The conventional misdiagnosis: Why "gridlock" is not our central problem and constitutional revision is not the solution

Boston University Law Review

Volumn 94, Issue 3, 2014, Pages 767-793

  Melnick, R Shep ^a  

^a BOSTON COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84903694579     PISSN: 00068047     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (93)

1. Eugene Robinson, Gridlock's Many Victims, WASH. POST, Feb. 18, 2014, at A13
2. Fareed Zakaria, Obstructionist Republicans Keep Washington in Gridlock, ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS (Feb. 14, 2014), http://www.adn.com/2014/02/14/3326669/ fareed-zakaria-obstructionist.html, archived at http://perma.cc/PUC-79XN.
3. Karlyn Bowman & Andrew Rugg, Deeply Troubling Trends on Attitudes Toward Government: What You May Have Missed in the Poll, AEI IDEAS (Oct. 10, 2013, 3:08 PM), http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/10/deeply-troubling-trends-on- attitudes-toward-government-what-you-may-have-missed-in-the-polls, archived at http://perma.cc/TL3F-GM6T.
4. Record Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Ahead of 2014 Elections, PEW RESEARCH CTR. FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS (Oct. 15, 2013), http://www.people-press. org/2013/10/15/record-anti-incumbent-sentiment-ahead-of-2014-elections, archived at http://perma.cc/3MVH-DYUB.
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6. JAMES MACGREGOR BURNS, THE DEADLOCK OF DEMOCRACY: FOUR-PARTY POLITICS IN AMERICA 7 (1963)
7. ROBERT A. DAHL, HOW DEMOCRATIC IS THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION? 163 (2d ed. 2003)
8. JAMES L. SUNDQUIST, CONSTTTUTIONAL REFORM AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT 10-12 (1986)
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10. GREG WEINER, MADISON'S METRONOME: THE CONSTITUTION, MAJORITY RULE, AND THE TEMPO OF AMERICAN POLITICS 13-14, 90-95 (2012).
11. For a particularly compelling explanation of Madison and Hamilton's thinking in this regard, see MICHAEL GREVE, THE UPSIDE DOWN CONSTITUTION 23-43 (2012).
12. James Madison, Vices of the Political System of the United States, in PAPERS OF JAMES MADISON 9:353 (William T. Hutchinson & William M. E. Rachal eds., 1971).
13. Compare Richard L. Berke & Janet Elder, A Nation Challenged: The Poll; Poll Finds Support for War and Fear on Economy, N.Y. TIMES, Sept. 25, 2001, at A1 (describing an increase in public support for military force following the 9/11 terrorist attacks)
14. Mark Landler & Megan Thee-Brenan, Survey Reveals Scant Backing for Syria Strike, N.Y. TIMES, Sept. 10, 2013, at A1 ("A broad majority of Americans, exhausted by nearly a dozen years of war and fearful of tripping into another one, are opposed to a military strike on Syria.").
15. For an extensive review of this evidence, see PETER H. SCHUCK, WHY GOVERNMENT FAILS SO OFTEN AND HOW IT CAN DO BETTER 172-82 (2014).
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18. R. Shep Melnick, From Tax and Spend to Mandate and Sue: Liberalism After the Great Society, in THE GREAT SOCIETY AND THE HIGH TIDE OF LIBERALISM 387 (Sidney Milkis & Jerome Mileur eds., 2005).
19. Gridlock, WIKIPEDIA, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridlock (last updated Sept. 26, 2013), archived at http://perma.cc/DG7D-9MD7.
20. Hugh Heclo, One Executive Branch or Many?, in BOTH ENDS OF THE AVENUE: THE PRESIDENCY, THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, AND CONGRESS IN THE 1980s, at 26, 32 (Anthony King ed., 1983).
21. See, e.g., CHRISTOPHER HOWARD, THE WELFARE STATE NOBODY KNOWS: DEBUNKING MYTHS ABOUT U.S. SOCIAL POLICY 1 (2007) (describing U.S. welfare programs reflecting "fragmentation of public authority within and among institutions").
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27. William Galston, The Long Term Is Now, DEMOCRACY, Fall 2012, at 60.
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29. See Kent Weaver & Bert A. Rockman, When and How Do Institutions Matter?, in DO INSTITUTIONS MATTER? GOVERNMENT CAPABILITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD 445, 455 (Kent Weaver & Bert A. Rockman eds., 1993)
30. U.S. CONG. BUDGET OFFICE, REPORT ON THE TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF PROGRAM - OCTOBER 2012, at 2(2012), archived at http://perma.cc/T3Z2-ZV8R (expressing the concern that "the more agencies look back the less they will be able to look forward," while also noting positive aspects of the review).
31. Press Release, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency Action to Protect Financial Markets and Taxpayers (Sept. 7, 2008), archived at http://perma.cc/Z3B-BPPQ.
32. Edmund L. Andrews, Fed Will Inject $1 Trillion More to Aid Economy, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 19, 2009, at A1
33. Edmund L. Andrews, U.S. Plans $800 Billion in Lending to Ease Crisis, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 26, 2008, at A1.
