their ostensible bosses). I am, of course, grateful that the Senate was able to pass (inadequate) health and financial regulation bills, but they are incapable of confronting any of the other challenges that face us.
Who can be optimistic about the future of this country? (I challenge, incidentally, our right-wing friends who participate in the discussion to name the particular Republican or libertarian they wish to take the helm, unless, of course, they are true anarchists who believe we can do without government at all.)
Read entire article at Balkinization (Blog)
Everyone should read George Packer's piece in the current New Yorker (though it's possible you need to be subscriber to get it), on "The Empty Chamber: Just how broken is the Senate"? The answer is very. The filibuster is only part of the problem. The article begins with the lunatic Senate Rule XXVI, paragraph 5, which requires unanimous consent for any committees to hold hearings after two in the afternoon when the Senate is in session. If senators were in fact required to be in the chamber, this would pass the minimum rationality test. But, since they are not, it is truly and utterly lunatic, serving only to give yet another arrow to obstructionists who want to destroy the capacity of the Senate to operate (and, most certainly, to engage in the kind of oversight for which committee hears are necessary). Then there are holds.... Packer also focuses a lot on the personalities of the people (particularly hard-right Republicans).
Packer sugggests that there is very little hope for the "constitutional option" to change the filibuster rule at the beginning of the next session, since too many senior Democrats like it (so they can make sure that Republicans can't pass their own programs when the time comes).
No sane country designing a constitution today would establish an institution like the United States Senate. The fact that we are suffer under it is the best illustration of what political scientists call "path dependance," the ability of bad decisions in the past (recall that James Madison hated the "Great Compromise" that brought us the Senate, which should give reverential "originalists" at least some pause, or, at least, they should explain why the Senate is any more legitimate than the 3/5 Compromise that entrenched the power of slaveowners, the other "Great Compromise" that made the Constitution possible).
Once again, I am reminded of Carl Schmitt's great writings on the Weimar Parliament during theh 1920's. No one seriously believes tht the Senate is any longer a forum for genuine "debate," which, among other things, requires the possibility that someone will actually change his or her mind as a result of some persuasive argument made by someone else, independent of polticial party. No one shows up, most of the time, and when they do show up they read speeches drafted by staff (who are often even more ideologically driven than their ostensible bosses). I am, of course, grateful that the Senate was able to pass (inadequate) health and financial regulation bills, but they are incapable of confronting any of the other challenges that face us.
Who can be optimistic about the future of this country? (I challenge, incidentally, our right-wing friends who participate in the discussion to name the particular Republican or libertarian they wish to take the helm, unless, of course, they are true anarchists who believe we can do without government at all.)