It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism - Hardcover

Thomas E Mann; Norman J Ornstein

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465031331 ISBN 13: 9780465031337

Publisher: Basic Civitas Books, 2012

Synopsis

Acrimony and hyperpartisanship have seeped into every part of the political process. Congress is deadlocked and its approval ratings are at record lows. America's two main political parties have given up their traditions of compromise, endangering our very system of constitutional democracy. And one of these parties has taken on the role of insurgent outlier; the Republicans have become ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, and ardently opposed to the established social and economic policy regime. In It's Even Worse Than It Looks, congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress-and the United States-to the brink of institutional collapse. The first is the serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a governing system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. Second, while both parties participate in tribal warfare, both sides are not equally culpable.The political system faces what the authors call "asymmetric polarization," with the Republican Party implacably refusing to allow anything that might help the Democrats politically, no matter the cost. With dysfunction rooted in long-term political trends, a coarsened political culture and a new partisan media, the authors conclude that there is no "silver bullet" reform that can solve everything. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring of the House and Senate, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public at large to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle. Until voters learn to act strategically to reward problem solving and punish obstruction, American democracy will remain in ser

About this title

Review:

"More than anytime in my lifetime, the United States is challenged at home and so is our place in the world. When Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein get together to sound a loud alarm about the way our political system is being torn apart, it's time to listen--and listen hard. Then the tough part how do we restore some sense of common purpose, of working together to make our government work? Mann and Ornstein set out ways to rebuild political bridges, beginning right now. We better get to work." se --Chuck Hagel, U.S. Senator (1997-2009), Distinguished Professor, Georgetown University

One doesn't have to agree with every one of Mann and Ornstein's proposals to appreciate the extraordinary contribution to improving governance that they make in this important book. We could do no better than to use it as a compelling blueprint for urgently needed reform. If every member of Congress would read just one book on the subject, my wish is that it would be this one. --E. J. Dionne, author of "Our Divided Political Heart"

"The phrase 'essential reading' does not begin to get at the importance of this passionate warning by two of our very best political scientists about our nation's capacity to govern itself. Mann and Ornstein sweep aside the timid conventional wisdom to inform Americans that our problems are even worse than we think they are. It is absolutely vital that this book's findings and message enter the consciousness and consciences of journalists, politicians and citizens who care about the future of our republic. --"William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States of America"

Book Description:

"[Mann and Ornstein] have done the public a great service-and have been much braver than many in the media, the think tanks, or Congress-in using their personal credibility to clearly describe what has happened to American politics in recent years, and who is primarily to blame."-Ezra Klein, New York Review of Books

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Civitas Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0465031331
• ISBN 13: 9780465031337
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240