The American Public's View of Congress
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John R Hibbing
Congress has long been unpopular with the American public, with approval numbers above fifty percent serving as the exception rather than the norm. In this essay we argue that such disapproval stems not from calculated reaction to policy outcomes or partisan attachments. Rather, people tend to disapprove of Congress for exactly the thing it was designed to be: an open and deliberative lawmaking body. The more Congress does its job, the more the public tends to disapprove.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Congress has long been unpopular with the American public, with approval numbers above fifty percent serving as the exception rather than the norm. In this essay we argue that such disapproval stems not from calculated reaction to policy outcomes or partisan attachments. Rather, people tend to disapprove of Congress for exactly the thing it was designed to be: an open and deliberative lawmaking body. The more Congress does its job, the more the public tends to disapprove.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Evaluating Majority Party Leaders in Congress
- The Politics of Constraint: House Republicans in Retrospect and Prospect
- Senate Republican Leadership in Tough Times
- Orchestrators of Unorthodox Lawmaking: Pelosi and McConnell in the 110th Congress
- Assessing Nancy Pelosi
- The American Public's View of Congress
- Commentary
- East European 'Model' to Cuban Freedom
- Response or Comment
- Comment on "Searching for Voters along the Liberal-Conservative Continuum"
- Review
- Review of Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age
- Review of Unequal Democracy
- Review of Unequal Democracy
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Evaluating Majority Party Leaders in Congress
- The Politics of Constraint: House Republicans in Retrospect and Prospect
- Senate Republican Leadership in Tough Times
- Orchestrators of Unorthodox Lawmaking: Pelosi and McConnell in the 110th Congress
- Assessing Nancy Pelosi
- The American Public's View of Congress
- Commentary
- East European 'Model' to Cuban Freedom
- Response or Comment
- Comment on "Searching for Voters along the Liberal-Conservative Continuum"
- Review
- Review of Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age
- Review of Unequal Democracy
- Review of Unequal Democracy
