Category Archives: Legislative Theory

The Cordray Appointment and Congress’s Crisis of Legitimation

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

Last week Richard Cordray received what the White House called a “recess” appointment to serve as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  (side note: during break I was surprised to learn that a family member was his roommate … Continue reading →

Posted in American Political Development, Empirical Theory, Legislative Politics, Legislative Theory | Leave a comment

Things Institutionalists Know that You Should: Plott’s Equation

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

Inspired by Hans Noel’s “10 Things Political Scientists Know that You Don’t,” Josh, Jordan, Will and I are rolling out a semi-regular series that borrows the idea  and applies lessons from the new institutionalism to politics.  While Noel’s piece generally … Continue reading →

Posted in Legislative Theory, Political Institutions, Things Institutionalists Know that you Should | 3 Comments

The Debt Ceiling and the Decline of American Democracy

Posted on August 1, 2011 by

Jacob Hacker and Oona Hathaway, both professors at Yale University, have a very good op-ed in today’s New York Times. I definitely recommend it. To sum up their argument, the U.S. has a democracy problem. The U.S. Government is unable … Continue reading →

Posted in American Political Development, Elections, Electoral Institutions, Filibuster, Legislative Politics, Legislative Theory, Separation of Powers, The Presidency | 2 Comments

Debt Ceiling: An Artificial Crisis?

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

If you haven’t visited the Monkey Cage recently, you should. There are excellent posts from Bryan Jones and Sarah Binder, among others on the debt ceiling and how it relates to broader political issues. What strikes me most about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legislative Politics, Legislative Theory | Leave a comment

“Washington is broken.” Good point. Why is nobody trying to repair it?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by

Since bipartisan “hope” in Obama’s first campaign has worn off, we are back to accepting the Washington’s “broken” politics.  Of course, by “Washington” people mean “Congress.” However, when it comes to actually fixing the problem nobody is stepping up to … Continue reading →

Posted in American Political Development, Filibuster, Legislative Politics, Legislative Procedure, Legislative Theory | 3 Comments