In Defense of Congress

Former U.S. Senator Fred R. Harris draws on traditional and contemporary political science literature, recent journalism, legislative documents, and transcripts from television interviews to argue in favor of the effectiveness of Congress. In the text's prologue, he examines the reasons that many Americans feel that Congress is ineffective. Then, he devotes the text to exploring and debunking the forces that have created this sense in the American people.

Prologue

1

(8)

PART I Members of Congress

9

(68)

Price, Pay, Perks, and Personnel

11

(35)

The Price of Congress

12

(4)

Cost Increases between World War II and the 1980s

13

(2)

Recent Costs

15

(1)

Congressional Pay

16

(16)

History of Congressional Pay

18

(3)

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

21

(2)

Comparison with Other Countries

23

(2)

Salaries and Congressional Responsibilities

25

(3)

Comparison with Other Professions

28

(4)

Congressional Perks and Patronage

32

(5)

Patronage

32

(1)

Member Perks

33

(4)

Congressional Personnel

37

(7)

Conclusion

44

(2)

Toward More Accountable Members

46

(31)

Term Limits

48

(11)

The Founders' Decision against Term Limits

49

(1)

Can States Adopt Term Limits?

50

(2)

Current Turnover in Congress

52

(2)

Term Limits and Accountability

54

(3)

Inexperienced Legislators and Special Interest Influence

57

(2)

Conclusion

59

(1)

Member Ethics

59

(4)

Changes in Congress

60

(1)

Changes in the Press

61

(1)

Changes Still Needed

62

(1)

The Power of Incumbency

63

(10)

Incumbent Advantages

66

(1)

How Incumbency Became Increasingly Important in Elections

67

(3)

Taxpayer-Financed Campaigning

70

(2)

Conclusion

72

(1)

Campaign Finance Reform

73

(3)

The Gap between Incumbent and Challenger

74

(1)

Reform Bills

75

(1)

Summary

76

(1)

PART II Congress as an Institution

77

(58)

An Unpopular but Responsive Congress

79

(30)

General Cynicism toward Government

80

(1)

Difficulty of Current Issues

81

(1)

Nature of Congress

82

(5)

Public Perceptions of the Nature of Congress

83

(2)

Congress in the 1950s

85

(2)

Changes of the 1960s and Afterward

87

(2)

A Congress of Individuals

89

(3)

Postreform Changes in Congress

89

(2)

Representation versus Lawmaking

91

(1)

A Conflictual Congress

92

(15)

Structural Conflict

92

(1)

Presidential-Congressional Conflict

93

(8)

Partisan Conflict

101

(6)

Summary

107

(2)

Toward a More Responsible Congress

109

(26)

Senate Procedural Reforms

111

(7)

Change in Senate Norms after the 1950s

112

(2)

The Senate Filibuster Today

114

(4)

Congressional Committee Reform

118

(9)

Functions of Committees

119

(1)

Growth in Committee Assignments

120

(4)

Separation of Spending Authorization and Appropriations

124

(2)

Remedial Proposals

126

(1)

Budget Reform

127

(7)

Authorization and Appropriations

128

(2)

Failures of the 1974 Reform

130

(1)

Reform Proposals

131

(3)

Summary

134

(1)

Epilogue

135

(10)

Notes

145

(24)

Index

169

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In Defense of Congress

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials