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Congress never gets anything done. Partisanship causes legislative gridlock. Things are at a standstill in Washington.
It’s all a myth.
“Laws and policy are being made in the nation’s capital,” writes Jeb Barnes, a political scientist at USC Dornsife. The number of bills passed demonstrates that fact – not to mention the speedy progress of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan.
While legislative stalemates do exist, the real risk isn’t that they lead to policy paralysis but that they shift power to bureaucrats and judges who are not accountable to the public, he says.
Also today:
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Laws and policy are being made in Washington – both inside Congress and out.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Jeb Barnes, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The idea that Washington, DC, is paralyzed by gridlock rests on half-truths about the legislative process and a basic misunderstanding of how contemporary policymaking works.
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Arts + Culture
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Thomas Hallock, University of South Florida
The myth has become a symbol of the traumatizing legacy of trans-Atlantic slavery. It also serves as a form of resistance and healing.
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Economy + Business
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Tess Wise, Amherst College
Few middle-class Americans undergoing Chapter 13 bankruptcy blame the government. They portray themselves as hardworking victims and resent others for taking more than their fair share.
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Mary G. Findling, Harvard University; John M. Benson, Harvard University; Robert J. Blendon, Harvard University
A survey of the impact of the first few rounds of coronavirus aid shows that most of those who lost jobs or wages due to the pandemic were facing severe economic hardship.
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Politics + Society
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Joshua Lambert, University of Central Florida; Anthony Licciardi Jr., University of New Orleans
Americans who believe aliens have visited Earth are more likely than disbelievers to say that Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election.
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Clayton Besaw, University of Central Florida
Elections are getting less safe in democracies and nondemocracies alike. Last year was the bloodiest year for elections in decades, with 54% of all national votes marred by some kind of violence.
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Health
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Doug Brugge, University of Connecticut
Living next to a highway is not great for health, but a new study shows that running air filters indoors can remove tiny particles of pollution and lower blood pressure.
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Education
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Tamara L. Brown, University of North Texas
Members of the nation's four Black sororities, including Vice President Kamala Harris, commit to lifelong acts of service for their communities.
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Science + Technology
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Sarah Lynch, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Kanneboyina Nagaraju, Binghamton University, State University of New York
With the vaccines now being administered at sites around the US, it is important to address misinformation surrounding the effort.
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Podcast
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation
Plus new research on why China is closing down coal-fired power stations. Listen to episode 3 of The Conversation Weekly.
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Trending on site
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Michael E. Webber, University of Texas at Austin
Heat waves, droughts and deep freezes can all strain the electric grid, leading utilities to impose rolling blackouts. Climate change is likely to make these events more common.
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Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, University of Maryland
The world's most advanced economies will incur half the total costs associated with a failure to vaccinate poorer nations, which could exceed $4 trillion if only half their citizens are inoculated.
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Jim Bell, Arizona State University
NASA's Mars 2020 mission arrives at the red planet on Feb. 18. On the rocket is the Perseverance Rover. The rover's goal is to collect rock and soil samples to be brought back to Earth in the future.
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