Others might object to labeling legislative inaction as “gridlock.” If a government that “governs least governs best,” then policy stability should be applauded, not derided as gridlock. Gridlock may be a frequent consequence of the Constitution, but that does not mean the framers preferred it.
But surely the framers (dissatisfied with their governing experiment after the Revolution and fearful of rebellious debtors in the states) sought a strong national government that could govern-deliberately and efficiently, albeit insulated from the passions of popular majorities. James Madison bequeathed us a political system designed not to work, a government of sharply limited powers. Some argue that gridlock is simply a constant of American political life. Despite the first budget surplus in 30 years, Congress and the president remain deadlocked over numerous high-profile issues (including Social Security, Medicare, managed health care, and campaign finance reform), and they show few prospects of acting on these and other salient issues before the 2000 elections.Įdited by Bruce Katz and Robert E. How much do we have? How often do we get it? What drives it up and down? Such questions are particularly acute today, as Democrats and Republicans trade barbs over the do-nothing 106th Congress. What accounts for such uneven performance? Why is Congress sometimes remarkably successful and other times mired in stalemate? For all our attention to the minutiae of Congress, we know little about the dimensions and causes of gridlock.
#POLICY GRIDLOCK DEFINITION REGISTRATION#
At other times, gridlock prevails, as when, in 1992, congressional efforts to cut the capital gains tax and to reform lobbying, campaign finance, banking, parental leave, and voter registration laws (to name a few) ended in deadlock. The Great Society Congress under Lyndon Johnson, for example, enacted landmark health care, environment, civil rights, transportation, and education statutes (to name a few). At times, congressional prowess is stunning. In many ways, gridlock is endemic to our national politics, the natural consequence of separated institutions sharing and competing for power.īut even casual observers of Washington recognize tremendous variation in Congress’s performance. Although the term is said to have entered the American political lexicon after the 1980 elections, Alexander Hamilton was complaining more than two centuries ago about the deadlock rooted in the design of the Continental Congress. Gridlock is not a modern legislative invention.
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