American politics is broken. With the Cold War won, the economy strong, and democracy triumphant, the United States should be enjoying the taste of victory and the fruits of peace. Instead, we are politically demoralized. At best, lawmakers enact policies of dubious merit. More often, opposing sides simply lock horns and nothing is resolved. No matter who is in power, negative election campaigns, deceptive platforms, voter frustration, and opposition for its own sake are the foundations of national policymaking. The current structure represents neither who we are, what we need, nor the best within us.
Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century shows how the conflicts at the heart of American society can be resolved at the core of out political system. Based on the work of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, the book uses models adopted by the most successful American enterprises. Disturbing in its analysis and hopeful in the possibilities it paints, Reinventing Congress offers an achievable blueprint-a responsible legislature chosen by a responsible citizenry.
“The bipartisan system of Congress no longer works. It must be reinvented. New ideas, such as the system of universal representation proposed in Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century, do not merely deserve a hearing; they must be actively and quickly tested for the nation to survive.” – M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled and A World Waiting to Be Born
“The case for instituting this system is compelling . . . the concept of representation itself must be updated.” – Kenneth M. Dolbeare, co-author of USA 2012: After the Middle Class Revolution, and Chair, Graduate Program in Public Administration, Evergreen State College
“A brilliant paradigm break! . . . Keep an eye on this exciting idea.” – Michael Marien, Editor of Future Survey
Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century: A Blueprint for Bringing Participation and Excellence to American Politics Attributes
| Author: | Sol Erdman and Lawrence Susskind |
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| Publisher: | New York, NY: Frontier Press, 1995 |