34. U.S. DEP'T OF THE TREASURY, TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF PROGRAM: MONTHLY REPORT TO CONGRESS - DECEMBER 2012 (2013), archived at http://perma.cc/9Y7B-ED4F.
35. 2008 Legislative Summary: 110th Congress' Second Session Highlights, CQ WKLY., Dec. 8, 2008, at 3242.
36. See Pietro S. Nivola, Two Cheers for Our Peculiar Politics: America's Political Process and the Economic Crisis, BROOKINGS (May 21, 2012), www.brookings.edu/researc h/papers/2012/05/21-economy-politics-nivola, archived at http://perma.cc/GFU-466R.
37. BENJAMIN WITTES, LAW AND THE LONG WAR: THE FUTURE OF JUSTICE IN THE AGE OF TERROR 151-82 (2008).
38. JACK GOLDSMITH, POWER AND CONSTRAINT: THE ACCOUNTABLE PRESIDENCY AFTER 9/11(2012).
39. Steven Sloan & Charlene Carter, Historic Overhaul in Final Stretch, CQ WKLY., June 28, 2010, at 1572.
40. Amy Goldstein & Robert Barnes, Senate Committee Endorses Sotomayor; Just One Republican Sides with Democrats in Backing the Supreme Court Nominee, WASH. POST, July 29, 2009, at A3
41. Karl Huse, Senate Confirms Kagan in Partisan Vote, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 6, 2010, at A1.
42. LAWRENCE R. JACOBS & THEDA SKOCPOL, HEALTH CARE REFORM AND AMERICAN POLITICS: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW 50-120 (2012).
43. Public Approval of Health Care Law, REAL CLEAR POLITICS, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama-and-democrats-health-care- plan-1130.html (last visited Feb. 26, 2014), archived at http://perma.cc/8Q9D- SWRL. During the winter of 2010, forty to forty-five percent of those polled favored Obamacare, while fifty to fifty-five percent opposed it. Id.
44. Alex Wayne & Drew Armstrong, Election Upsets Overhaul Plans, CQ WKLY., Jan. 25, 2010, at 236, 237.
45. Alex Wayne & Edward Epstein, Obama Seals Legislative Legacy with Health Insurance Overhaul, CQ WKLY., Mar. 29, 2010, at 748.
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49. In October, 2013 Congress created the first budget conference committee in four years, and that committee negotiated a comprise budget resolution that passed both houses. See David Newhauser & Humberto Sanchez, Compromise Is No Big Deal, CQ WKLY., Dec. 16, 2013, at 2082.
50. American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454, 111th Cong. (2009)
51. see PHILIP A. WALLACH, GOVERNANCE STUD, AT BROOKINGS, U.S. REGULATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 4 (2012), archived at http://perma.cc/L6K-HPK7 (describing the procedural history of the bill).
52. John M. Broder, Adding Something for Everyone, House Leaders Gained a Climate Bill, N.Y. TIMES, July 1, 2009, at A20
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56. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 533-34 (2007).
57. WALLACH, supra note 76, at 7-9 (citing Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles, Final Rule, 76 Fed. Reg. 57, 106 (Sept. 15, 2011)
58. Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, Final Rule, 75 Fed. Reg. 25, 323 (May 7, 2010)) (discussing the regulations that EPA made after the Massachusetts v. EPA case).
59. John M. Broder, Obama, Who Vowed Rapid Action on Climate Change, Turns More Cautious, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 11, 2009, at A10.
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62. Martha Derthick & Andy Rotherham, Obama's NCLB Waivers: Are They Necessary or Illegal?, 12 EDUC. NEXT, 57, 61 (2012)
63. Michele McNeil, Are 82% of Schools 'Failing' Under NCLB, as Duncan Warned?, EDUC. WK., http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/08/are-82- of-schools-failing-unde.html (last updated Aug. 3, 2011), archived at http://perma.cc/ALE9-KAKG.
64. Paul Nolette, Advancing National Policy in the Courts: The Use of Multistate Litigation by State Attorneys General (Aug. 2011) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Boston College Department of Political Science) (on file with author).
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66. Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555, 581 (2009) ("[I]t is not impossible for Wyeth to comply with its state- and the federal-law obligations and that [plaintiff's] common-law claims do not stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment of Congress' purposes in the FDCA.").
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69. Id. at 36. Others have reached the same conclusion. See AARON WILDAVSKY, THE NEW POLITICS OF THE BUDGETARY PROCESS 303-08 (2d ed. 1992)
70. Michael S. Greve, Washington and the States, FEDERALIST OUTLOOK (May 2003), http://www.aei.org/outlook/politics-and-public-opinion/federalism/ washington-and-the-states, archived at http://perma.CC/X3P5-WPRB.
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87. Pietro S. Nivola, How, Once upon a Time, a Dogmatic Political Party Changed Its Tune, BROOKINGS (NOV. 14, 2012), http://www.brookings.edu/research/ opinions/2012/11/14-war-1812-nivola, archived at http://perma.cc/SR7X-F4MN [hereinafter Nivola, Once upon a Time]
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