The Unbearable Heaviness of Governing: The Obama Administration in Historical Perspective by Morton Keller

Author:Morton Keller [Keller, Morton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Executive Branch, American Government, Political Science
ISBN: 9780817912666
Google: XCZdj0x3tk8C
Goodreads: 13211775
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Published: 2010-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

THE SHAPE AND SOURCES OF SUCCESS

A solid majority for one party is not in itself a guarantee of an easy ride to legislative success. At a time of high autonomy for individual legislators and weakened party discipline (though strengthened ideological division), the correlation between majority size and ease of legislative enactment is weak.

Indeed, the larger the party majority, the more numerous the members from shaky districts not necessarily in sympathy with the party's policies. The Democrats' triumphs in 2006 and 2008 added substantially to the number who represented constituencies that normally leaned Republican. Yet the political dynamic of our time, enhanced by the lack of get-along-by-going-along bosses and machines and by the ideological leanings of the media, advocacy groups, and the blogosphere, favor the ideological antipodes over the moderate middle ground.28

Until recently, successful legislation tended to attract or even rely on interparty majorities. These could be sweeping: Social Security, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Medicare, No Child Left Behind. Or they could be strongly contested and depend on support across party lines: NAFTA, Clinton's welfare reform. Or—increasingly so—they could be almost entirely reliant on the incumbent party: Bush's tax cuts and Medicare D prescription drugs bills; Obama's economic stimulus and health care bills.

The historical trend is clear and is vivid testimony to the polarization of recent politics. Obamacare passed with no member of the opposition party supporting the measure: unique in the modern history of important social legislation. (See table of Votes on Major Legislation, 1935–2010 on page 100.)

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